My Once and Future Duke by Caroline Linden

Author:Caroline Linden
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Romance, Historical, Victorian
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-02-27T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Sophie went to the back of her small house, startling the cook and Colleen at their breakfast when she let herself in through the scullery. “Madam!”

“I’m home,” she said with a forced smile. “And in desperate need of a bath.” She wasn’t really, but it would give her servants something to do and put off their questions. Colleen scrambled up to attend her while the cook went for water, and Sophie breathed a sigh of relief once she was back in the privacy of her bedroom.

“We didn’t expect you back for two more days,” said Colleen, bustling around the room. “That servant who came said you’d been called away urgently and wouldn’t be back for a week.”

Her breath hitched at the thought. She might have spent two more days in Jack’s arms . . . But no. It was better to be home now, before things could spiral completely out of control.

“He also said it was a very secret reason, madam,” Colleen added with evident curiosity, “and that I wasn’t to speak about it.”

“Oh—­Oh, yes, it was very sudden,” Sophie said quickly. “A very personal reason, which I would like to keep secret.” When she’d hired Colleen, it had been on the understanding that the maid wasn’t to gossip about her. That had been to conceal the fact that Sophie was not a widow and gambled for a living, but now it paid immeasurable dividends as her maid rushed to assure her she hadn’t said a word to anyone.

“How have things been here?” she asked to change the subject.

“Quiet.” Colleen unpinned her hair from its twist and began brushing it. Sophie closed her eyes against the memory of Jack’s hands tangled in her hair as he kissed her, his body hot and heavy above hers. “Mr. Carter called and left his card, as did Lord Philip. And there’s some letters from Lady Georgiana and Miss Cross.”

Nothing out of the ordinary, but a pointed reminder that she had a fine line to tread in the next several days. “Bring the letters after I wash,” she directed. “What did you tell the gentlemen?”

“I didn’t know what to say, so I told them you were ill. Was I right?”

She let out her breath in relief. “You did very well.”

Colleen’s eyes met hers in the mirror for a moment. “Are you . . . well again, madam?”

No. Jack had upended and jumbled everything in her life, and already she missed him more than she could say. She could still almost feel his freshly shaven cheek against hers. “I’m home again, aren’t I?” she said briskly. “That’s what matters—­and that no one knows I was gone. How did the gentlemen take the news of my, er, indisposition?”

Colleen went to unfasten her dress. “Mr. Carter looked relieved. He sent flowers.” Her hands busy with the buttons, she nodded toward the writing desk by the window, where a bright bouquet sat in a vase. “Lord Philip didn’t take it quite so well. He demanded to see you, and when I refused, he scowled and muttered about traitors.

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