Marblestone Mansion 01 - Scandalous Duchess

into leaving.”
    McKenna was dismayed. “Charlotte, please.”
    “ Well he did. He sent her back and promised to follow her to Scotland, but he has no intention of leaving Colorado. He…”
    Abigail took pity on a horrified McKenna and interrupted, “My dear Charlotte, a servant does not speak of her employer’s private affairs.”
    “ Yes, but you would will not tell, will you?” Charlotte was pleased when all the women shook their heads. “There, you see. Besides, I am not really a servant, I am a teacher.”
    “ A teacher?” McKenna asked. “You’ve not said a word about it before.”
    Charlotte looked particularly pleased with herself. “Well, I should not have said it now. I have yet to secure a position, and I feared if Mr. Hannish learned I seek employment elsewhere, he would send me away.”
    “ My brother is not like that,” said McKenna
    “ I know that now, and that is why I say it. I am very proud of my teaching certificate,” Charlotte said.
    Abigail hoped to change the subject and gleefully put her hands together. “The Duchess of Ainsbury was to be a teacher too, but that was before she married her duke. McKenna you must know her.”
    It took a moment for McKenna to gather her wits. “I do not recall a Duchess of Ainsbury. What is her given name?”
    “ Mary, I believe. Of course, we just called her duchess and I do not recall ever hearing her married name. We met at the Banker’s ball last year. It was held at the very fine Manitou House in Manitou Springs. McKenna, you have not likely been there yet, you being so new to the neighborhood.” Abigail nodded for the footman to pour her tea and hardly paused to breathe before she went on, “The ball gown she wore gave me quite a flutter and I told Claymore, I simply had to have one just like it. He agreed, naturally, but then he rarely denies me anything. McKenna you must know her. Hannish said you know practically everyone in London society.”
    McKenna hesitated to say it, but truth among friends seemed to be called for in this case. “I am afraid I do not. As far as I know, there is no Duke of Ainsbury and I am sad to say, there is no such place as Ainsbury in either Scotland or England.”
    “ Imposters?” Abigail cried out, putting her hand on her racing heart. “They stayed with us for nearly a month and we treated them like the royalty we thought they were. Claymore paid for everything, even their expenses home.”
    McKenna leaned to the side a little so the footman could set her cup of tea on the table. “I suspect there are plenty of British royalty imposters in America and how could you know? How could anyone know the difference? I must ask my brother, Cameron, to send me a list of all the real royalty, and…”
    “ And post it in every hotel,” Abigail said. “My dear, I am so happy you are here. We’ll not be fooled again.”
    It was down to business finally, for Abigail’s sewing circle, and Pearl patiently showed McKenna how to put the blocks and wedges together to make designs. While she did, Pearl managed to ask a few more questions, “You have another brother, you say. Is he as handsome as Hannish?”
    McKenna smiled. “I am hardly one to judge. He is married as well and I adore his wife. They hope to visit before the summer is out.”
    Loretta, the only other single woman in the room, had a definite glint of excitement in her eyes. “Your brother is a real duke, is he not?”
    “ Aye, but it means nothing here in America,” McKenna said.
    “ It would mean a great deal to the woman who secures him. It would mean a very great deal,” said pearl.
    McKenna was not amused. “I caution you, my brother is not seeking a new wife, and certainly not one who is more interested in his title than in him.”
    “ Of course not,” Abigail soothed. “But you, my dear, are quite without a husband, and I hope to introduce you to several of our gentlemen friends soon. Perhaps we might manage to make you forget the man you left in Scotland. When is the next ball, Vivian?”
    Vivian sighed. “The middle of next month and I’ve nothing to wear.”
    “ You will come, won’t you, McKenna? And bring your handsome brother?” Pearl asked.
    “ Oh yes, please do,” Loretta agreed.
    “ I shall ask him.”
    Neither Pearl nor Loretta noticed Charlotte’s scowl.

    CHAPTER 8

    They spoke of little in the carriage on the way home, mostly because McKenna was livid. She tried not to let on and if Charlotte knew how upset