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Chapter 1

Soeshire

August 1818

"The duchess is so very… very… well, really, elic sestured airily "Continental, if you take "

Standing by the vicarage gate while she waited for the gig to be brought around, Honoria Wetherby only wished she could Wringing information from the local vicar was always one of her first actions on taking up a new position; unfortunately, while her need for information was more acute than usual, Mr Postlethwaite's coly-and pounced on the one point which n-born?"

"Dowager Duchess" Mr Postlethwaite bean?" Head to one side, he considered the point "I suppose soht call her so-she was French-born and -bred But she's been a, she seehtened-"she's so of a feature on our limited horizon"

That leaned It was one reason she needed to know ration here? I didn't see any ducal ar at the neat stone church beyond the vicarage, she recalled nu the deceased fro some scions of the Claypoles, the family whose household she joined last Sunday But no ducal plaques, helpfully inscribed with name and title, had she discovered anywhere

"On occasion," Mr Postlethwaite replied "But there's a private church at the Place, quite beautifully appointed Mr Merryweather is chaplain there The duchess is always reliable in her devotions" He shook his head sadly "Not, I'eneral characteristic of that family"

Honoria resisted a strong urge to grind her teeth Which fa that information for the past three days Given that her new ehter Melissa, now Honoria's charge, was destined to be the next duchess, it seemed the course of wisdom to learn what she could of the duke and his family The family name would help

By choice, she had spent little tist the haut ton but, thanks to her brother Michael's long letters, she was reliably inforilded circle-the circle into which she'd been bom If she learned the nareat deal more

However, despite spending an hour on Sunday explaining in excruciating detail just why Melissa was destined to be a duchess, Lady Claypole had not used the lucky duke's title Assuh, Honoria had not specifically questioned her ladyship She'd only just norance had seeer sister Annabel, she'd vetoed any idea of asking the trouble The sa of the Claypole Hall staff Sure that she would learn all she wished while being welcoed for her afternoon off to coincide with that s

She'd forgotten that, within the local area, the duke and Dowager Duchess would always be referred to in purely generic terhbors all knehom they referred-she still did not Unfortunately, the patent scorn hich the other ladies viewed Lady Claypole's ducal aspirations had ether too aard Undaunted, Honoria had endured a lengthysufficient funds to replace the church's ancient roof, then scoured the church, reading every plaque she could find All to no avail

Drawing a deep breath, she prepared to adnorance "To which-"

"There you are, Ralph!" Mrs Postlethwaite ca down the path "I'm so sorry to interrupt, my dear" She smiled at Honoria, then looked at her spouse "There's a boy coently"

"Here you are, miss"

Honoria whirled-and saw the vicar's gardener leading the bad-te Shutting her lips, she nodded graciously to Mrs Postlethwaite, then sailed through the gate the vicar held wide Taking the reins with a tight sardener to assist her to the seat

Mr Postlethwaite beamed "I'll look to see you on Sunday, Miss Wetherby"

Honoria nodded regally "Nothing, Mr Postlethwaite, could keep rey in motion, if I haven't found out by then who this blessed duke is, I won't let go of you until I have!

Brooding darkly, she drove through the village; only as the last of the cottages fell behind did she beco up, she saw thunderclouds sweeping in from the west

Tension gripped her, locking her breath in her chest Abruptly looking forward, Honoria focused on the intersection iht on, then curved north, into the path of the storave off it three miles on

A gust of wind plucked at her, whistlingthe horse to a halt, Honoria berated herself for re A ducal na storm was

Her gaze fell on the lane joining the road at the signpost It wended away through stubbled fields, then entered a dense wood covering a low rise She'd been told the lane was a shortcut, ulti the Claypole Hall lane ates It see the Hall before the storm broke

One glance at the roiling clouds growing like a c

elestial tidal wave to her righther spine, Honoria clicked the reins and directed the grey left The beast stepped out eagerly, carrying her past the golden fields, darkening as the clouds thickened