A Vixen for a Viscount_Clean Regency Romance_A Duke's Daughters_The Elbury Bouquet_Book 2_Hyacinth) by Arietta Richmond

Author:Arietta Richmond [Richmond, Arietta]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dreamstone Publishing
Published: 2019-06-23T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Kevin sat with his father in the study at Chester Park, tiredness filling him. He had not intended to be back here so soon, yet his mother had sent a letter, begging that he come home for at least a few days, to help with all of the organising for Charles and Maria’s wedding. Why it took so much, when they had intentionally chosen to have a quiet wedding in the nearby small church, he was not quite sure, but he had come as she had asked.

Lord Chester looked more careworn than ever, and seemed, somehow, to have shrunk somewhat since Kevin had seen him last, but a few weeks before. Kevin rose, and went to the sideboard, filling two glasses from the brandy decanter. As he replaced the stopper in the decanter, an odd choked sound came from behind him. He spun around, to see his father hastily wiping his lips with a handkerchief. A handkerchief which was spotted with blood. In two steps, Kevin was beside Lord Chester, his hand halting his father’s as the older man tried to shove the stained handkerchief into a pocket.

“Father… that makes it obvious that, as I had suspected, something is very much amiss with you. Please, tell me the truth of it. Why have you hidden this?”

Lord Chester sighed, and Kevin stepped back, then retrieved the glasses of brandy, and sat down beside him again. His father sipped his brandy, and Kevin waited, hoping that he would get truth, not avoidance.

“Why have I hidden it? Because this is a time for Maria to be happy, for her to marry, and go to have a life of her own with a man who will be good to her. You know your sister – if she knew that I ailed in any way, she would be brewing healing tisanes and refusing to leave here until she either healed me, or I was gone from this earth. That’s no life for a young woman who has already suffered enough! I am quite sure that this can’t be healed, anyway. My grandfather went this way, and I watched the progression of the disease. I don’t know how long I have, but I doubt it’s more than a year, at most. So, I have been putting my affairs in order, preparing things so that it will be as easy as possible for you, when you must take up the responsibilities of the title.”

Kevin felt his heart sink. He had hoped… but no, in the core of him, he had known, for a long time now, that what was amiss with his father was something like this. He had simply not wanted to believe it.

“Will you at least see a physician, and confirm the truth of it – you could be wrong about it not being able to be healed.”

“Perhaps – but not until after Maria and Charles are wed, and gone off to the north – Melton’s giving them that northernmost property as a wedding

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