The Duke’s American Spinster (Duchesses of Disaster #1)

Chapter 1

One

“She will be here soon, won’t she, Felix?” Lady Evangeline Berrymore asked as she stood on her toes, trying to see around the broad shoulders of the men in front of her.

Felix Berrymore, Duke of Windham sighed and checked the time on his pocket watch. “I should think so.”

“I do hope she’s kind.” Hyacinth turned to her older sister with a smile, her hands clasped together, little blots on ink at the very tips of the white lace.

Their mother, Edith, gave an exasperated sigh. “How many times must I tell you not to write letters with your gloves on, Hyacinth? Your poor brother dreads having to buy you a new pair so often.”

Felix chuckled and winked at his sister. “I shall buy you as many pairs of gloves as you like, provided you cease pestering me about Miss Alden and her arrival. I cannot control the boat docking in port any more than I can control the weather.”

He stepped to the side as two men walked by with a brown trunk hefted high on their broad shoulders. The men nodded their heads to the duke before they continued through the crowd of people gathered throughout the port.

Several buildings slanted to the side, as if the soft mud beneath Felix’s feet was no longer able to support the stone frames. The buildings constructed on the dock were in similar states of disrepair. Boards were cracked and weathered, paint peeling from the salt air.

Victoria, the oldest of his three sisters, fanned herself as she peered around the women in front of her clad in pale blue and green dresses. “I cannot believe you agreed to help this woman find a husband. You must have gone mad, brother.”

Felix gave his mother a knowing look and Edith shook her head, a smile curving at the corner of the Dowager Duchess’ thin lips though she tried to conceal it. “I’ve no more gone mad than you’ve gone gentile, Victoria.”

“I doubt anyone would accuse her of being gentile.” Evangeline stuck her tongue out before turning when their mother glowered at her. Edith Berrymore was not one to tolerate her daughters acting inappropriately in public.

Felix stifled another smile, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his black breeches. “You must all behave. I will have a hard enough time managing an American. I don’t need the lot of you to make mischief as well.”

A sharp whistle shrieked through the air; shouts of the men on deck of a large ship hollering to each other. A ragged gangplank dropped. Several men carrying barrels and bushels of dried goods disembarked first.

Behind them all was perhaps the most beautiful woman Felix had ever seen. Her hair was the color of a raven’s wings and even from such a distance he could clearly see that her eyes matched the ocean.

Edith’s nose wrinkled as she took sight of the woman. “Please tell me that is not her, Felix. She has sleeves that look positively medieval. And her hem!”

Victoria snickered behind her fan. “Really, brother, this cannot be the woman you’re going to marry off this season. The ton will eat her alive and spit her out.”

Felix rolled his shoulders. Though the woman was beautiful, it was true that her dress was not the least bit fashionable. The color made her skin look sallow and the hem brushed the tops of her boots.

The woman stopped just to the right of the gangplank and shielded her eyes with an ungloved hand as she searched the gathering crowd.

“She certainly looks as if she’s from the Colonies,” Victoria snickered.

Hyacinth clasped her hands together in front of her, rocking back and forth on her heels, the hem of her blue skirt sweeping through the slimy mud that made its way to the dock with the boots of the sailors.

Felix resisted the urge to silence his family. He knew that his sisters were excited to have another young woman in the house, but this was altogether too much. “They call it America now.”

With a turn of her nose in the air, Victoria marched to the array of ribbons a vendor was selling from a crate taken off the boat.

Edith stood closer to her son. “I suspect there will be little you can do but hope that you can marry both young women off to suitable matches this season.”

“And then there shall be two seasons after that during which I have to find more suitable husbands.” Felix nodded to his two youngest sisters. “Thankfully, the pair are more even-tempered than Victoria.”

The woman with the ocean eyes glanced at him, a small smile curving the corner of her full lips. She clasped one hand to her head, holding her hat in place as a gust of wind tried to snatch it. People rushed about her as she tried to weave through them.

Felix strode forward and the people around them parted. He bowed before her. “Miss Alden?”

Her eyes lit up with delight as she curtsied, her skirts billowing out to the sides as another gust of wind rushed across the port.

“Your Grace, it is wonderful to meet you after such a horrid journey across the ocean. If I had known it would have been impossible to eat and sleep with the rocking of the waves against the hull, I would’ve begged Mama to keep me in New York with her. ”

He paused as he took in the woman before him. While it was clear she had manners, the American accent was jolting, much to the happiness of Evangeline as she rushed forward and stopped inches from Miss Alden.

“Your accent is so unusual,” Evangeline said, her voice lilting with joy as she clapped her hands together. “And your dress is stunning.”

Edith sniffed, her button nose turned in the air. “It is rather lovely for an American design. We will have to visit the modiste before our return to Windham Castle.”

Miss Alden smoothed her hands along the front of her dress, a crimson stain coming to her cheeks as her fingertips hovered over a small stain.

Felix eyed the splotch on the fabric as he wondered if Miss Alden was prone to a lack of etiquette.

He found it impossible to believe, as his mother had gone to finishing school with Miss Alden’s mother.

Surely, if Miss Alden was such a lost case, his mother wouldn’t have offered to sponsor the young woman for the season.

Miss Alden rocked on her heels as a man placed a trunk beside her. “Thank you, sir.”

The man dipped his head before turning and striding back to the ship.

Felix’s footman snatched up the trunk and hauled it away with the carriage driver, taking it to a black carriage waiting for them only a few yards away. “Mother, you will see to it that Miss Alden has suitable clothing for the first ball, won’t you?”

“I have suitable dresses. While I appreciate your concern about my attire, I assure you that there is nothing wrong with it,” Miss Alden said, her voice tight as her jaw jutted out.

Edith pressed her lips together, her gaze dropping to Miss Alden’s hands which were bare, her nails long and shaped into little ovals. She stepped closer to the young woman while Felix and his sisters waited with bated breath.

Though he was the Duke of Windham, even he knew better than to vex his mother.

Edith would not chide or rant in public, but in the privacy of his castle, she would not hesitate on pestering him until she was satisfied that she had spoken her mind.

And while he respected her opinions, this was the last thing he needed today.

Hyacinth took Miss Alden’s hands. “You must come to the modiste with us. It is a wonderful time. Madame Renault is wonderful. She creates the loveliest dresses.”

Miss Alden wavered, her gaze darting to Felix’s.

He stood taller, glancing away from her.

Though she was beautiful she was no longer a blushing debutante.

Nearly seven years the junior to his seven-and-twenty.

If she found herself incapable of sourcing a husband in New York, where society had lower standards, he did not have faith in her ability to match with a high-ranking noble.

“Lady Hyacinth, correct?” Miss Alden pulled her hands away, though her smile was still warm and inviting. “My father has sent me with enough dresses to last the season.”

Felix smothered a smile growing at the corners of his mouth. Miss Alden would soon discover that she was entertaining a losing game.

Edith’s lips pursed tighter, nearly invisible as her cheeks hollowed. “A trip to the modiste will provide you with the fashions popular in society.”

Felix sighed at the subtle jab, watching as men and women rushed from one shop to the other along the port. They dodged large patches of mud where cobblestones had been broken and removed from the road. Others stopped alongside the stone buildings, glancing at the moss growing in thick patches.

The port was a sight to behold, but it was a horrific one.

It had fallen into disrepair as funds passed with his father. After the former duke had died, the duchy had drifted into a subtle decline. Felix used what little money there was to repair what he could, but it still wasn’t enough.

This will be the season to change that.

He glanced to Miss Alden as she laughed at something Hyacinth said. Her laugh was soft and lilting, reminding him of a songbird.

Though he would have a dowry to pay when Victoria found a husband, there would be one less mouth to feed.

The Baron of Elington was willing to send a considerable sum to house his daughter. It would be a start to repairing the state of the duchy and more would come if Felix found Miss Alden a good match.

Victoria strode back to them with a deep-blue ribbon dangling from her fingertips. “Miss Alden, this is for you. I should think you would like to have it woven through your hair for the first ball. It will bring out the color of your eyes.”

That ribbon isn’t quite the right color.

Blue her eyes were, but they didn’t contain the same green tinge as the ribbon. While it would complement her eyes, it wasn’t be the same.

Miss Alden looked at him as if she had heard the words playing through his mind. “Thank you, but you really must call me Isabelle. I suspect that we will be the best of friends through the season.”