A Deal with a Duke

by Christie Kelley

  Louisa’s situation was his fault. He was the duke now and responsible for the family name. If not for his father’s interference with Tessa’s marriages, Louisa would be able to have any man she wanted. There was no other choice in this matter. He should do the right thing by her.

  He should want the best for her.

  Every day was a day closer to his thirtieth birthday and her informing the gossipmongers of their pact. He wasn’t entirely positive she would make good on her threat, but he had his daughter to think of now. If Louisa did release the details of their deal, Charlotte’s name might be brought into the mess. With her mixed blood, any talk would only confirm her status as an outcast. He had to determine the best course of action.

  Time was running out.

  AS JANUARY GAVE WAY to February, Louisa felt as if the gloominess of the weather had seeped into her very soul. Or perhaps her mood could be blamed on the death of King George III three days ago, which had brought the entire country into mourning. She’d scarcely left the house since arriving home from Northwood Park. No matter how hard she tried, her thoughts kept returning to her short time with Harry.

  Over the past few weeks, her anger at him gave way to pity. If he ever discovered she felt sorry for his situation, he would be furious with her. He had changed since the death of his wife. Louisa wanted desperately to help him but was at a loss as to how. While she’d hoped he might agree to marry again, he must have had loved his wife deeply to feel the impact of her passing still.

  He just needed to quit Northwood Park. Being back in town and amongst friends would help him see that no one blamed him for his father’s actions, least of all her. A diversion from his mourning might help him discover that he could love again.

  Now she sounded like a hopeless dreamer.

  She doubted the appalling threat in the note she left would make any difference. He likely assumed she would never show their deal to anyone, which would be correct. The hope had been that he would believe her threat long enough to decide to come to town. But he could continue to molder in the North, and there wasn’t much she could do about it. A repeat visit to Northwood Park was highly unlikely at this point.

  Returning to London now, only to find the entire town draped in black, would be particularly unpleasant for him. But he would have to attend the King’s service. Not even a duke would forgo a king’s funeral without an extraordinary reason. Her shoulders sagged. He had to go to Windsor, but there was nothing that said he had to then come to town.

  But he might. And if he did arrive and decide to help her find a husband, he would need a list of her requirements. Finally feeling like she had a task to perform, she moved to her writing desk by the window. So...what did she want in a husband? She pulled out paper and ink to prepare her list.

  For the longest time, she could only stare at the blank paper.

  LOUISA SPENT THE NEXT few weeks refining her requirements for a husband. After waking early this morning, she spent time reviewing her requirements again. Harry might be here any day, therefore she needed to be prepared, and her list was woefully inadequate. An hour later and with still nothing new to add, she went down to the morning room for breakfast.

  Emma sat at the morning table, drinking her strong coffee and smiled over at her. “Good morning, Louisa.”

  “Good morning.” Not loving the strong coffee Emma drank, Louisa chose tea to go along with her ham and eggs.

  “I’ve heard most of the gentlemen have returned from Windsor,” Emma chatted.

  “Yes, I suppose they have.” Louisa felt a sting of disappointment. He wasn’t coming to town.

  “Hopefully things will get back to normal, and before long the coronation will occur. Being engaged and mostly likely married to Bolton by then, I should be able to attend.”

  Louisa smiled at her sister’s enthusiasm. “It may take a few months to coordinate such an event. And the poor man has been ill since he ascended, which may delay the ceremony even more.”

  “I suppose you’re right,” she replied before sipping her coffee. “Lord Huntley arrived home yesterday, so Mamma wishes to pay a call on Lady Huntley to hear all the news from Windsor. Will you join us?”

  “No. You can tell me all about it when you return.”

  “Louisa, you should get out. Since you arrived home from Aunt Greyson’s, you have been moping about the house.”

  Louisa shrugged. “I suppose I have. I feel as if this might be my last Season, Emma. If I don’t find a husband....”

  “Then you shall come live with Bolton and me.”

  Louisa tried not to roll her eyes at the thought of living with the dimwitted viscount. “Thank you.”

  By afternoon, her mother and sister departed to glean all the news from the funeral while Louisa retired to her bedchamber to read but couldn’t concentrate on the treatise in front of her. With a deep sigh, she walked to the desk and glanced down at the list.

  From a good family

  Intelligent

  A good father

  Handsome

  Almost three weeks and that was the best she had come up with, and after rereading her list, she crossed out handsome. She wasn’t eighteen any longer, and never had she been any great beauty.

  Frustrated with the entire process, she crumbled the paper and threw it toward the fireplace. There seemed little point in the list since Emma had told her most of the gentlemen had already returned. Harry had not arrived home.

  The house was dreadfully quiet with her mother and sister departed. When the knocker banged on the front door, Louisa started. Hearing voices, she assumed her mother and sister had returned early. Light footsteps sounded on the steps.

  “Louisa, may I come in?”

  “Of course.”

  Tessa entered the room wearing her black bombazine. “Good afternoon. Mother and Emma are out paying calls, so here I am.” With only another four or so months to go, Tessa’s rounded belly suited her perfectly. After two years of marriage, everyone had thought it might never happen.

  “Do you wish to go downstairs where we can be more comfortable?”

  Tessa laughed and took the chair by the fireplace. “No, this room is warm, and the salon is cold.” Staring down at her black gown, she said with a sigh, “I will be glad to be out of these dratted mourning rags.”

  “Three more weeks until we can move to half-mourning.” Not that Louisa was wearing black since she stayed at home today. Gray wool for a cold, dreary day would suffice.

  Louisa rose from her small writing desk and joined her sister by the fire. Glancing down, she noticed the crumpled list that hadn’t quite made it into the fire. Her sister spotted it too and reached down to pick up the paper.

  “Secret letters, Louisa?”

  “Please don’t read it,” Louisa begged as she tried to grab it from Tessa’s hands.

  “Hush, when have we had secrets?” Tessa’s brows furrowed as she opened the wrinkled paper. “What is this?”

  There was no point in denying it. She and Tessa had grown up sharing confidences. “It’s a list of what I want in a husband.”

  Tessa scanned the shortened list with her lips pressed together as if suppressing a laugh. “This is it? If this was all you wanted in a husband, you should have found a gentleman your first Season.”

  “I suppose so.” Perhaps her expectations were too high as Lady Gringham had said, which if true, Louisa should have a long list of requirements, not only three.

  “The real question is, why do you need such a list?”

  Heat crossed her cheeks. “I just do.”

  “Does it have anything to do with why you left my home on Christmas Day, stating you were going to find a husband?”

  Louisa shrugged and then reluctantly nodded. “I decided to ask Harry to help me find a husband.”

  “Worthington?”

  Hearing the censure in Tessa’s voice, Louisa grabbed the paper out of her sister’s hands and tossed it into the fire. “It is none of your concern.”<
br />
  “Anything that involves that family concerns me. His father murdered my husbands.”

  “Yes, his father. The same man who killed Harry’s wife. He is as much a victim as you.”

  Tessa slowly shook her head and pressed her lips together. “I understand that, Louisa. But you must know how dangerous it is to your reputation to associate with him. Many think he may have gone a little mad after what happened with his wife. Burying himself at Northwood Park for so long hasn’t helped the gossip either. And think of Emma. With her engagement to Bolton, she must not have any ill will connected to her.”

  “I realize that, but he knows me better than anyone. Even you.”

  Tessa’s face relaxed as she released a breath. “Emma’s engagement sparked this rashness in you, didn’t it?”

  Louisa nodded. “It occurred to me that if I do not find a suitable husband this Season, I will either have to live with Mamma, Emma, or you. I couldn’t do that to either of you. And the idea of living in this house with Mamma might drive me to Bedlam.”

  Tessa chuckled. “I can understand that. But Worthington? I know you were close before he left for India. I even thought an engagement might happen, but you haven’t corresponded with him in a few years now.”

  Her sister had thought she and Harry might marry? Wherever did she get such an idea? “I tried, but he was too busy with the estate in India. And after his return....”

  “He didn’t write after his wife died,” Tessa finished the sentence.

  “No.” And after months of trying, Louisa had stopped writing.

  “So, he wants a list of your requirements in a husband to help you. Then what?”

  “Not exactly,” Louisa started hesitantly. “He didn’t completely agree to assist me. I assumed he would return to town after going to Windsor. So, with a certain amount of misplaced optimism, I thought I would create a list of what I want in a husband.”

  Tessa sent her a look of pity. “I will do everything in my power to help you find a respectable husband, Louisa. I am sure Lady Leicester will have many ideas.”

  “Thank you,” she replied, knowing Tessa would not be much involved with the Season with a baby due in June. And Louisa wasn’t certain she wanted Tessa’s grandmother-in-law assisting with finding a husband.

  They both stopped talking as the sound of footfalls pounded up the steps. “Emma,” Louisa stated.

  “She will need to check herself when she marries Lord Bolton,” Tessa said with a scowl. “A lady never runs.”

  Without a knock, Emma hurled the door open and stared at them both. “You will never guess the news!”

  “Oh, do tell,” Louisa said in a slightly sarcastic tone. Emma was far more concerned with the gossip of the ton than Louisa ever would be.

  Emma closed the door as if the gossip was far too good for the servants to hear before moving to the bed. “Worthington is opening the house for the Season. Lady Rockingham says he may even hold a ball once this dreadful mourning is completed.”

  Tessa tilted her head and stared over at Louisa.

  She pressed a hand to her belly as it fluttered with anticipation. Harry had returned.

  Chapter 7

  “I THOUGHT YOU SAID you didn’t believe he would return,” Tessa commented as Emma sat on the bed.

  “I didn’t think he would.”

  “You knew!” Emma exclaimed. “And you didn’t tell me! And how did you know he planned to attend the Season?”

  Louisa shrugged. “As I said, I wasn’t certain he would attend the Season.” Which was still two months away. Perhaps he thought to find her a husband and retreat to Northwood Park before the Season began. Not that doing so would be easy with the country in mourning for the King. Or perhaps his arrival had nothing to do with her or her attempt at intimidation.

  “Why is he here?” Emma asked, still excited about the news. “Do you think he will marry again?”

  “He is a duke now, Emma,” Tessa explained as she slid a glance at Louisa. “He must have an heir.”

  The thought that he might be here to marry touched a painful spot in Louisa’s heart. He needed a mother for Charlotte. An heir. A wife.

  It was what she wanted for him. Or least that was what she told herself.

  “There is more.” Emma’s light blue eyes sparkled with excitement. “Someone thought they saw him enter the house with a little girl in tow. Whose child could that be?”

  Louisa smiled wistfully. “He brought Charlotte with him.”

  Both sisters turned their heads and stared at Louisa. “Charlotte?” they asked in unison.

  Now they wouldn’t stop until she told them the truth. “His daughter.”

  “When did he have a daughter?” Tessa questioned. “We dined with him and his wife at the late Duke’s home the night she died. No one mentioned a baby then.”

  “Harry hadn’t told anyone because of the duke’s reaction to his wife. He went up to Northwood Park to mourn and took Charlotte with him. Oh, you should see her. She is beautiful.”

  “How do you know what she looks like?” Emma inquired innocently.

  “Yes, Louisa, how would you know that?” Tessa arched a brow in question.

  “He sent a sketch of her.”

  “Louisa! You were not corresponding with an unmarried man, were you? That would be scandalous, indeed.” Emma stood and then retied her bonnet. “I must go to tell Susan about this news.”

  “Please don’t mention his daughter, Emma. He is a private man.” Louisa hoped her younger sister would listen to her for once.

  “Louisa, everyone will know by tomorrow anyway.” Emma raced from the room with a slam of the door.

  “So, where is this drawing? I would love to see his daughter,” Tessa said as she rubbed her belly. “Feel this.”

  Louisa placed her hand on her sister’s belly and laughed as what felt like a tiny foot kicked her. “Oh Tessa, that is the most amazing thing. Does it hurt?”

  “No.” Tessa smiled. “It’s quite lovely. Now, where is that sketch?”

  “I don’t have a drawing, Tessa,” she slowly admitted as heat crossed her cheeks.

  “You went to him, didn’t you?”

  Louisa nodded.

  Tessa clapped her hand over her mouth. “Does Mamma know?”

  “Yes, and please don’t look at me that way. Nothing happened.” Except for one moment when she thought she might kiss him, or he might kiss her. Why would he kiss her when he was so furious with her for being there? Instead of kissing her, he had demanded that she leave.

  “I...I cannot believe you did something so scandalous.”

  She glossed over the details of what happened at Northwood Park, by only saying she went to ask him to find her a husband. She wasn’t about to admit to her sister that she’d thought about kissing Harry. “I tried to convince him to return to town. Then he would find that no one blames him for what happened.”

  A light rapped sounded on the door. “Miss Drake, you have a letter.”

  After the footman gave her the note, Louisa glanced and noticed the strong, neat script. She broke the seal and scanned the letter as she worried her lip.

  “Is everything all right?” Tessa asked.

  “It’s from Harry. He states he will call on me tomorrow to see my list of requirements in a husband.”

  “Why is that distressing you?”

  “You saw my list!”

  HARRY KNOCKED ON THE door of the Drakes’ home. Perhaps he should have given her more time before demanding the list from her. Since he had no intention of staying in London longer than necessary, he needed her requirements today. The sooner he found this man for her, the better.

  The door opened to reveal a footman in shabby livery. “Yes?”

  Harry gave him his card. “I am here to see Miss Drake.”

  “Of course, Your Grace. Please come in.” The footman opened the door fully and then led him into the salon. “Tea?”

  “Yes. Miss Drake is at home, is she not? Sh
e should be expecting me.”

  “Yes.” The footman bowed to him and then left the room.

  “Your Grace,” Louisa said with a curtsy a few minutes later. Her maid trailed behind and sat in the chair nearest the door. “I heard yesterday that you had opened the house early.”

  Harry rose and bowed stiffly to her. “Yes. I had to attend the funeral, so I decided to come to town early.”

  Louisa moved away from her maid toward the conversation seating by the fireplace. Walking by him, she arched a daring brow, smirked, and asked, “So, have you come to find me a husband or to propose?”

  Ignoring her taunt, he stared over at her. Her chestnut hair was pulled up, but light tendrils lay across her forehead and framed her face. He hated seeing her in her mourning rags. Black was not her color, making her skin look pallid. No, sapphire was her color. The brilliant color brought out her sparkling eyes.

  She finally sat in the chair across from him, allowing him to return to his seat.

  “You shaved,” she finally said with a slight laugh. “I almost didn’t recognize you.”

  “The funeral,” he reminded her.

  “Of course. You couldn’t attend a formal occasion looking so dreadfully unkempt.” She fell silent as if searching for something to say.

  Making conversation with him was not a difficulty Louisa typically had, at least not years ago. Just as at Northwood Park, the air around them swirled with tension. A part of him hated the stiffness between them. The other part of him knew it was for the best to keep a distance.

  A light rap announced the refreshments. A footman brought tea to the table between them. “Anything else you require, Miss Drake?”

  “No.” Louisa poured the tea. She handed him a cup of tea with milk and a touch of sugar just as he liked. “How is Charlotte?”

  “She is well. She turned four a fortnight ago and believes she is all grown up now.”

  “I heard you brought her with you.”

  “People are talking about her already?”

  She shook her head. “Not in that manner, Harry, only that you were seen entering the home with a little girl in tow. No one was aware you even had a child, which is the curiosity, not her heritage.”