LITMIR.BIZ

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help the man who tempts her to the altar, Mama. And she will, I suspect, marry only if it is her idea first. Aurora is not a girl to sit coyly by, waiting for any man.”

      “Oh, George, what are we to do?” his mother said, and her eyes filled with anxious tears. “This duke is coming all the way from England to marry your sister. It would be scandalous for her to refuse him under such circumstances, especially after Robert arranged it.”

      “Does his letter say upon which vessel he will take his passage?”

      “The Royal George,” Oralia answered him. “It was to sail from Plymouth on the tenth of February.”

      “It’s an elegant, sleek modern ship,” George noted. “It should be arriving no later than March ninth, provided they do not run into any heavy weather, but coming south at this time of year, it should be smooth sailing for the bulk of the voyage, Mama. It carries little cargo, for it is a passenger vessel. It will probably go on to Barbados, St. Kitts, and Tobago after it stops here for our duke.”

      “And how long will this duke stay with us?” Oralia wondered, then answered her own question. “He will probably want to return fairly quickly to England. That means we won’t have long to prepare for the wedding, or to pack Aurora’s trousseau, or Cally’s possessions. Oh! This is simply impossible!”

      George grinned. “When do you intend telling Aurora, Mama?”

      Oralia’s pretty face grew determined. “Immediately, George! Your sister must be told right away so that she has time to get used to this change in her life. Aurora will be sensible. I know she will be sensible. You are right that she is headstrong, George, but she is an intelligent girl, and logical to a fault. This news will certainly come as a shock, I have no doubt, but when all is said and done, Aurora will see the wisdom in her father’s decision. She will not want to disappoint him, I know, even if Robert is no longer here with us.”

      “I can but hope and pray that you are right, Mama,” he replied, but George was not certain at all. Aurora was intelligent, and that, in his opinion, was the problem. A simple, biddable girl would cry a bit upon learning she was to marry a stranger and leave her family. Then she would rally and do her duty. Even Calandra, his younger sister, while hardly simple, would see the advantages to the kind of marriage Aurora was to have. Cally would pounce upon a duke with delight. He did not think Aurora would. No. She would consider the situation, and then decide what was best for her, for the family. Yet, was not this best for her? George considered. He left his mother and hurried off to wash, for it was almost time for the midday meal. In the upstairs hall he ran into Calandra.

      “Sally tells me Captain Young was here this morning,” she said to him. “Was he?”

      George nodded. “He brought a letter, Cally.”

      “From where? England? Who was it from? What did it say?” she demanded of him. Calandra Spencer-Kimberly was a very beautiful girl, and used to getting her own way in most things.

      “I have absolutely no idea,” her brother answered her. “I believe Mama intends to tell us later, when we are all together.”

      “It must be important, George,” Cally decided.

      “Let me go and wash,” he said. “It’s damnably hot out in those fields, and you had best get dressed, or you will miss whatever news Mama has for us, little sister. Where is Aurora?”

      “She took Martha and went swimming,” came the reply. “I think it’s shocking that she still swims in the sea, George, and naked too. Only little children should swim naked, for they know no better. I hate swimming! I always felt so sticky after swimming in the sea.”

      “You dabbled in the sea,” he teased her. “You never liked it like Aurora and I like it, Cally. Well, if Martha’s with her, they’ll be back in plenty of time for the meal, and Mama’s news.”

      The siblings parted, each to their own room, meeting later in the dining room of the house, where their mother and stepsister already awaited them.

      “How can you look so cool on such a hot day?” Calandra grumbled, her hazel eyes taking in Aurora’s appearance.

      Aurora Kimberly laughed. “Because I’ve spent the morning shamelessly frolicking in the sea, Cally. It’s wonderful, and you should join me instead of lying in bed until almost noon each day.”

      “My skin is too delicate to expose to the hot sun,” Calandra replied. “You know I burn like a lobster, Aurora.”

      “You don’t have to stay out as long as I do,” her stepsister replied. “Just a quick swim to cool off, and then back into your clothes. You could swim in the afternoon, when the sun isn’t as strong, or in the very early morning just before dawn.”

      Now it was Calandra who laughed. “You know I’m no fish like you,” she teased. “Besides, I’d be mortified if anyone saw me. One day some wicked pirate is going to catch a glimpse of you in the sea and carry you off, Aurora. You had best be more careful.”

      “No pirate ship could get into my cove,” Aurora said smugly, “and there is no one else about to see me, Cally, isn’t that right, George? George knows my little cove, don’t you?”

      “It’s safe enough,” her stepbrother agreed.

      They sat down at the beautiful mahogany dining table, Oralia at its head, her son to her right, and her daughters on her left. A servant ladled clear turtle soup into their dishes. Beyond the table the French doors were opened, the light muslin hangings blowing in the trade winds. The sea, calm, and blue-green, spread itself before them.

      Calandra gobbled her soup, then said eagerly, “What was in the letter you received from England today, Mama? Who wrote to you?”

      Oralia was not surprised by her daughter’s question. Calandra’s servant, Sally, had undoubtedly seen Captain Young arrive. “The letter was not addressed to me, but to your father,” she told her daughter, keeping her voice calm and well modulated. “It seems that Robert made an arrangement with an old friend in England many years ago that his son and Aurora marry one day. The young man is on his way from England now, and will arrive on the Royal George in a few weeks’ time.”

      “He’d best not get off the boat,” Aurora said fiercely.

      “Aurora, this is no younger son coming to wed you because you are an heiress and he needs a living. This young man is Valerian Hawkesworth, the Duke of Farminster. He is wealthy, and just the sort of man the heiress to a sugar plantation should marry.”

      “My God, Aurora!” Calandra’s eyes were wide, and not just a bit envious. “You are going to be a duchess!”

      “No, I’m not, Cally,” came the stubborn reply.

      “Aurora, I realize this is a shock to you,” her stepmother said. “It was very foolish of your father not tell us of this arrangement at all, particularly before he died so suddenly.”

      “Papa’s horse threw him, Mama,” Aurora reminded Oralia. “He could have hardly anticipated that.”

      “No,” Oralia responded, “he could not have anticipated it, but the marriage contract says you are to marry when you are seventeen. You will be seventeen on the sixth of April. Robert might have said something. I do not know when he expected to tell you, my dear, but he is gone, and the duke is on his way to St. Timothy expecting to marry you. Now you know, and we will not discuss it again for a few days so that you may get used to the idea of of it all.” She smiled at her children, and then said, “Serve the chicken now, Hermes.”

      “I am not going to get used to it, Mama!” Aurora protested. “I have absolutely no intention of marrying an English duke I never met, and probably won’t like anyhow. And I shall have to live in England all the time, and probably go to court to meet that German king. I do not like Germans, Mama. Do you remember that German overseer we once had? He was a horrible man!”

      “One cannot judge an entire nation by one man, Aurora. I thought I had taught you

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