Every ball had its eye-catching figures, usually "young women" who were innocent, natural, graceful, lively, and full of vitality. Generally, they came from the middle class. They did not actually need to dress themselves up deliberately; jewelry and fine clothes were for wealthy old women trying to conceal their age and wrinkles. No matter how carefully they maintained themselves, they could not compare to a newly blooming rose.
But this time, the center of attention was not some grown woman with her skirts flying across the dance floor, but a dark-skinned girl who looked about fifteen or sixteen. People were talking about her even more than Georgiana.
She had arrived with the fifth Duke and Duchess of Jerica of Spain. Beside her stood a boy under ten, wearing an Order of the Golden Fleece around his neck.
This little boy was the fourteenth Duke of Alba, the richest nobleman in Spain, without question. The thirteenth duke had left behind no children, not even a daughter. The dark-skinned girl had originally been the daughter of a slave, but the thirteenth duchess had later adopted her and named her Maria.
Though she was an adopted daughter, Maria could never inherit the title of Duke of Alba. The father of the little boy who had inherited the duchy, the Duke of Jerica, was from a cadet branch of the Stuarts. He had two sons, but his elder son had died young in 1795. In other words, this little boy would one day inherit his father's title as well.
Besides discussing how such a massive windfall had landed on this family, people were also discussing the thirteenth Duchess of Alba. The dukes of Alba had once had a female heir, and the thirteenth duchess was one of them. As the wealthiest couple in Spain,