Page 1 of The Wedding-Crashing Duchess

CHAPTER 1

“You’ve barely said a word all evening.”

Augusta Cluett turned her head slowly and found her sister watching her with an expression of grave concern. When Augusta didn’t answer back immediately, Charity pressed on.

“Is there a reason, or something that you need to tell me?” Charity looked at her sister expectantly. “You’re never this quiet.”

“Oh, I think you’re reading too much into things.” Augusta waved a dismissive hand in the air. “Surely, I am allowed to be silent, if I wish. Everyone else in this hall is chattering away, and if you really wish to have conversation, you ought to speak to one of them.”

Charity looked at her sister with an expression of both disappointment and amusement.

“I’m not concerned whether you are speaking to me,” she said, looking around the room which was supposedly filled with some of the most eligible bachelors in all of London. “Just that you don’t seem to be interested in speaking to anyone else either. What was wrong with the gentleman who tried to strike up a conversation with you just now? You gave him clipped answers, and the poor soul eventually just retreated. I could tell that he was interested in you.”

“Oh, don’t go and play matchmaker,” Augusta narrowed her eyes at her sister. “Besides, nothing he was saying was of any interest to me.”

“I feel that you should have at least given him a chance.” Charity frowned, which was not a surprise. Augusta knew that her sister wanted the “best” for her, and apparently that involved marrying a suitable man.

“Let me be earnest with you,” Augusta lowered her voice. “I am not interested in engaging with any of the men tonight. Surely, I’m allowed that.”

Something in the seriousness with which Augusta said the words struck a comedic chord in Charity, and she laughed, drawing the attention of an elderly lady seated a few places away. The woman looked at them with interest, no doubt hoping they were discussing something worth repeating, and Charity immediately transformed her expression into one of composed innocence.

“Fine, then.”

The ballroom at Hewes Park had been arranged with all the splendor expected of an earl’s daughter on the occasion of her engagement. The engagement of Lady Phillipa Hewes to the Duke of Ravenhill had drawn half the fashionable world, and the other half would undoubtedly claim to have been present when the marriage was discussed afterward. Everywhere Augusta looked, she saw ladies dressed in their best silks and gentlemen displaying their finest coats.

Phillipa stood near her mother beneath an arrangement of pale roses, receiving congratulations with a graceful smile that had not altered once during the evening.

Charity followed her gaze, which had landed on Phillipa for perhaps the tenth time that night. Though Augusta told herself that it was only by coincidence.

“I see now why you’re not interested in speaking to anyone at all,” Charity said, seeming rather pleased with herself for arriving at some great conclusion. “Rather, you’re fixated on the star of tonight’s event.”

She made a gesture, nodding her head in the direction of Phillipa.

Augusta smoothed an invisible crease from the skirt of her pale green gown. “I am curious, naturally.”

“Phillipa appears very happy,” Charity noted, causing Augusta to roll her eyes in response.

Charity studied her for a moment. The amusement faded from her face, though her tone remained gentle.

“You do not believe so?”

“I do not know whether she is happy. I have not spoken to her for more than two minutes at a time since the engagement was announced, and during those two minutes there were at least seven people listening to every word we said,” Augusta said quickly, pursing her lips. “So, I have no real reason to believe it.’

“Huh,” Charity considered her words, “still, I would say that you are being a bit presumptuous. I would tell you to be happy for her, and not worry. Your time will come soon.”

Augusta’s mouth dropped open at her sister's words.

“Are you implying that I am somehow jealous of her?”

“Well, no…” Charity tried to backpedal, though the damage had already been done. “I know that there has always been a little bit of a... competition between the two of you, and it's only natural to...”

“Please. You’re being ridiculous,” Augusta cut her off mid-sentence. “I simply think it strange that she should accept a man she has known for so little time.”

Surely, that was the entire reason. Charity was so irritating with her presumptions, she thought to herself.

“Many women marry men they have known for less time.”

Augusta glanced toward Phillipa again. She had moved farther into the room and was now speaking to a group of married ladies, each of whom seemed intent upon offering advice. Phillipa listened with the same perfect attention she gave everyone, tilting her head at precisely the proper angle and smiling whenever courtesy required it.