Frederica in Fashion by MC Beaton Page A

duke felt he was doing his duty as a host and never once thought of organizing amateur theatricals, games or charades, or anything else that might have relieved the boredom.
    The duke himself did not enjoy house parties but felt it his duty to return hospitality by inviting as many people to stay at the one time, and so getting the boring business of returning entertainment over with in one go.
    He was regretting his offer to escort Lady Godolphin and Miss Armitage to London. Miss Armitage had failed to hold his interest. Every time he saw her, she either had her head in a book or was sitting, dumb and embarrassed, at his dinner table.
    As the rain continued to fall, the guests began totake their leave, tedium driving away even the most determined sponger.
    At last, there were only Lady Godolphin and Frederica left.
    The duke sent a message to Lady Godolphin suggesting they make their departure for London before the roads became any worse. The servants and luggage were to precede them in two carriages so that they would be waiting at each posting house for the duke to arrive. Frederica was disappointed. She had hoped to enjoy Mary’s cheerful company on the journey.
    They set out on a miserable morning with the rain pitting the lakes which had formed on the lawns in front of the house.
    Frederica and Lady Godolphin were to travel with the duke in his carriage.
    To Frederica’s relief, Lady Godolphin talked nonstop for most of the morning as the carriage rumbled through a rain-drenched countryside. Finally, the duke, seeming to become weary of trying to understand her malapropisms, fell asleep.
    ‘Such a handsome man,’ sighed Lady Godolphin. ‘Deep in the arms of Murphy, he is. I do hope he has made arrangements to break our journey soon for it is wearisome when you can’t see anything but rain and more rain.’
    The carriage lamps had been lit because it had grown almost as black as night. A wind had risen and was driving great sheets of water against the carriage windows. Frederica began to feel sick with thelurching and swaying of the carriage. Lady Godolphin had fallen asleep as well, her turbanned head bobbing up and down as the carriage pitched like a ship on the high seas.
    Frederica took out a book but found all she could make out was the whiteness of the page. The lamps inside the carriage had not been lit and she did not have a tinder box. All she could see of the duke opposite was the paleness of his face and cravat against the black of his clothes. He seemed to wear a great deal of black.
    She wondered if the duke had ever been in love or if he had always simply ‘shopped’ for one. The face Lady James showed the duke was a very different one from the one she showed the servants. When he was anywhere on the scene, she became all soft voice and melting glances. Frederica gave herself a shake. She did not want to think of the duke with Lady James any more than she wanted to think about her father with Sarah.
    Frederica fumbled in her reticule for her vinaigrette . She wished she had the courage to wake the duke and beg him to stop the carriage.
    ‘We have been travelling for hours ,’ thought Frederica dismally. ‘He surely does not mean to drive until nightfall. Oh, if only this sickening motion would stop !’
    Unconsciously, she had said the last words aloud. The duke’s eyes opened. ‘What is thematter?’ he asked.
    ‘I f-feel s-sick,’ stammered Frederica. ‘I am going to be sick.’
    The duke picked up his silver-headed swordstick and pushed up the trap in the roof, letting in a small flood of water right on Lady Godolphin’s head.
    ‘Follicles!’ spluttered that lady. ‘What’s to do?’
    ‘Miss Armitage is sick,’ said the duke calmly. He called to his coachman, ‘Bob, hold the horses.’ There was a hoarse reply and to Frederica it seemed as if the whole shaking, swaying world had miraculously righted itself. But her stomach still heaved.
    ‘I had better get down,’ she