Mr. Hunt, I Presume: A Playful Brides Story

by Bowman, Valerie

  Derek cursed under his breath and strode toward a nearby window, where he looked out across the meadow. “Damn it, Lucy. Collin is here.”

  Her eyes went round as saucers. “What?”

  Derek gave one curt nod. “He arrived this morning. He wrote me a letter not a sennight ago telling me Treadway had ordered him on holiday. He’s here for the next fortnight.”

  Lucy pressed her lips together to keep from smiling and tilted her nose in the air. “Well, you cannot blame me for orchestrating this, as you somehow saw fit to not inform me that Collin was coming.”

  Derek pounded the side of his fist against the wall. “Damn. Damn. Damn. It slipped my mind. Besides, I knew you’d be nothing but pleased by a visit from Collin.”

  “Of course I am. I adore Collin.”

  “Yes, but now you will use his visit to play matchmaker. I can tell. Your eyes are already sparkling with joy and mischief, not concern as they should be.”

  Lucy waved a hand in the air. “I cannot help how my eyes sparkle, darling. But I admit, I am pleased. Even more pleased now, to be honest.” She rubbed her hands together.

  “Oh, no you don’t,” Derek warned, his eyes narrowed on her. “You don’t get your way that easily.”

  Lucy gave an innocent blink. “I don’t see how you can blame me. I didn’t invite Collin here. He came of his own accord. This has nothing to do with my machinations, even though I freely admit it’s a positively delightful turn of events.”

  “Damn it, Lucy.” Derek grimaced and turned back toward the window. “Why do these things always seem to happen when you’re up to your matchmaking tricks? If you hadn’t hired a governess you knew Collin had a history with, we wouldn’t have to worry about the impending awkwardness.”

  “You’re thinking of it all wrong, darling,” she said with a sigh, laying her hand on his back and patting him. “The world has a way of making things happen just when they are meant to. Far be it from me to interrupt the natural order of such things.”

  Derek turned to face her and rubbed his jaw. “I suppose we could attempt to keep them separated while Collin is here …”

  “Nonsense. Why should we do that? Clearly this was meant to be.”

  “Not everything is meant to be,” he said dryly. “Some things are mistakes and should be avoided at all costs.”

  Lucy wrapped her arms around her husband’s waist and squeezed him. “I believe you’re forgetting how we met, darling. I was trying to keep you from courting my closest friend, who wanted nothing to do with you, and you were trying to convince me to leave you alone. If our courtship wasn’t meant to be, I daresay Mary and Ralph wouldn’t be here now.”

  “That’s different.” His stern expression softened as he gazed down at her and tucked an errant curl behind her ear. “That was … us.”

  “Need I remind you, then, of how Cass and Julian got together after she pretended to be a nonexistent person named Patience Bunbury?” Lucy returned his look with eyebrows raised. “Or how Jane and Garrett fell in love because we told each of them the other was already in love with them, just like Beatrice and Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing?” She paused and tapped her cheek, searching her mind for more ammunition. “I could go on.”

  “Please, don’t.” He held up both hands in surrender. “The fact is, however, we’ve no idea what happened back then with Collin and Miss Stone. What if they never wanted to see each other again? You said yourself that Miss Stone expressed concern about seeing Collin.”

  Lucy stepped back and gave another shrug. “There’s only one way to find out what happens when their paths cross.”

  Derek leaned back against the wall and hung his head. “Collin’s never going to believe we didn’t do this purposely, you know.”

  “He’ll be fine. He’s a grown man, and you said yourself, it’s been years. Besides, he’s welcome to leave if he’s offended by her presence.”

  Derek expelled a breath, and his shoulders lifted and relaxed. “Very well. But we must handle this delicately.”

  Lucy smoothed her skirts. “Delicately? What do you mean?”

  “I mean you need to go inform Miss Stone that Collin is here, and I need to go break the news to Collin. Damn. Damn. Damn.”

  Chapter Seven

  Collin brought his mount up short to stare across the valley toward the forest that lined Derek’s property. The giant, multi-acre estate was a world away from the tiny cottage where they’d grown up in Brighton. Their father had been a military man, but he hadn’t risen through the ranks. On the contrary, he’d been discharged from the army for drinking too heavily. But that hadn’t stopped him from setting about working with his sons to ensure they became the finest military specimens they could be.

  He’d been particularly harsh with Derek, forcing the young boy to make decisions quickly and without mercy. Once, he’d tossed Derek’s prized toy sailboat and his puppy in two different directions into a fast-running stream. Derek had saved the puppy, of course, but their father’s cruelty in making his sons tough knew few bounds.

  He’d succeeded, of course. Derek was known as the Duke of Decisive and had been at Wellington’s side, an integral part of the win at Waterloo. For his efforts, Derek had been awarded a dukedom and Huntingdon, the grand estate that Collin now surveyed.

  Collin had chosen a slightly different route. He, too, had risen quickly in the ranks of the army, but he’d used his decision-making skills not in battle, but in becoming one of the War Office’s most accomplished spies. He’d been essential in foiling a great many of the emperor’s plots, and had been in extreme danger behind enemy lines more times than he cared to count. He’d used his intelligence and cunning to predict what the French would do next, and was awarded many medals and promoted time and again as a result of his success.

  When the wars ended, Derek settled down to marry and become a father. He met Lucy soon after returning from Belgium, and it was obvious to anyone who saw the two of them together that they were a perfectly matched pair.

  Collin, however, had rededicated himself to his majesty’s service and continued to take on English missions on both domestic soil and abroad. Marriage hadn’t been in the cards for him, and it wasn’t something he allowed himself to dwell on. He’d come close to marriage only once, and it had been one of the most painful things he’d ever experienced. He had no wish to revisit those old emotions.

  That did not, however, keep either his mother or his sister-in-law, Lucy, from attempting to place potential brides in his path. Over the years, Lucy had introduced him to scores of young ladies, and he’d been well aware that she’d hoped he would fall madly in love with one of them. He’d always kept them at arm’s length, however. Perfectly polite, but in no way indicating he would like anything more than an acquaintance with any of them.

  At least Lucy introduced him to strangers. He could easily deflect his sister-in-law’s attempts at matchmaking. When he went to visit his mother, however, she would inevitably bring up … Erienne. And if there was one subject Collin would not discuss, could not discuss, it was Erienne Stone.

  He’d chosen to come to Derek’s house instead of visiting his mother for a reason. He closed his eyes and breathed in lungfuls of clean, country air. It was probably good for him to get out of the coal-laden air of London awhile.

  Mindlessly smoothing his hand over his horse’s mane, he briefly considered Lucy’s former attempts at matchmaking him with Miss Langley. Miss Langley had been a sweet young woman with a lovely disposition, but she, like all the other women Lucy had paraded before him, didn’t have the sky blue eyes or silky blond hair of the young woman who’d haunted his dreams since he was a lad of sixteen.

  He shook his head. Hopefully, Lucy wouldn’t attempt to matchmake him with the new governess. No doubt the poor woman had no idea what she was getting herself into by taking a position with the Duchess of Claringdon. The Matchmaker of Claringdon should be Lucy’s title, he thought with a wry smile.

  She was a ha
ndful, his sister-in-law. She loved to ask Collin why he wasn’t married yet. Why wasn’t he? He’d told himself all these years it was because he was married to his work. It would be unfair, unkind even, to take a wife and leave her at home, day and night, alone, or possibly only with the children while he worked so many long hours.

  But there was more to it than that, and he knew it.

  The image of Erienne’s face leaped to his memory. He always thought about her when his reflections turned to marriage. She’d been the only woman he’d even contemplated wedding, the only woman he’d ever wanted to marry, and he’d been forced to let her go. He’d tried to push it from his mind over the years, tried to ignore it, but times like this, bloody times like this when he didn’t have his work to distract him, the memories crept back into his mind.

  It didn’t matter. Erienne was far from here. She was married to a viscount in Shropsbury, just as she should be. She probably had half a score of children by now. Was she happy? Did she ever think of him? Damn it. Of course not. A married woman wouldn’t think of him, shouldn’t think of him. It was ludicrous to even contemplate it.

  The thunder of hooves caught his attention, and he turned to see Derek riding up behind him.

  “There you are,” his brother called as he pulled his horse up short next to Collin. “I didn’t realize you’d ridden out this far.”

  “What else have I got to do?” Collin replied with a laugh.

  “I’ll take you around the entire perimeter sometime if you’d like, but we’d better get back to the house now. Lucy and the children want to see you.”

  “Of course.” Collin nodded and gathered the reins in his gloved hand.

  They both turned and began a canter back toward the house.

  “Seems I forgot to tell Lucy you were coming,” Derek said, his eyes fixed straight ahead on the path.

  Collin lifted his brows. “Lucy’s not upset, is she?”

  “Only that she didn’t have all week to look forward to your visit.”

  “Ah, well, I suppose I’ll just pretend it was a surprise visit, then.”

  “Yes, well…” Derek’s voice trailed off.

  A sudden, odd tightness gripped Collin’s stomach. “What? What is it?”

  “Seems my forgetting to tell Lucy caused a problem elsewhere.” Derek still hadn’t met his gaze, a sure sign of some kind of guilt.

  Collin’s brows drew down. “What? How’s that?”

  Derek slowed his horse. Collin did the same.

  “You know how certain things tend to…happen when Lucy is involved?” Derek asked.

  Collin poked out his cheek with his tongue. “She is usually up to something, isn’t she?”

  “You could say that,” Derek replied.

  “What is it?” Collin asked, apprehension replacing his suspicion. Something was wrong. He could feel it.

  At last, Derek met his eyes. “I have something I must tell you, Collin. Something I’m afraid you’re not going to like.”

  Chapter Eight

  “Collin? Hunt? Is here? In this house? Right now?” The words left Erienne’s mouth in a staccato rhythm. She knew she sounded like a mad woman for the way she’d uttered them, but she couldn’t help herself. The implication of what Lucy had just told her slowly sank into her brain, while panic rose in her throat.

  “Dear, you must believe me when I tell you I did not plan for this to happen.” Lucy bit her lip and glanced to the side. “Not this soon, at any rate.”

  Erienne braced a hand against her bedchamber wall, her knees gone weak and watery. When Lucy returned from her talk with her husband, she’d asked Anna to watch the children a bit longer and then motioned for Erienne to follow her out of the nursery.

  They’d walked back down the corridor to Erienne’s bedchamber, and once they’d reached it, Lucy had opened the door and motioned her inside. Erienne thought the duchess’s behavior slightly odd, but it hadn’t been until Lucy turned to her with a worried look on her face that Erienne had become truly concerned. She’d seen many expressions on the duchess’s face since she’d met her, but worry was never one of them.

  “What is it?” Erienne asked, her heart beating faster.

  Lucy bit her lip and wrung her hands, two other things Erienne had never seen the duchess do.

  “Derek just…” Lucy cleared her throat, “informed me of something important you should know.”

  “Important? How?” But cold dread had already begun to creep along Erienne’s spine. Even before Lucy said the words, Erienne had guessed them.

  “It turns out … Collin is here,” Lucy said.

  And that was when Erienne slid down the wall to sit in a heap on the floor like a rag doll. No doubt her new employer thought she was daft, but at the moment, her entire body felt as if it was without bones. Her breathing came in short spurts that hurt her chest.

  “Collin? Hunt? Is here? Now?” she echoed what she’d already said, something in the back of her brain prompting the words as if they would make more sense or seem more real if she repeated them aloud.

  “Yes.” Lucy nodded. She lowered herself to sit on the floor across from Erienne and spread her green skirts around her. “It’s true. I’m sorry. I can see this is upsetting to you.”

  “I’m not upset,” Erienne blurted. “I’m …” What in heaven’s name was she? She had no idea. Angry? No. Sad? Absolutely not. Upset? That would mean she cared, and she did not care. Surprised. Yes. That was it. Merely surprised. She hadn’t been expecting to encounter Collin so soon. That was all. Lucy had promised her she needn’t worry about it, and—No. No. She wasn’t worried, either. That would also imply she cared. And she did not.

  “Dear, forgive me for pointing it out, but the fact that you’re sitting on the floor upon hearing the news belies your statement that you’re not upset,” Lucy pointed out.

  Erienne met her sympathetic stare. “I’m sorry. I am. I’m just … surprised.” Yes. Surprised was the word she intended to use and keep using. Surprise was her emotion and her only emotion.

  “I know it must be difficult for you to contemplate seeing him again after so many years,” the duchess continued. “But sometimes we encounter people from our past for a reason, and while it may seem uncomfortable at first, perhaps it’s precisely what you need. Fate rarely makes mistakes.”

  Erienne sat in stunned silence for a moment before she said, “With all due respect to both you and fate, Lucy, I’m not certain precisely what I need at the moment, but I’m fairly certain that is not it.”

  Lucy reached out and squeezed Erienne’s hand. “Your skin is cold as snow, dear. Please believe me when I tell you that Collin had written Derek to say he was coming, and Derek failed to mention it to me.”

  Erienne nodded. She believed the other woman was telling the truth. Truly, she did. But that didn’t make the news any less … surprising. “Was that why Derek looked angry when he saw me?”

  Lucy winced. “Not exactly. You see … I had failed to tell him I hired you, and we both realized that the potential reunion between you and Collin might be … awkward.”

  Awkward? That was certainly one way to describe it. “I see. So this means … this means that … Collin doesn’t know I’m here?”

  “Not yet,” Lucy said. “Derek went to find him and tell him.”

  At that news, Erienne leaned her head back against the wall with a solid thump and closed her eyes.

  * * *

  The air had been sucked from Collin’s body. He couldn’t breathe, could barely think. He’d heard his brother’s words correctly, at least he thought he had, but while they played themselves over and over in his mind, they still did not make much sense.

  “Lucy has hired Erienne Stone as the children’s governess?” he repeated numbly.

  “That’s correct.” Derek paced in front of the study fireplace, his face lined with regret. “I swear to you, Collin, I had no idea Lucy had done it until I went to find her after you arrived this morning.”


  Collin’s jaw tightened even more. “We are speaking of the same Erienne Stone we used to know in Brighton?”

  Derek nodded curtly. “Yes.”

  “You’re certain of it?”

  Derek clasped his hands behind his back. “I met her myself. It’s Miss Stone, from Brighton.”

  Collin studied his brother through narrowed eyes. “You cannot possibly mean to tell me this is a complete coincidence.”

  Derek shook his head. “I wouldn’t insult your intelligence that way. Lucy was looking at letters from potential governesses last week, and I went through some of them with her. When I saw Miss Stone’s name, I mentioned that I knew her.”

  “You mentioned that I knew her, you mean,” Collin said in a low voice.

  His brother nodded. “Yes. My apologies. I truly never believed Lucy would hire her. I even made her promise she wouldn’t choose Miss Stone because of her connection with you.”

  Collin blew out a deep breath. He was still trying to wrap his mind around this amazing news, and he wasn’t at all certain how he felt yet. “Lucy is Lucy, Derek.”

  Derek hung his head. “I know. I truly am sorry. If I’d had any idea this would have happened—”

  “What?” Collin cracked a smile. “You would have put your foot down? I’m not certain Lucy would have listened to you even then.”

  Derek sighed and shook his head. “It’s true. But I love that woman madly no matter what sort of trouble she gets us all into from time to time. Look, I told Lucy we can keep you and Miss Stone separated. It shouldn’t be much trouble, and I can—”

  “Does Eri …” Collin cleared his throat. “Does Miss Stone know I’m here?”

  Derek blew out a breath. “Lucy is telling her now.”

  Chapter Nine

  “I insist you come to dinner with us,” Lucy said as Erienne raised herself from the floor and made her way to the bed, where she promptly plopped atop the mattress.