Surrender Becomes Her by Heather Boyd

Author:Heather Boyd [Boyd, Heather]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Heather Boyd Books

Chapter Eleven

Laura stepped back from the duke and watched her husband rush away. “What happened?”

The duke chuckled. “Nash lost his temper. The chair suffered for my impertinence.”

She frowned. “Nash doesn’t have a temper.”

“Oh, yes, he does when it comes to you. It was something that should have come out a long time ago, too,” the duke said as he rolled to his feet. “Guildford has left in case you were interested.”

“Good,” she said, utterly relieved. Laura had dawdled in her search for Nash to avoid speaking to Guildford again.

The man had offered to be her personal physician after she had married Nash and had renewed his ambition again today. It had taken all her strength to hold her tongue about the chances of that happening.

She did not trust anyone with just enough medical knowledge to boast about it. They were a danger to everyone. Nash knew enough to tend minor wounds incurred on the estate. But he always deferred to an experienced hand if he could. Guildford had spent barely a year learning the craft and thought that more than enough to advise everyone he met, too. She wished he’d stop calling on her at Ravenswood to enquire after her health.

She studied the duke and noticed him rubbing his jaw. “Are you hurt?”

“Not exactly,” he said, and slowly straightened his cravat.

“Where did Nash go?”

She would like to avoid him. She was out of sorts still, and Guildford’s concerned sighs had made her feel anxious again.

Laura huffed as she noticed Algernon smirking, now. She added him to the list of irritants in the day. “The one thing I disliked intensely about you was that I never could get a straight answer out of you.”

The duke laughed. “I’m sure Nash has gone upstairs. After all he heard today I’m sure the children will calm him. Perhaps you’ll feel better if you join him there.”

The children had that effect on her, and she would go to them soon, except that Algernon was not above employing manipulation to get what he wanted. He always wanted her and Nash together in the same room. Although he usually never did his brothers a disservice, to her, he had become an obstacle in her path to freedom. Ravenswood was not convinced that a divorce was necessary, but it was.

“I’ll take a walk in the garden instead.”

The duke nodded. “I’ll come with you. In fact, I insist upon it.”

She could not refuse the duke. But he was likely scheming again and eventually she would find out what it was. She would wait him out and not ask. As long as he did not lead her directly to the nursery, she would play along for now.

The duke led her outside, away from the paths she usually took. They walked in silence for quite some time. Laura refused to be the first to start any conversation with him.

Eventually Algernon sighed heavily. “I see you are still as reluctant to amuse me as you ever were.”

“If His Grace requires entertainment, he has three brothers, an estate full of servants, or he could hire a companion to laugh at his jests.

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