Free Once a Duchess by Elizabeth Boyce Page A

suggested you should!”
    “You shall have new things, of course. I’ve already written to the Bachmans. You’re to stay with them in town.”
    Isabelle’s heart lightened at the prospect of spending the Season with Lily and her family, but something else bothered her. “Are you not coming?”
    He nodded. “I’ll be down in a few weeks to conduct some business, but there’s no point in looking for a wife until I’ve made you respectable again.”
    “Oh,” she said in a small voice. “I see. That makes sense.” She remembered Iverson’s despair at her brother’s unmarried state. What would he say if he knew Isabelle was the reason Alexander couldn’t find a good wife and start filling his nursery? She lifted her glass and threw the rest of her port back with one swallow. “I’m going to bed.”
    Alexander rose. “It’s good to see you again, little sister.” He kissed her on the cheek.
    Hardly believing that, Isabelle smiled weakly and started to the door.
    “One more thing.”
    Isabelle turned at his voice.
    “You’ll accept the first respectable man who offers for you, Isa. You might not get another chance.”

Chapter Five
    Marshall sat behind his desk in the study of his house on Grosvenor Square, going over the acquisition list sent to him by the captain of the Adamanthea , the ship he’d hired for his South American expedition. His plans were coming together more quickly and easily than he would have imagined. At the last meeting of the Royal Society, he’d announced his intention to get such an expedition underway. Several members offered financial backing, and others had given him the names of men who could make valuable contributions to such an endeavor: artists to sketch the plant life they encountered, guides, local contacts, and someone with a ship to let for just such a mission.
    His mother swept through the study door after a quick knock, dressed in an elegant, rich brown court dress over a green petticoat. She wore a three-stranded necklace of diamonds and emeralds, each successive strand longer than the previous. The requisite plumes erupting from behind her coif gave her the appearance of a rather severe duck.
    Marshall smothered the smile tugging at his mouth and smoothed a hand down his black waistcoat. He stepped out from behind his desk to press a kiss to her cheek. “You look lovely, Mother.”
    “Thank you, dear.” Her lips curled up in a pinched smile. “But it will be a relief to change into something more comfortable for the ball.”
    Thinking of the elaborate pains women went to in preparation for a ball, Marshall could not imagine regarding a ball gown as more comfortable, but the stays and hoops involved in his mother’s court dress looked downright torturous.
    “Naomi is all in a dither about being presented,” Caro said, “and her maid is as nervous as she. I should be helping her get ready. Why did you want to see me?”
    Direct as ever, Marshall thought. Since returning from his tour of the estates, he’d been pondering how best to approach the subject of Isabelle’s accusation. At first, Marshall thought not to mention it at all. What good could come of implicating his own mother in the demise of his marriage? Then he remembered the point of Naomi’s come out and the dozens of new gowns he’d bought for her first Season: marriage. He did not expect — nor even desire — his sister to select a husband her first year out, but it might happen. And in the event of such a scenario, he wanted to have this discussion with his mother in the open and out of the way. If there was anything Marshall could do to ensure his sister a happier fate in her own marriage, he would do it.
    “I wanted to talk to you about something that happened while I was away last month,” Marshall said. “Do you care to sit?” He gestured to the chair in front of his desk.
    “In this monstrosity?” Caro swept her hands over her wide, hooped skirts. “You cannot be serious. The coach