Nerissa had not heard a single word.
Hunter’s sudden appearance had completely stunned her.
All her childhood emotions flooded back, crowding her mind, amplified with new meaning and significance. A rosy blush washed upon her face as she dared to smile back.
“She’s not a child anymore, Hunter,” broke in Alyse.
”She is a dear friend to us all, and I really don’t know how we would have managed without her. She is a sensible young woman, with a good head on her shoulders, and she gave us invaluable help when Mother was so ill after…” Alyse’s voice faltered “…after the accident…”
Hunter looked at his family: his sisters, pretty, vivacious, eager to try out their wings during the London Season, his mother, with her gentle face marked by loss and sorrow, his brother, suddenly scowling and dark browed, and the enchanting stranger in their midst. He felt rather like he had stepped into the centre of a whirlwind.
Suddenly he felt mortally tired, in dire need of rest and solitude.
He went to his mother and kissed her gently on her cheek.
“Will you please excuse me, Mother? I have had a long and tiring journey and I’m much fatigued. I believe that, if you will forgive me, I will have a bath drawn and a tray sent to my room. I am not really up to a formal supper. Tomorrow, we can all begin to catch up.”
“But of course, my dear. How thoughtless of me not having foreseen your needs… my happiness at seeing you again quite overwhelmed me. I have not all my wits about me, I’m sure… Jermyn, please, see His Grace to his apartments and make sure that his valet attends him.”
“Yes, my lady. Please follow me, Your Grace.”
To his chagrin, Jermyn did not lead Hunter to his bachelor’s quarters as he had unthinkingly expected, but to his father’s apartments.
That was the precise moment at which the full import of his new condition crashed in upon him like a dark and overwhelming wave.
He was the Duke of Melton.
Not his father, nor his elder brother, both now dead after a freak carriage accident. Himself.
He had not wanted it, he had not coveted it, truth to tell, he had no idea how to go about being a Duke, but there it was, with all its implications and obligations, including the need to marry, and to sire heirs to the title.
It was like a bad dream, but it was not going to disappear at dawn.
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Giving a Heart of Lace: Sweet and Clean Regency Romance (His Majesty's Hounds Book 3) Page 8