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The guests and the Bishop of London gathered around the large dining table draped with pristine white linens, each setting boasting fine china, polished silver cutlery, and sparkling crystal glassware. An impressive centerpiece combined a floral arrangement featuring yellow irises with elegantly crafted silver and gold decorations.

“Let me guess.” Nathaniel chuckled. “Do you like yellow irises?”

Calliope shrugged one shoulder. “Your observational skills are unprecedented.”

He cocked one eyebrow in question. “Aren’t they a little too simplistic for a duke’s sister…and now wife?”

“I beg your pardon! My mother loved them as they signify hope and wisdom. She always said she needed both, being a duke’s wife in England.” She looked at a large portrait of a very handsome and muscular dark-haired man. “We can use all of the hope we can get at the moment.”

Nathaniel recognized Spencer, the former Duke of Grandhampton. He’d seen him in Portside boxing, as well as at drunken soirées usually attended by rakes.

“Besides,” she said, “I love the vibrant color, and I think they’re very pretty.”

As the guests gathered around the table, the footmen came to help everyone sit. The old butler came to Calliope and with tears in his eyes said, “On behalf of the whole staff downstairs, madam, may I offer our best wishes for your health and happiness.”

Calliope smiled warmly. “Thank you, Teanby.” Then she looked around at the footmen, who cast warm glances upon her. “Thank you, everyone.”

They all took their seats at the table, which held seemingly endless platters of perfectly presented food: cold cuts of meat and cheese, bread, poached salmon with hollandaise sauce, asparagus vinaigrette, and slices of succulent roast beef accompanied by a tangy horseradish cream. The wedding cake stood on the sideboard, ready to be served. It was an intricately decorated fruitcake with white sugar flowers and icing. Nathaniel didn’t particularly enjoy fruitcake as he found the combination of dried fruits, nuts, and spices, and the layer of marzipan and white fondant too intense. But after years of eating stew at practically every supper, he was not about to be picky.

While the footmen served the first course, Nathaniel became aware of more than one heavy set of eyes on him. Grandhampton, who sat on the other side of Calliope, glared at him, while his wife, Penelope, chatted happily with the Bishop of London, an elderly man with a round head and a powdered wig.

Calliope’s brother Richard and his new wife, Jane, had arrived from the country, and his was the second pair of heavy eyes that kept Nathaniel in their glaring focus. The third was from the Duke of Loxchester, Sebastian, the best friend of Preston, and a close friend of the family.

The dowager duchess, regal and stately, sat next to his sisters and talked to them with a pleasant expression. Nathaniel’s heart melted as he watched Hazel’s turquoise eyes glimmer with excitement and awe as she gazed upon everything and everyone around her. Despite the rebellious and distant front that she put on every day—no doubt trying to show she did not care about anything—he knew that deep down she missed a female presence in her life. She had no one to look up to, no one to listen to. The same was true for Poppy and Violet.

“What a splendid house,” said Violet as she picked up the fork for the main course to select a piece of cheese. “Do you have a library here, Calliope?”

Nathaniel didn’t care if anyone present thought them ill-bred; he’d put anyone in their place if they dared to point out the holes in his sisters’ etiquette.

Calliope beamed at Violet across the table. “We do, indeed. Do you like reading?”

Violet made a gesture over her nose as though she was pushing her spectacles up. She hadn’t put them on this morning, eager to make a good impression on her new relatives. Poppy and Violet stared at Calliope as though she were a goddess that had descended from the heavens and not merely a woman. Hazel, however, eyed her with skepticism.

“I do!” declared Violet.

“Well then, you have a lot in common with your new sister-in-law,” said Lady Jane. “And with me!”

Nathaniel remembered how, on the day he’d met Calliope at the Royal Navy ball, a scandal had erupted around Miss Jane Grant, as she’d been called then. Her half brother, the infamous Thorne Blackmore, had stormed Carlton House with his band of men to break up Jane and Richard’s engagement and to take her home. Nathaniel thought both Thorne and Richard were quite daring, the former angering the prince regent, the most powerful man in England, the latter angering Thorne, the most dangerous criminal lord of London’s underworld.

“I, for one, don’t,” said Poppy, holding her nose higher than she should. “I prefer adventures.”

“Well, you have that in common with Calliope, too,” said the dowager with a soft smile. “Our Calliope may seem like a wallflower, but that is just one of the covers she likes to use.”

Nathaniel cursed inwardly. Yes, Calliope was brave and smart and didn’t back down from her goal. And he’d be hard-pressed to keep her safe.

“What all three of you need,” said the dowager, “is someone to help you when you come out. With your brother’s permission, I would be pleased to take you all under my wing.”

The twins’ delighted sighs and gasps were like knives through his heart, a reminder of how he had failed them in his duty to take care of them and give them the best future. Hazel, however, said nothing; he saw how hard she was trying to keep a straight face, but her burning eyes gave her away.

“Kelford, we must have a conversation now that you’re my brother…” said Richard. “Which was a big surprise, by the way, sister,” he said to Calliope, “when I warned you to stay away from him.”

“So did I,” said Preston.

“Both of you,” said Calliope. “It’s done. Please don’t stir the pot. Preston, you gave your blessing. Richard, all you can do is be supportive of my new husband.”

“I just wonder about your intentions,” said Richard as he laid his fork and knife down. “Just to clarify, you signed the marriage contract where you won’t touch Calliope’s significant dowry.”

Nathaniel straightened his back, putting his fork and knife down, as well. “Indeed.”