Chapter One

OF DEBUTS AND SECOND CHANCES

" T hat's the last time I offer to distract you with card games." Duchess Rose shook her head in frustration. "How many wins is that now?"

Lady Olivia Rokesby smiled at her sister-in-law but decided that it would be in poor taste to tell her exactly how many games she had won. Winning six games in a row should feel delightful, especially that last hand.

Olivia muttered, "If only I was this skilled at courting."

Rose gave her a sympathetic smile. "Courting is a skill like any other, it just takes time and practice."

"I suppose." Olivia made a noncommittal gesture.

"You are rather avoiding the question of how many games you have won; do not think I don't see what you are doing," Rose teased.

Olivia laughed but did not answer Rose. She knew her sister-in-law and friend was trying to distract her. Yet her thoughts inevitably turned the past.

Olivia's first season had been, well, not quite a disaster but definitely not what she had hoped it would be. She was used to finding things easy and had expected that joining society would be more or less the same. How wrong I was.

"Hello? Olivia?" Rose waved a hand in front of her face, bringing Olivia back to the present. "Goodness, you looked like you were a million miles away. Come, you cannot have won so many games that you cannot contain your reverie."

Her sister-in-law smiled, her tone teasing and light, and Olivia could not help but return the smile. Though I am still not going to tell her just how many games I have won — I may not have any suitors, but I do have some sense of decorum.

"She has won the last six games." The interjection came from Rose's mother, Lady Charlotte Pembleton, the Viscountess of Cotswalts, who clearly felt no compunction about telling her daughter just how poorly she had fared.

Olivia glanced at Rose, who looked thoroughly put out. But before either of them could speak, Lady Cotswalts continued, not looking up from her magazine, "Although, that last hand was a near thing. Honestly, Rose, if you had not mislaid that trick quite so badly, I doubt she would have won."

Olivia was taken aback. She hadn't realised just how much attention Lady Cotswalts had been paying to them. After all, the woman had seemed utterly absorbed by what she was reading and was sitting on the sofa rather than near the card table with them.

As she caught Rose's eye, her friend mouthed, "I told you she sees everything." To her mother, Rose said in sweet tone that Olivia recognised as a dangerous sign, "That was one trick which hardly explains Olivia winning six games."

"One trick of many that you misplayed. When I saw you discard the queen of hearts, I despaired." Lady Cotswalts shook her head. "Honestly, I thought I had taught you better than that. One needs a clear head if they are to get anywhere in life."

"I'd like to see how clearly you think when you're the size of a small house," Rose murmured under her breath, forcing Olivia to turn her laugh into a hasty cough.

"You are nowhere near as large as I was with Emily or even Jane for that matter." Lady Cotswalts tone was amused and somewhat sympathetic, and Olivia couldn't help but marvel at the woman's hearing. "You were my first and thankfully, rather small."

It was clear from the look on Rose's face that she was used to her mother's uncanny hearing. Olivia tried to imagine what it would have been like, growing up with Lady Cotswalts for a mother. Rose didn't talk about her life before Emberly often, and though Olivia had met both of Rose's younger sisters, she did not feel that she knew them well.

"Well, be that as it may, I am still wildly uncomfortable and significantly larger than I was with Arthur." Rose stroked her belly, and Olivia could see the irritation and love warring on her face.

"That is often the way with second and even third children." Lady Cotswalts nodded sagely. "Though I do appreciate how uncomfortable it can be. This is why I told you to sit with your legs up whenever you can."

Rose pouted. Olivia was reminded that for all Rose's achievements, they were only a year apart in age. I am nineteen, the same age Rose was when she met Alexander. The thought only added to Olivia's feelings of failure. One season and still no husband, not even the vaguest hint of affection or courtship.

"How would you suggest I raise my legs when I am sitting at the card table? There is barely any room as it is." Rose gestured to the tiny card table they were playing at, her words preventing Olivia from becoming completely lost in her maudlin thoughts.

Lady Cotswalts pointed to the small coffee table. "When one is pregnant, one must think creatively. Just because you are playing cards does not mean you must sit at the card table. I am sure Lady Olivia would not mind if you moved to be more comfortable."

"Perhaps we did not wish to disturb you; after all, you seem rather comfortable on the sofa." Rose sounded irritable, and Olivia sensed that an intervention would be necessary to prevent an argument.

"Would you like to join us, Lady Cotswalts? Rose tells me you are a most skilled player." Olivia ignored the pointed look her friend was giving her. "And then we might use the coffee table without fear of disturbing you."

Lady Cotswalts glanced at the grandfather clock in the corner and then towards the door. "I suppose a few games would not go amiss. It will be nice to pass the time together until your mother joins us. I had rather hoped to speak to her this afternoon."

"She has been kept quite busy with the twins." Olivia helped Lady Cotswalts rearrange the coffee table and waited for Rose to settle onto the sofa and raise her feet.

As she waited, she shuffled the cards and deftly dealt them out, noticing the thoughtful look Lady Cotswalts cast over her. Is this approval or disapproval? Rose did say that her mother valued lady-like behaviour, but I do not think cards counts.

"I had not realised that Peter and Natalie were still unwell. Have they been seen by a physician?" Lady Cotswalts asked, glancing at her cards.

"Yes, they were seen a few days ago, but there has been no real improvement. I think mother plans on taking them to Bath to aid with their recovery." Olivia glanced at the cards in her hand and the ones on the table, carefully plotting out her next three moves. "Apparently the physician was very pleased with this idea."

"That is a wise decision, at least for the sake of your siblings' health. And will Marie be joining them too?" Lady Cotswalts swapped a card in her hand for one on the table.

Olivia nodded but didn't say anything further. Her three younger siblings, Marie, Peter, and Natalie, were all very close to each other. She suspected it was because they were all so close in age and therefore had similar interests. There were only two years between Marie and the twins, whereas she was eight years younger than Olivia.

I remember holding her as a baby. Goodness that makes me feel old.

"Will your mother return for your season?" Rose asked, confusion on her face.

Olivia shook her head, trying to keep her voice casual as she said, "Actually, I rather thought I might join them in Bath."

Rose's eyes widened in surprise, and Olivia did her best to avoid her friend's gaze. "But won't they be gone for months?"

Olivia fidgeted in her seat. She could hear the unspoken question. The new season is about to start, and you will miss the entire thing — is that really what you want? Across from her, Lady Cotswalts looked thoughtful.

"It is rather unusual for a young lady to be so altruistic as to give up her chance at love to care for her younger siblings." There was something in Lady Cotswalts' tone that Olivia couldn't quite place, not quite an accusation but not far from it.

"Is this why you have been so despondent about your season?" Rose blurted.

Olivia glared at her, and it was only the fact that Rose was pregnant that prevented her from kicking her friend in the shin. That and the look of instant regret on her face. Perhaps her mother will not enquire further.

This hope proved to be a false one as Lady Cotswalts said, "Ah, that explains it. I imagine it would be rather daunting to think of starting the season without the guiding hand of one's mother. But you would not be completely adrift, after all; you have already had one season."

Olivia made a noncommittal noise in her throat and stared at her cards. Perhaps if I had not had such a disappointing debut season, I would not feel so depressed about repeating the whole ordeal. She had really hoped that she would enjoy the dancing and all the excitement of entering society, but she had struggled with almost every aspect of it.

Hoping that this would put an end to the subject, Olivia played her last trick, feeling fairly confident that she would win the hand. After all, one of them would need to have the Ace of Diamonds to win, and if they had it, neither would have wagered as they had.

Unfortunately, Olivia was wrong on both accounts. Lady Cotswalts smiled and revealed her winning hand. How on earth can I have been so misguided?

"I have always tried to tell my girls that finding a good match is an art. It takes time. As excited as Jane is for her debut this season, I keep trying to impress upon her that the right match cannot be rushed or forced." Lady Cotswalts tapped the table, clearly indicating that Olivia should deal out cards for another game.

Beside her, Rose snorted, "And is that why you orchestrated my own match?"

"I simply could see that you were right for each other. All I did was give you a helping hand, my dear." Lady Cotswalts smiled, looking like a cat who had found the cream. "Now, Olivia — you do not mind if I call you Olivia do you, dear?" Olivia shook her head, and Lady Cotswalts beamed.

"Now, Olivia, tell me. Is there truly no man who has caught your eye?"

Olivia laughed, trying to keep bitterness from her tone. "Plenty have caught my eye, but I find few can keep it." And fewer still want to.

"Well, I am sure there is someone out there who is perfect for you. All we have to do is find him." Lady Cotswalts stroked her chin thoughtfully.

"I wish that I had your confidence." Olivia smiled. "In truth, I would settle for adequate over perfection, and even that seems a vain hope."

Before Lady Cotswalts could reply, there was a knock at the door. Olivia stood up and went to open it. "It is probably Alexander, coming to check on you again."

Rose rolled her eyes, but Olivia could tell from the faint flush on her cheeks that Rose adored the way Alexander doted on her. She smiled and opened the door, a teasing remark ready.

But the person on the other side of it was not her brother. A man with sandy brown hair and startling green eyes stood before her.

He smiled and said, "Well, this is rather a surprise. I came here expecting a duke, and instead, I am faced with a lady."