Marblestone Mansion 01 - Scandalous Duchess

you…oh, he has? Paris is beautiful this time of year…quilting, oh yes I would love to…may I bring a guest?…thank you, I shall see you tomorrow then.” Excited, she hurried down the stairs, knocked on the door and walked into the study. “Good news!”
    “ What?” Hannish asked, setting his fountain pen down.
    “ Charles Whitfield leaves tomorrow for Paris?”
    “ That is good news. I shall tell the lads they no longer have to watch the trees.”
    “ Abigail has invited me to a quilting party tomorrow afternoon.”
    “ Would you like me to go with you?”
    “ Nay, but I would like to take Charlotte. She loves to sew and can teach me if quilting is beyond my understanding.”
    “ Charlotte will likely enjoy that. I have seen the quilts Abigail and her friends make, and they are quite nice. Next, you will want me to take you to town so you can buy up all the cloth you see.”
    “ Would you? I’ve been longing to go and now that Charles will not be a bother…come to think of it, you need not go with me now, unless you want to.”
    He looked surprised. “Of course I want to, I have neglected you long enough. Will Saturday be soon enough? I must see about our dear Mr. Graham on Saturday anyway.”
    “ You are not going to kill him, are you?”
    Hannish chuckled. “Not unless he shoots first.”
    “ Saturday is fine then.” She kissed his cheek and went to find Charlotte.
    Hannish opened his accounting book again and started to add up this day’s expenses. Just then, he heard a scratching somewhere. For a moment, he feared the place had rats, but when he heard it again, he got up and tried to figure out where it was coming from. At last, he opened the door and Olivia’s puppy bolted into the room. The dog scurried around, smelled this and that, and then ran back. He sat at Hannish’s feet, looked up and whimpered.
    “ Do you not get enough attention?” he asked, picking the dog up and rubbing it behind the ears. “You need a new name.” He went back to his chair, set the dog in his lap and went back to work. In no time at all, the curled up puppy was fast asleep.

    The Whitfield Mansion was lavishly and colorfully decorated – perhaps a little too colorfully. Chandeliers in every room were as magnificent as any McKenna had ever seen, and her comment made her hostess very proud. The formal dining room had blue wallpaper with curtains to match, and the long table was already cluttered with patterns and different colors of cloth. Five women were hard at work, cutting the cloth into squares, circles and wedges, but they stopped when McKenna and Charlotte entered the room.
    “ Miss McKenna MacGreagor, I would like you to meet Mrs. Maude Goodwin,” said Abigail.
    Maude smiled sweetly, “I believe you have met my husband, Miss MacGreagor.”
    “ I believe I have. Please call me McKenna.” She feared Maude would remark on what happened in town with Charles, but thankfully, she did not. “This is Charlotte, our seamstress. I confess I sew little except to embroidery and I am counting on Charlotte to help me learn.”
    Said Abigail, “We are happy to have help wherever we can find it.” She introduced Mrs. Vivian Mabs, Mrs. Wilma Miller, Miss Loretta Collins and Miss Pearl Hughes. “Sit down, McKenna, and now that you are here, I shall ring for tea. Cook makes the most wonderful apple pie, only not in the usual form. She makes individual servings surrounded with crust and sprinkled with just a touch of sugar.”
    “ It sounds delightful.” McKenna made herself comfortable and motioned for Charlotte to sit beside her, while Abigail rang for tea.
    The woman next to her touched McKenna’s hand to get her attention. “Your brother is very handsome.”
    “ Thank you, Pearl.”
    “ Indeed he is,” Loretta agreed. “And we are not the only ones who think so.”
    “ I shall happily…” McKenna started.
    “ He is married,” Charlotte mumbled.
    “ Not for long, the way I hear it?” said Abigail.
    “ What?” McKenna asked.
    “ My dear, you need not pretend you do not know, Charles got it from Mr. George Graham. Mrs. MacGreagor only came to beg a divorce from your brother.”
    “ Truly?” Charlotte asked, not bothering to hide the delight in her eyes.
    “ Charlotte, it is not true,” McKenna quickly countered.
    “ Why else would he send her away the very next day?” Loretta asked.
    “ My brother wished her to…” McKenna tried.
    Charlotte rolled her eyes. “He tricked her