Emily St. Laurent, the Duchess of Essex, sat in the drawing room of Lord Denbruck's townhouse in Mayfair, sipping tea. Beside her, Horatia and Audrey were also holding teacups. Lord Denbruck, an older man who still bore the vestiges of his handsome features, had been delighting the ladies with tales of his youth.

"My lord," Emily said at an appropriate lull in the conversation. "The portrait behind youmay I ask who that is?" She nodded politely at a beautiful woman with blonde ...