The Dowager Countess of Berwick, her mother-in-law, came with Nora, Lady Keilly, to inform her that they would take her with them the following afternoon to call upon a number of ladies with whom it was imperative she be on the best of terms. Those ladies were all, Chloe guessed, the very highest sticklers.
Her father came with Lucy just after the two ladies had left. Lucy suggested that Chloe join her for a walk in Hyde Park the morning after next with the children and their nurse—weather permitting, of course.
“The park is never as crowded in the morning as it is during the fashionable hour of the afternoon,” she said, “but one sees a tolerable number of fashionable people anyway, and some of them, both ladies and gentlemen, are obliging enough to stop to converse. More people will stop if you are with me, Chloe, for your name is on everyone’s lips. How gratified you must be.”
It was the last thing Chloe needed to hear, but it was inevitable, she knew. And there was no point in cowering at home. She had come to London because she had decided not to cower.
“I’ll be delighted, Lucy,” she said, and was warmed by her sister’s bright and happy smile.
Lady Trentham called while Papa and Lucy were still with Chloe, bringing her young sister-in-law, Miss Emes, with her. She had come to ask if she might have the pleasure of introducing Chloe to a few of her lady relatives and friends one afternoon.
“They are curious about you and eager to meet you,” she explained before laughing. “Oh, do not look so stricken, Chloe. They are very willing to like you and would be willing, I am sure, even if they did not know that you are my friend and married to one of Hugo’s friends. Not everyone is swayed by all the wild and vicious gossip from last year.”
“Thank you,” Chloe said.
“That is very kind of you, Lady Trentham,” her father added.
“You certainly will not need to run away this year, will you, Your Grace?” Miss Emes said. “You are the Duchess of Worthingham. And Gwen and Hugo’s friend.”
“Oh, I will not run,” Chloe assured her.
And then, just before four, when Chloe had already donned her bonnet and gloves in anticipation of Sarah’s arrival, Lady Easterly, Aunt Julia, arrived to offer to take Chloe shopping in the morning.
“For I daresay you will need some new and fashionable clothes, Chloe,” she said. “I do not believe they will need to be black. What does Worthingham say? He will wish to wear a black armband for a while, I daresay, but he will probably not demand that you remain in mourning.”
“My mama-in-law believes I may wear colors, provided they are not too flamboyant,” Chloe told her. “And yes, I will need clothes, Aunt Julia. Plenty of them, I believe.”
“I do not think we would persuade you into anything flamboyant even for a masquerade,” her aunt said. “I am so glad you have come to London, Chloe. You ought not to have left in such haste last year. Gossip inevitably dies down when there is nothing to feed it. Had you carried on with the activities we had planned without showing any concern for the foolish things that were being hinted at, everyone would soon have lost interest. Well, now you are a duchess, and you have Worthingham to protect your name. I would not envy anyone who chose to cross him. He looks like a very formidable gentleman. There is something about his eyes. Or perhaps it is his facial scar.”
“I will not run again,” Chloe assured her. “And it is not just because I have Ralph to protect me, Aunt Julia. I am a lady, and I belong here.”
Her aunt laughed and hugged her.
Sarah arrived on time to take Chloe to tea with Great-Aunt Mary and Ralph’s grandmother. It was lovely to see the dowager duchess again, to hug her, to know that in a sense the old lady was now her grandmother too. And it was amusing to listen to Great-Aunt Mary’s conversation. Both the older ladies were happy that Ralph and Chloe had come to London. Both were happy to see that neither she nor Sarah was wearing black.
“If we were all to wear black for a prolonged period for every relative who passes,” Great-Aunt Mary said, “there would be no one left to wear colors.”
“You must wear emerald green to the ball at Stockwood House,” the dowager duchess said. “There will be one, Chloe?”
“There will,” Chloe told her. “And I will wear emerald green, Grandmama.”
Chloe arrived home just minutes before Ralph. They went upstairs together to change for dinner, and she was able to assure him that his grandmother was in tolerably good spirits though she still looked a bit lost. And he was able to inform her that their first appearance before the ton together as husband and wife would be that very evening. The Duke of Stanbrook had invited them to join him and a few other guests in his box at the theater.
Chloe had been rather pleased with her day and was looking forward to her dinner. But suddenly her appetite was gone despite all her words of bravado to several people.
“It will be a way,” Ralph was explaining, “of being seen by the ton without having to mingle a great deal with its members, Chloe. And it is not as though you have never done it before, is it?”
“You could not have waited to tell me,” she asked him, “until after dinner?”
He stopped outside her dressing room and raised her hand to his lips before opening the door for her and proceeding on his way to his own room.
“Just remember, Chloe,” he said, “that you are the Duchess of Worthingham.”
“That,” she said, “is supposed to give me my appetite back?”