"Curtsy Lower," the Duchess Ordered — The Duke Pulled the Girl to Her Feet and Silenced the Room

It is the first cold week of autumn at Wycombe House, and Clara Hartley — the country vicar's daughter who arrived this afternoon with one small trunk and a borrowed pair of evening gloves — has just walked into a drawing-room full of women who were not, on the whole, glad to see her. The Duchess of Wycombe has already decided how this introduction is going to go. Her son, the Duke, has just walked in from the stable yard with quite a different idea. What he does not know, as he lifts Clara to her feet in front of every guest in the room, is that the girl he has just defended has come to this house carrying more than one quiet purpose.