Allegra Duke

Allegra Duke is a character from Kaori Yuki's Cain Saga. She is the birth mother of Mary Weather.

Appearance
Allegra is described as looking similar to her daughter. Allegra has long wavy blonde hair. She is depicted to wear a maid's uniform while working at Cornwall Castle.

History
Allegra is the mother of Cain Hargreaves younger step-sister, Mary Weather. Before having Mary Weather, Allegra was engaged to a man named Burgess. When her fiance turned abusive and possessive, Allegra decides to run away for her own safety.

After her escape, she finds work as a maid at Cornwall Castle. There, she met Alexis Hargreaves, the Earl of Cornwall at the time. The two had an affair for an undetermined amount of time, during which Alexis gave Allegra a silver bracelet engraved with the Hargreaves family crest and the inscription, "For my beloved Allegra". Presumably during the same time period, Allegra also had an affair with the head butler, which resulted in her becoming pregnant with Mary Weather.

Upon learning of her pregnancy, Allegra left her employment at the Cornwall castle and went to make a living on the streets of London. She supported herself by giving eerily accurate tarot card readings, a skill which Mary would later too, inherit.

According to Mary, she and her mother both possessed the ability to 'see' otherworldly spirits. Despite living a tolerable life while raising Mary Weather, Allegra looked after several other orphans, including Mary's friend Eric.

Three years prior before Mary was introduced, Allegra's obsessed fiance, Burgess, who now became a policeman, had successfully tracked her down after years of searching. He sought Allegra out and confronts her. Interrogating her for details on Mary Weather.

Fearing that Burgess might kill Mary because she was not his child, Allegra refuses to answer. Instead, she chose death to protect her daughter by consuming a white powdery poison concealed in the bracelet that Alexis gave her.

Trivia

 * The name Allegra means "cheerful, lively" in Italian.