How the Duke Met His Match by Sophia Williams

Author:Sophia Williams
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2023-04-20T13:42:15+00:00

* * *

He began to regret agreeing to her suggestion within minutes of the meal starting. John and Harry seemed to have thawed dramatically towards Emma, but Freddie, well, Freddie was behaving as though he’d inherited his social skills from his great-aunt.

‘I don’t want to sit next to Emma,’ he began.

‘I’m very happy to sit here.’ Emma sat down between John and Harry.

‘Did you enjoy your walk with Nurse this afternoon?’ Emma asked.

‘Better than walking with you,’ Freddie muttered.

Alex opened his mouth to tell him to apologise immediately, but Emma hurriedly began to talk to John and Harry about frogs and tadpoles. She lifted her eyebrows and indicated Freddie with her eyes, all the while smiling and continuing to talk to the other two, and eventually Alex deduced that she thought he should talk to Freddie.

When they’d finished eating, Emma pushed her chair backwards and said, ‘I’m quite exhausted by my busy day today. I’m going to retire to bed now.’

Perfect. If they retired to their chambers at different times, there should be no danger that Alex would succumb to temptation and kiss her again.

‘I’ll see you in the morning, boys. Alex, I wonder if I could speak to you for a moment outside before you read together?’

‘Of course.’ Alex stood up and followed her outside. Perhaps she was going to tell him that she couldn’t bear to look after the boys any more. He really hoped that wasn’t it. ‘I’m so sorry about Freddie’s rudeness. I’m going to have a very firm word with him now.’

‘Without wishing to dictate to you about your children, I’d like to say that I really don’t think you should tell him off,’ Emma said. ‘I think something’s happened. I think you ought to ask him what’s wrong. When he’s on his own.’

Not at all what he’d been expecting her to say. Alex reflected for a moment; maybe she was right.

Half an hour later, as John and Harry were engrossed in a game of sticks, Freddie suddenly blurted out, before Alex had had the opportunity to ask him anything, ‘So, are we going to get another baby in our family?’

Well. It seemed as though Emma was right; Freddie didn’t sound happy.

‘No,’ Alex said cautiously. ‘Did someone tell you that we would?’

‘Mikey said.’

Damn. If Freddie was going to visit the stables, why couldn’t the grooms just have done their usual swearing and letting Freddie throw fallen orchard apples and ruin the head gardener’s prized ornamental lawn?

‘No. We are not,’ he said firmly.

‘But Mikey said when people get married, like you and Emma, they usually have babies.’

Alex frowned, realising all of a sudden just how carefully he was going to have to tread in setting an example for his children. He wanted them to experience strong, loving marriages as adults, the kind he’d had with Diana and his parents had had. So it wouldn’t be good if they witnessed him and Emma in a soulless marriage. But he couldn’t allow himself to develop feelings for her,

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