Desperate Duchesses
Chapter One
April 10, 1783
Beaumont House, Kensington
"In Paris, a married lady must have a lover or she is an
unknown. And she may be pardoned two." The door to the
drawing room swung open, but the young woman sitting
with her back to the door took no notice.
"Two?" an exquisitely dressed young man remarked. "I
gather that Frenchmen are a happy race of men. They
seemed so petulant to me when I was last there. It must
be the embarrassment of riches, like having three
custards after supper."
"Three lovers are considered rather too many," the woman
replied. "Although I have known some who considered
three to be a privilege rather than an abundance." Her
low laugh was a type that tickled a man's breastbone and
even lower. It said volumes about her personal abilities
to manage one-or three-Frenchmen with aplomb.
Her husband closed the door behind him and stepped into
the room.
The young man glanced up and came to his feet, bowing
without extraordinary haste. "Your Grace."
"Lord Corbin," the Duke of Beaumont replied, bowing.
Corbin was just to Jemma's taste: elegant, assured and
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