The Portrait of a Duchess


 
 
 
 
 
 
 Contents
 
 Cover
 Title Page
 Dedication
 Contents
 Author’s Note
 Excerpt From the Catalogue Raisonné of Cornelia Ludgate
 Chapter One
 Chapter Two
 Chapter Three
 Chapter Four
 Chapter Five
 Chapter Six
 Chapter Seven
 Chapter Eight
 Chapter Nine
 Chapter Ten
 Chapter Eleven
 Chapter Twelve
 Chapter Thirteen
 Chapter Fourteen
 Chapter Fifteen
 Chapter Sixteen
 Chapter Seventeen
 Chapter Eighteen
 Chapter Nineteen
 Chapter Twenty
 Chapter Twenty-One
 Chapter Twenty-Two
 Chapter Twenty-Three
 Chapter Twenty-Four
 Chapter Twenty-Five
 Chapter Twenty-Six
 Chapter Twenty-Seven
 Chapter Twenty-Eight
 Chapter Twenty-Nine
 Chapter Thirty
 Chapter Thirty-One
 Chapter Thirty-Two
 Chapter Thirty-Three
 Chapter Thirty-Four
 Chapter Thirty-Five
 Chapter Thirty-Six
 Chapter Thirty-Seven
 Chapter Thirty-Eight
 Chapter Thirty-Nine
 Chapter Forty
 Chapter Forty-One
 Chapter Forty-Two
 Chapter Forty-Three
 Chapter Forty-Four
 Chapter Forty-Five
 Chapter Forty-Six
 Epilogue
 Excerpt From the Catalogue Raisonné of Cornelia Ludgate
 Acknowledgments
 Announcement
 About the Author
 Praise for the Work of Scarlett Peckham
 By Scarlett Peckham
 Copyright
 About the Publisher
 
 
 
 
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 Dedication
 
 
 For those not pictured
 
 
 
 
 
 Author’s Note
 
 
 Dear Reader,
 In building the world for the Society of Sirens series, I felt passionately that in portraying a group of radical women fighting
 for justice, it was important that they be intersectional. My characters are inspired by the racially, sexually, and economically
 diverse feminists, abolitionists, and reformers who have been on the front lines of the fight for equality and human rights
 throughout the course of history.
 
 I want all of my Sirens to get the love stories they deserve. I have made every effort to be sensitive and authentic in my
 portrayal of Cornelia, Rafe, and all my characters—but I know I have my own biases and blind spots. I hope I have done Cornelia,
 Rafe, and their friends justice. Any mistakes I have made are my own.
 
 Love,
 Scarlett
 
 
 
 
 
 Excerpt From the Catalogue Raisonné of Cornelia Ludgate
 
 
 Work 4008: The Baptism of the Jezebels
 Oil on Canvas
 1797
 
 Description: Four bare-breasted women in veils stand with linked arms in the foreground. Behind them, hundreds of aristocrats run from
 a stately manor wearing expressions of terror.
 
 
 The women are smiling.
 
 Commentary: The painting depicts the artist Cornelia Ludgate with three famed eighteenth-century protofeminists: the radical author
 Seraphina Arden; the aristocratic matron and intellectual Lady Elinor Bell; and the infamous courtesan-for-hire Thaïs Magdalene.
 
 
 Recurring figures throughout Ludgate’s oeuvre, the close-knit group of women called themselves The Society of Sirens, so named
 for their revolutionary mission to weaponize their notorious reputations to raise interest in the cause of female rights 
 
 Chapter One
 
 Cornelia Ludgate tore open the wax seal on a letter and scanned the contents just long enough to see the word regrets.
 
 
 Her stomach did an unwelcome little curtsy. This was not good news.
 
 Another rejection. The third this week, the tenth this month.
 
 “It’s a no,” she announced briskly, allowing the letter to flutter to the floor with all the other missives offering insincere
 excuses from her supposed allies in the cause for female rights. Her acquaintances should know she preferred to deal in cheerful,
 brutal frankness. Just the no’s would do.
 
 
 Her three best friends, scattered in poses around her painting studio in various draped costumes, groaned.
 
 “Another?” Thaïs said with a dramatic sigh.