"My dear, you need not pretend you do not know. Charles got it from Mr. George Graham. Mrs. MacGreagor only came to beg a divorce from your brother."
"Truly?" Charlotte asked, not bothering to hide the delight in her eyes.
"Charlotte, it is not true," McKenna quickly countered.
"Why else would he send her away the very next day?" Loretta asked.
"My brother wished her to…" McKenna tried.
Charlotte rolled her eyes. "He tricked her into leaving."
McKenna was dismayed. "Charlotte, please."
"Well, he did. He sent her back and promised to follow her to Scotland, but he has no intention of leaving Colorado. He…"
Abigail took pity on a horrified McKenna and interrupted, "My dear, Charlotte, a servant does not speak of her employer's private affairs."
"Yes, but you will not tell, will you?" Charlotte was pleased when all the women shook their heads. "There, you see. Besides, I am not really a servant, I am a teacher."
"A teacher?" McKenna asked. "You've not said a word about it before."
Charlotte looked particularly pleased with herself. "Well, I should not have said it now. I have yet to secure a position, and I feared if Mr. Hannish learned I seek employment elsewhere, he would send me away."
"My brother is not like that," said McKenna.
"I know that now, and that is why I say it. I am very proud of my teaching certificate," Charlotte said.
Abigail hoped to change the subject and gleefully put her hands together. "The Duchess of Ainsbury was to be a teacher too, but that was before she married her duke. McKenna you must know her."
It took a moment for McKenna to gather her wits. "I do not recall a Duchess of Ainsbury. What is her given name?"
"Mary, I believe. Of course, we just called her duchess and I do not recall ever hearing her married name. We met at the Banker's ball last year. It was held at the very fine Manitou House in Manitou Springs. McKenna, you have not likely been there yet, you being so new to the neighborhood." Abigail nodded for the footman to pour her tea and hardly paused to breathe before she went on, "The ball gown she wore gave me quite a flutter and I told Claymore, I simply had to have one just like it. He agreed, naturally, but then he rarely denies me anything. McKenna you must know her. Hannish said you know practically everyone in London society."
McKenna hesitated to say it, but truth among friends seemed to be called for in this case. "I am afraid I do not. As far as I know, there is no Duke of Ainsbury and I am sad to say, there is no such place as Ainsbury in either Scotland or England."