A Beast of a Duke (A Beast's Love Book 2) by Eva Devon

Author:Eva Devon [Devon, Eva]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Historical, Romance
Publisher: Bard Productions
Published: 2024-01-23T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter 11

They descended upon his house to find a shocked group of servants. His butler, Hawksforth, was agape, but his butler’s eyes also shone with hope.

The man had been Roderick’s advocate since he was a small boy, just like he had been Gabriel’s. Watching the rift between the brothers had nearly broken the butler’s heart.

Hawksforth had been employed by his mother, and he had been always kind. It had been brutal working for his father, Roderick knew that, but somehow the butler had carried on. And now as he crossed up the imposing wide steps with his daughter and Hazel just behind him, he met his butler’s gaze and called out to him, “It is a good day, Hawksforth. We have been reunited.”

The butler blinked. “Your Grace, it is wonderful to see you looking so well and pleased and with so many guests.”

Roderick did not usually have guests.

No, he’d spent most of his hours doing everything he could to keep the estate from descending into cruelty and chaos, the sort of cruelty that his father thought good. The sort of cruelty where tenants lived in houses that barely passed muster. To his disgust, most of his tenets were living in conditions that were sickening.

But now? This was the beginning of a change of everything. He could let go of the beast that had clawed his heart and made him seem a terrible master. This was the moment that he could come out of all of that horror and declare who he truly was to the world.

“I wish you to meet my daughter,” Roderick said to Hawksforth.

The butler’s eyes widened again as he turned to the little girl. “It is an honor to meet you,” he said quite sincerely.

“This is Miss Alice,” Roderick said. “Born Vivian but everyone calls her Alice,” he explained.

The butler nodded. “Alice,” he said.

Alice peered up at him. “I have never met someone like you before,” she said.

“And what is that?” Hawksforth said.

“You have a very lovely accent,” she said, “and very interesting manners.”

The butler gazed at her for a long moment and then inclined his head. “Thank you, Miss Alice. I appreciate your observance of my fine qualities.”

She beamed at him.

“I think Alice is in need of a repast,” Roderick said. “Do you think that could be arranged?”

“I shall take her,” Hazel said. “If you don’t mind, I should like to have a look about the gardens first. We need to stretch our legs.”

“Of course,” he said, turning then Hazel. “This is Mrs. Smith, Hawksforth and she is a most honored guest. Would you mind taking the ladies, Hawksforth? You’re the most suited for this. And I must bid my friend here goodbye and thank him for all his aid.”

Price stood just to the side, having sworn to deliver them all to the doorstep before he returned to his ship.

“Of course, Your Grace,” the butler said. “And may I ask how long Mrs. Smith will be staying with us?”

“Mrs. Smith will be staying indefinitely, and we wish her to enjoy her new life here.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.