you here to Bath.”
Magda shrugged, severely challenging the confines of her bodice. “I encountered Gus in London. At the tables, naturellement. You must do something about that one, Saint. She needs a gentleman with sufficient wealth to stake her, and a skin thick enough to withstand her barbs.”
“Even did I discover such a paragon, I could hardly make her marry him.” Justin recalled his own bride’s brief hesitation when asked if she’d been forced to wed. “You still haven’t told me why you are here. And I don’t refer to the breakfast table. Get out of my plate, you wretched bird.”
“How untrusting you are grown.” Magda diverted Birdie’s attention from the ducal breakfast with an apple wedge. “I do not recall why we parted. You were jealous, I think.”
Justin leaned back in his chair. “If I was jealous, madam, it was not without good cause. As you have pointed out, we were young. I would not be so foolish now.”
Magda tilted her head to one side. “You are grown beyond jealousy, my Saint?”
Lady Augusta paused in the doorway. “What is that bird doingon the breakfast table?” she demanded. The parrot shrieked. Magda tossed another grape. Birdie caught it with an elegant snap of her beak.
Justin swooped up the parrot. Birdie ruffled up and snapped her beak. “Bite me and it’s in the soup pot with you!” he informed her. She subsided. He deposited her on the perch.
From the sideboard, Lady Augusta selected rashers of bacon, and oatmeal with sweet cream. Be conciliatory,she told herself; much as it might go against the grain. Therefore she waited while a footman brushed parrot traces from the table, and summoned forth a smile. “Thank you, Justin. I have nothing against the pretty bird, but it did not seem appropriate to have her at the table. I trust you slept well?”
Augusta expected him to believe this attempt at conciliation? “No,” “And if you step one foot inside Catterick’s, I shall cut off your allowance for a year. You will have heard of Catterick’s. It is a gaming hell.”
Gus opened her mouth and closed it. “ Voyons! ” said Magda. “Augusta merely wanted to speak further with you about the dinner party she is planning in honor of your bride. A fillet of pheasant and truffles. Soup à la Reine.Larded partridges, as I recollect.”
“It will be a charming evening.” Gus toyed with a bacon slice. “Your bride must be introduced to Bath society, you know. The cream of Bath society, that is, not the encroaching mushrooms one encounters in the Pump Room and on the streets. I’ll wager a pony—I mean, I am certain!—Elizabeth would like it of all things.”
“You think so, do you?”
“ Here is Elizabeth,”said Magda. “Why not ask her yourself. Did you sleep well, petite?”
What a cozy group they made around the breakfast table. Could Elizabeth have ducked out of the room without being noticed, she would have done so. However, Magda had seen her, as had Birdie, who let out a great squawk. Madame’s décolletagedipped lower daily. Elizabeth was tempted to yank what little existed of that bodice right up to the lady’s chin.
“I slept well, thank you,” she said coolly, and walked to the parrot cage, where Birdie was sulkily chewing on her perch. “Good morning, fuss and feathers! And how did you sleep?”
Birdie spread her wings and quivered. Elizabeth held out her hand. With the parrot perched snugly on her shoulder, she moved to the sideboard. A footman loaded up her plate with grilled beef and sausage, and a kipper for the bird.
Justin reflected that his duchess looked as if she, at least, had enjoyed a peaceful night. She also looked quite pretty in her pale blue long-sleeved gown. Birdie made an interesting fashion accessory. Justin picked the grape up off his plate, and tossed it. The parrot caught it in midair.
Elizabeth flinched. Magda laughed. “Be careful, Saint, or your wife will think you are throwing food at her. Augusta
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