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Chapter 1

SOPHIE’S SOCIETY SPLASH

London

June 1833

If only the Countess of Liverpool hadn’t been such an ads would have turned out differently

Perhaps no one would have witnessed the events of the thirteenth of June, the final, legendary garden party of the 1833 season Perhaps London would have happily packed itself into myriad coaches that would have spread like beetles across the British countryside into summer idyll

Perhaps

But one year earlier, the Countess of Liverpool had received a gift of a half-dozen pretty orange-and-white fish that were said to be direct descendants of those beloved of the Shogun of Japan Sophie thought the tale wholly unbelievable—Japan being notoriously insulated froly proud of her pets, caring for the things with near-fanatical passion Six had turned into two dozen, and the overlarge bowl in which the creatures were delivered had been traded for a container that could only be described as pondlike

The fish had sparked the countess’s iination however, and the Liverpool Summer Soiree was oddly China-the even less about China than she did of Japan Indeed, when Lady Liverpool had greeted thee diaphanous silk clearly intended to evoke her prized fish, she’d explained the disconnect “No one knows a thing about Japan, you see It’s terribly private, which makes for no fun when it comes to a theme And China is so very closeit’s practically the same”

When Sophie had told the Countess that it was, in fact, not the sahter and waved one arm replete with silk fins “Don’t fret, Lady Sophie, China has fish as well, I’m sure”

Sophie had cut her norant words, but received no acknowledgement For weeks, she’d insisted that China and Japan were not one in the sarateful for the invitation to such an elaborate affair The Talbot sisters, after all, were exceptional at being elaborate

They, along with the rest of the aristocracy, had turned out in an array of reds and golds, brocades each eous hats that had no doubt kept the ht and day since the invitations had arrived

Sophie, however, had resisted her mother’s insistence that she participate in the farce and, to her family’s dismay, arrived in ordinary pale yellow

And so it was that on that lovely day in the middle of June, Lady Liverpool took pity on poor, uninteresting Sophie—the Talbot daughter as neither the prettiest, nor the , nor the one who played the best pianoforte—and suggested that the young fish-out-of-water ht like to visit with fish in their proper environment

Sophie happily accepted the offer, grateful to exit the party of tittering aristocrats and their coaze—one that carefully avoided her and her family There was, after all, never a stare so blatant as the one that carefully evaded its object This was particularly true when the objects in question were so inore

The stares had followed the young ladies Talbot since they’d had their cos out—five in four years—each less welco fewer and fewer as the years progressed

Sophie had always rather wished that her hters Society darlings, but that would never happen As a consequence, Sophie was here, alternately hiding in the topiary of the Liverpool estate and pretending not to hear the insults so regularly whispered about her sisters that they were barely whispered anymore

So it ith no small amount of relief that Sophie followed her hostess’s directions into the legendary Liverpool greenhouse, enor array of flora and proossip

She searched for the fishpond, weaving her way between potted lemon trees and impressive ferns, until she heard the sound—a cry of sorts, rhyth tortured a the rhododendrons

As she was not without conscience, and the creature in question clearly required assistance, Sophie investigated Unfortunately, when she found the source of the noise, it became very clear that the woman did not require assistance

She was already receiving assistance

From Sophie’s brother-in-law

It bears noting that the woman was not Sophie’s sister

Which hy, upon recovering frohts to interrupt “Your Grace,” she said, not at all quietly, the words filled with her conteiven him so much power

The pair stilled A pretty blond head popped out froold tassels hanging froe blue eyes blinked

The Duke of Haven did not deign to look at Sophie “Leave us”

There was nothing in the world Sophie hated more than the aristocracy

“Sophie? Mother is looking for youShe’s waylaid Captain Culberth on the croquet field, poorhi You should rescue the poor man

”

Sophie closed her eyes at the words, willing the their speaker aith them She whirled around to stop her sister’s advance “No, Sera—”

“Oh” Seraphina, Duchess of Haven, née Talbot, came up short as she turned the corner into the copse of potted plants, taking in the scene, her hands flying to her ever-so-slightly-protruding storew “Oh” Sophie saw shock flash in her sister’s eyes as she took in the scene, followed quickly by sadness, and then cool calm “Oh,” the Duchess of Haven repeated

The duke did not move Did not look at his wife, the mother of his future child Instead, he pushed one hand into those blond curls and spoke to the crook of his paramour’s neck “I said, leave us”

Sophie looked to Seraphina, tall and strong and hiding all the e That Sophie couldn’t help but feel with her She willed her sister to speak To stand for herself For her unborn child

Seraphina turned away

Sophie couldn’t help herself “Sera! Will you not say so?” The eldest Talbot sister shook her head, and the resignation in the h Sophie She turned on her brother-in-law “If she won’t, I certainly will You are disgusting Pompous, hateful, and loathsome”

The duke turned a disdainful gaze on her

“Shall I go on?” Sophie prompted

The blond in his ar to a duke that way It’s terribly disrespectful”

Sophie resisted the urge to tear the stupid hat froht I am the disrespectful one in this situation”

“Sophie,” Seraphina said softly, and Sophie heard the urgency in the word, the way it urged her away from the scene

The duke heaved a long-suffering sigh, extricating hi her skirts and lifting her down fro”

“But—”

“I said, go”