Dukes By the Dozen

Besides, it mattered not what either of them wanted. Both of their futures depended on the sex of the child Kate was carrying, fairness be damned.

It was time to change the subject.

“I believe I owe you a story. Let’s see…” He proceeded to regale her with the happenings of the morning, starting with his desire to see Hyde Park without all of the fashionable people who would descend upon it later in the day. Then he told her of the banshee he’d seen chasing off the geese, his rescue of her and finally of his swim to save the puppy—playing it all up in a most hilarious manner.

By the time he finished, Kate was wiping tears of laughter from her cheeks.

“I’m dying to know,” she said as her chuckles subsided. “What name did your mystery lady give?”

“She did not,” Max said. “But you should have seen her. She was quite fierce.” And lovely. Exceedingly lovely.

Kate’s brows dipped. “You said she had a maid with her? Do you think she was one of us?”

One of us. Max knew Kate meant one of the aristocracy. Just the question made his laughter flee and his cravat tighten. He might be a chance birth away from becoming a duke, but as a distant second-cousin who’d lived his entire life far removed from this world, he hardly felt like ‘one of us’. Nor did he wish to.

But he understood what Kate was asking. “I would say yes, given the quality of her clothing, the way she spoke and how she carried herself—apart from when she was running down the geese, of course.” It was on the tip of his tongue to give a description of her—given her striking black hair, startlingly green eyes and uncommon beauty, he was sure Kate would recognize her if she’d ever seen her before.

The words died upon his lips, however. He knew enough about life in the ton to know that even their innocent encounter could be misconstrued by gossips, and he didn’t wish the young lady any harm. He decided her identity was better left unknown.

As if echoing his thoughts, Kate said, “It’s probably for the best. You must be more careful. Once your identity becomes known, many an enterprising young miss will be after you. It’s not often a young, handsome duke comes on the market. One with all of his teeth, no less.”

She smiled at him, but her eyes clouded with sadness. Her own husband had been young and handsome, he knew—a man still very much in his prime. Theirs had been the match of the season thirteen years ago. His sudden death had been a shock to all who knew him. He’d simply grabbed his forehead, wincing in pain, and then he was gone.

“And if not the young ladies,” she went on, “then their match-making mamas or alliance-seeking papas. You’ll need to stay sharp to avoid their snares.”

Max shuddered. All the more reason he hoped to be headed home once the new heir of Albemarle made his appearance.

“Speaking of,” Kate said after polishing off the last bite of pastry on her plate. “The Earl of Montgomery sent round a note. He plans to call this afternoon and wishes for you to make yourself available to him.”

Max didn’t groan, but he wanted to.

The Earl of Montgomery had been the late duke’s mentor in Parliament, and should Kate’s baby be a boy, was set to oversee the estates until the new duke was of age to run them on his own.

Montgomery had also tasked himself with familiarizing Max with all of the responsibilities of the dukedom, should the child be a girl instead. He could not be put off.

Then the way Kate had announced Montgomery’s visit gave him pause. They’d been speaking of alliance-seeking papas… “Speaking of?”

Kate nodded. “Oh yes, Lord Montgomery has long wished for a ducal alliance. Had his daughters not been too young when Samuel and I married, I daresay Lord Montgomery would have physically shoved me

into the Serpentine to secure the duke for one of them.”

Max thought about what the young lady in the park had said under her breath. Because I’ve been ordered to land a duke.

Could the woman he’d met be…? No, not likely. He’d met the earl several times these past weeks and he couldn’t imagine that such an exotic beauty had been sired by such a plain-looking Englishman.

It was more likely that several young ladies—and their parents—had the potential new duke in their matrimonial crosshairs already, sight unseen. Max swallowed. As if he didn’t have enough reasons not to want the dukedom, the idea of being ruthlessly pursued for a title and not because of who he was as a person…

It seemed like he would have to be more careful. He already kept to himself, didn’t go out in society, and wore only his own wardrobe—that of a poor-ish country barrister—even though both Kate and Montgomery had tried to press him into visiting the tailor first thing. He’d laughed them off, saying he didn’t wish to spend any of his new nephew’s inheritance, but the truth of it was, he just didn’t want to put on any trappings of the dukedom—lest it trap him.

Unreasonable, yes. Superstitious even. But there it was.