The Duke's Kiss by Porta Monica La

Author:Porta, Monica La [Porta, Monica La]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-03-13T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

Albourne Park, England, December 1813

William paid a call to the twins after spending most of the day hoping to catch a glimpse of Flora. A rash decision. In his own defense, Arthur had gone to visit a tenant who had broken his arm and wouldn’t be back until late in the evening. So, he had been bored and frustrated, an unfortunate combination that at the best of times led him to act recklessly.

Entering the feral children’s den was an act of desperation he regretted the moment he stepped into the nursery.

Soon after his majestic entrance, the boys threw a tantrum the likes of which he had never before experienced. They looked possessed by some obnoxious entity with strong lungs and the apparent ability to scream without emerging for breath.

The nanny began wailing about the cruelty of a life spent in servitude, only to remember a moment later a duke was present, and she then begged for his forgiveness. His reassurance that since he hadn’t fathered the spawn from Dante’s Inferno—thank God—he had no jurisdiction over who worked at Albourne Park didn’t bear the expected result. If anything, the woman cried louder while at the same time running after the twins who had the stamina of a hundred stallions.

Since resistance was futile, and no amount of begging and cajoling the monsters into behaving would make them stop, William opted for passive acceptance of what he couldn’t change and moved out of the way, seeking a safer corner from where he could witness the end of the world. The children were still good entertainment, after all.

The overworked servant had moved into the topic of gently bred ladies from impoverished families forced to work for a living when the door opened and in came the countess.

“You!” Eleonor pointed a finger at him. Her judging scowl would have demolished to ashes a lesser man. “I knew it!”

William didn’t try to exonerate himself of any wrongdoing because behind her stood the much taller Flora, and he could only see her.

In a room filled with sounds, he could only hear the frenzied gallop of his heart.

Flora stared back at him. Her face didn’t show any emotion, but she hadn’t shot in the opposite direction, and that by itself must have been a good sign. Or maybe she had been struck numb by a bout of rage at seeing him and couldn’t move. Either way, his wish to see her had been granted, and he wouldn’t squander it.

“Where do you think you are going?” Eleonor barred his advance with a raised brow, cocked head, and arms crossed over her chest. She resembled one of their governesses.

He walked around his sister, ignoring her outraged squeak, and grabbed Flora’s hand.

“What do you think you are doing?” Eleanor shouted as he pulled Flora into the hallway.

“Rectifying an old mistake,” he answered from over his shoulder.

They had walked the entire length of the corridor when Flora finally came back to her senses and yanked her hand free and pulled them to a stop.

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