Manufacturing a Duchess

Chapter 1

One

The gray heaviness of the day matched the mood of Alec Raeburn, Tenth Duke of Selkirk, something the gleaming wood and leather of one of the most exclusive men’s clubs in the world could not dissipate.

He looked out the window of White’s and watched the rainstorm begin.

Only a few splatters at first, then the drops became more insistent and moved faster.

Ducked heads, scurrying feet, and the occasional prescient passerby with an umbrella took over the scene.

The brief sunshine of his first day in London had become a distant memory.

He had waited too long to return to his rented rooms. If he left now, he would be thoroughly soaked.

Better to try to sit it out here. Perhaps with a glass of something aged to perfection in his hand he might feel better?

Or, if he was building castles in the sky, what if he had the finest matched pair of the Season waiting in some stables nearby? Or, what about a pretty—

With a low growl, he tore his mind away from the thought and the window and turned to face the room.

It was fairly empty today. It was not yet the Season, that time of year when the self-styled Ton, those pretentious high society matrons (and their self-satisfied consorts) who dictated what was what and who was who, gathered to socialize and plan dynastic alliances.

Alec grimaced. He wished to avoid them as long as possible, but he knew his day was coming.

Most club members were therefore still out of town at their estates.

“Where I should be,” he muttered under his breath. “Anywhere but this Godforsaken city.”

He looked down at his hand and noticed, with surprise, that he already held a tumblerful of something in it. With a rough gesture, he raised the forgotten glass to his mouth and tossed the contents down his throat.

“Demm’d waste of a fine vintage, if you ask me,” came a voice from his right.

“You can’t have forgotten everything fighting Boney.

” The speaker’s tones were mild, however, and did not carry the force the words might have indicated.

Alec looked over at the long-legged dandy sitting in one of the leather armchairs close to the fire, newspaper being rattled in front of his face.

Alec smiled faintly and decided to return the volley with a well-aimed lob of his own.

“Am I striking too much of a pose for you, cousin? Am I disturbing your reading?”

The paper was abruptly lowered, and a plain but well-groomed face looked over at him. “Alec, you are. Far too much of a pose. It is coming off you in waves and destroying m’concentration.”

At the sight of his cousin’s face, Alec genuinely smiled. “And what concentration might that be, Finn?”

“Shh. I go by Henry here in London. Finlay is much too, well, you know,” the newspaper reader had begun to smile a bit as well.

“You are destroying all my plans of being a true Corinthian, of out-Beauing Beau Brummel. If the Prince Regent says follow, then I will follow! And it’s Lord Henry, Duke of Galloway to you. Full titles, please.”

Alec made a rude noise and went to sit in one of the chairs neighboring Finn’s. “But Finlay is a good, braw Scottish name. Aren’t you proud of bearing it down in the stronghold of the Sassenachs?”

“Shh!” This time, Finn looked a bit agonized around the eyes and mouth.

“I want to enjoy myself while I’m here, and one can’t be a, a pink of the Ton up in Edinburgh.

And if I’m going to attract one of the beauteous belles of the Season, I want to look m’best. Can’t have any of them thinking we’re a bunch of savages living up north.

It’d scare them off.” To emphasize his point, he rattled his paper again.

“Finn, you are one of the richest men in Scotland. It’s not going to be a problem. The protective Mamas will take one look at your assets, and you’ll have to fight them off.”

“Terribly amusing, Alec. So, what about you? And the gloom? Are you going to take my advice and look for a wife?”

Alec’s dark brows came together in a frown. “This is the last thing I want to do. But I need money, and Marjorie needs a mother.”

At that, the newspaper went down completely and ended up in a heap on the floor. Decided warmth crept into Finn’s voice as he began to speak. “And how is she, Alec? Did she like the dovecote? And what about the spyglass I sent her? And the book of His Majesty’s fleet?”

“Marvelous, yes, yes, and yes. Though Miss Meigs, the latest of the governesses—she lasted a whole month! Gave me quite an earful on Proper Occupations for Young Ladies, and what did I think I was doing, allowing my daughter to climb trees like a monkey? She has taken to climbing to one of the lower branches and using the spyglass to survey the estate.”

Alec felt the lines of tension easing around his mouth as he launched into an account of Marjorie’s latest actions and achievements.

“She has decided, Finn, she is going to be a Lady Explorer and head off to China. Or Abyssinia. She cannot decide which to tackle first. She prefers sea routes to those that go overland. How did a landlubber soldier such as I manage to produce a budding sailor?” He lowered his voice, but the vehemence present in the tone could have been wielded with a club.

“I refuse to turn my child into some sort of mincing miss, putting on little airs and being oh-so-delicate, and butter-wouldn’t-melt-in-my-mouth, and ain’t-I-the-lady.

” His eyebrows drew together again. “I won’t. ”

“Did I say she should?” Finn inquired mildly.

His reddish hair and fair complexion tended to expose his emotions easily, so he had trained himself from an early age to mask them.

A studied mildness was the result, yet Alec knew his cousin felt things fiercely and passionately, even if he didn’t let them out with any frequency.

“Besides,” Finn continued, “she’s only eight.

You’ve got a few years. Of course, when it’s time to ready her for marriage, well,” a quick glance at his cousin called for an abrupt end to this conversational thread, “but that’s years from now. ”

Nevertheless, Finn’s attempt to backtrack only made Alec increase his glowering. “Prepare my child for marriage, as though she’s some sort of prize pig or chicken.”

That brought an even more determined burst of mildness from his cousin.

“Come, come, Alec. We know the day will arrive eventually. It is the way of the world. You don’t want her to be a spinster.

Who will look after her when you’re gone?

It’s an uncertain existence all around and, well, it is how things are done.

But—” and here his tone deepened slightly, “I shall miss my Lady Explorer.”

“I’ve brought her, you know,” said Alec.

Finn was startled out of his measured affect. “Brought her? Here? To London? Whatever for?”

“Well, I wasn’t going to leave her all alone while I came down here. Besides, if I am searching for a wife, who will be her mother, she needs to be here.”

“Alec, now you have run completely mad. People do not bring their little children to assist them in matrimonial searches. There would have been no problem with your leaving her at home under the care of her governess. Oh, that’s right, she doesn’t have one.

Well, have you engaged one for her in London? ”

“Yes. A Miss Roper. Excellent references. Or so I presumed. She lasted all of four and twenty hours. Said my daughter was unteachable, and she’d never seen such a lack of manners in all her life, and she was not spending one minute more in the child’s company.”

“What did Marjorie do?”

“Played the pianoforte with a bit too much strength, refused to balance the book on her head and parade about the room, and insisted the woman help her plan an expedition to the court of Genghis Khan. I did interject at that point and told Marjorie the Great Khan had been dead, lo, these many years, but perhaps a visit to the Tsar would be a good starting off point?” Alec began to smile once again as he recounted this latest episode.

“She’s neither a Terror nor a Termagant, Finn. ”

“Who, the governess?”

“No, you fool, Marjorie. She’s only a child. And after the hell I saw over in Spain, I want my daughter to be a child as long as she needs to be. She deserves to be free.” And then, almost in a whisper, “She deserves someone better than I.”

A silence fell between the two men at that point, remembering friends who had never come home and friends who had, yet were never the same again. Alexander Raeburn and Finlay Mackenzie had both fought, had both been injured, and now both had trouble sleeping from time to time.

Finn spoke first. “Where are you staying?”

“I’ve hired some rooms. We’ll keep them through the Season. I can’t afford anything grander—no house is within my rather tender budget. I have Archibald to look after me, and Marjorie has Peg, her nurserymaid. We’re a very spare household,” he added ruefully, “And we travel light.”

“Humph. Like the seasoned campaigner you are. Well, listen, my house in Berkeley Square is yours, whenever you want it. And I will ask Mama about a proper governess. She will be delighted to hear you have come to your senses and are searching for a wife for you and a mother for your daughter. The spectacle of Marjorie running wild throughout London won’t help your marriage prospects, cousin, though I would be delighted to accompany you on some of your expeditions.

Has she been to the Tower yet and seen the bears? ”

“No, she hasn’t. I’ve kept her cooped up in our rooms. That one day of sunshine we had directly after we arrived was ages ago, and she is getting restless.

As a result, she has devoured the guidebook at least three times and is begging to get out.

I had hoped, with the governess, she could begin to explore the town and see the sights. ”

“Well, what if I join the two of you tomorrow for an outing? See the Tower, go to a bookshop, and then Gunther’s for ices? How does that sound?”

“Splendid! Yes! Marjorie will be delighted. And speaking of Marjorie, I had better get back. She may have tied up Peg again practicing all the standard naval knots. For which, incidentally, I hold you entirely responsible. Your book on ships of the line has inspired this latest nautical craze.”

“Then make haste! I shall call at ten of the clock tomorrow. Leave your direction with the porter, and I will retrieve it on the way out.”

Alec’s reply was a warm and grateful smile. He stood, gave his cousin a quick bow, and left.

* * *

The quiet settled once more around Finn, no sound save for the crackle of the fire in the hearth and the snores from an aged club member sleeping several chairs away.

Faintly through the draperies came the steady pounding of the rain.

“He’ll get soaked,” but the Duke of Galloway smiled as he reached down for his fallen paper.