"It's far too cold for croquet!" Emily St. Laurent, the Duchess of Essex, shouted at her husband. She curled a gloved hand over her swollen belly, which might hold the future heir to the Essex title, as she watched her husband, Godric, and his half brother, Jonathan St. Laurent, struggle to press the wickets into the hard ground of the small lawn in their back garden.

"Nonsense, darling," Godric grunted. "Just needs a bit of umph!" He slipped on the icy grass and landed on his ...