“I imagine that if the earl could have found any legal way to prevent this, he would have taken it. Evidently a Scottish title can easily pass along the female line. Who knew?”
“Merciful heavens.” Hattie heaved a sigh herself. “A duchess. I suppose I shall have to brush up on my acts of obeisance.”
Georgie huffed in frustration. “Don’t you start as well. I told him no.”
“You told who no? The duke?”
Georgie nodded.
“You know you cannot do that, of course.”
Georgie plucked at her skirt. “It was all I could think to do at the moment. It is still all I can think to do.”
“He’ll be back.”
“Yes. Tomorrow. So he informed Williams when he was being given his hat and coat.” Helplessly she looked up at her friend. “What can I do?”
“I don’t suppose there is time to catch a fast boat to Calcutta.”
That at least made Georgie smile. “I hate curry.”
Hattie nodded. “So do I. Too bad. I’m quite certain your friend Lady Diccan could recommend some lovely places to visit.”
“She and Lord Diccan are in Venice with the Lidges, I believe.”
Hattie brightened. “I wouldn’t mind a gondola ride.”
Georgie shook her head. “I have a feeling that even that trip to India would not deter the duke. He mentioned something about the tenants needing Lully in order to prevent some type of disaster.”
Hattie’s humor disappeared. “Then you cannot run away.”
“I cannot let Lully go to London either. Or Scotland. You know that. I can not let any of this happen.”
Hattie was saved from answering by a scratch on the door.
“Come!” Georgie called to have one of the younger nursemaids pop her carroty head around the door.
“Morning, ma’am. Up for a bit of a visit?”
At which point without notice or permission, a small, rather dignified little girl marched into the room as if attending a presentation. Her bright red curls bounced as she walked and her sharp green eyes held serious intent as she ironed the front of her little white pinafore with both hands on the way in. It was all Georgie could do to keep from giggling.
“Do you think she’s known all along about her inheritance?” Hattie asked sotto voce, her own brown eyes sparkling. “For if there was ever a four-year-old duchess, this is the one.”
The minute he spotted the little girl, Murphy hauled himself to his feet with a groan and padded over to stand where Lully could lay her hand on his neck, which was level with her own. All Georgie could think was that this must have been what young Queen Maeve looked like. She also had the feeling that if she told her daughter the news the duke had brought, Lully would simply dip her head in acknowledgement, knowing it was only her due.
Thank heavens for little Jamie and Murphy, who had forced silliness and play upon her like a mandatory meal.
“Curtsy,” the maid whispered.
Lully turned a scowl on her. “I know.” And then, gave her mother and Hattie a wobbly curtsy that almost landed her on her head. “Morning, mama.”
“Good morning, Sprite.”
Finally her baby let loose with a waterfall of giggles. “I’m not a sprite! I’m a girl!”
“I don’t know,” Georgie said with a frown. “A little girl would have already hugged her mama.”
And just like every other time they’d played the game, Lully cast herself into her mama’s arms and peppered her face with small kisses. Georgie held that little heart to hers, laughing and kissing back, tears welling in her eyes. No one would hurt her baby. No one. She had had far too much practice in protecting her own to allow it.
“You squeeze too tight!” Lully protested.
Georgie eased her grasp a little, knowing Lully was right. She felt frantic, suddenly, as if someone would come up and literally rip the little girl from her embrace. As if Jamie’s very handsome, very nice cousin would.
He would not. She would kidnap her child and run if it came to that. She had done it before.
“He doesn’t understand,” she protested, her face against her daughter’s neck where she could catch that little girl scent she loved so much.
“Who, mama?” Lully immediately asked.
Georgie pulled back and brushed the hair back from her little girl’s forehead. “I was speaking to Hattie, sweet. Boring adult business.”
Her little duchess crinkled up her forehead. “Where is Jamie? I want Jamie.”
“What did we say? When does he come?”
Another moue of concentration. “Sat-day.”
“Saturday. Yes. And do you know what day this is?”
Lully shook her head with enough force to send her ribbon sliding over her left eye, which provoked more giggles.
“Today,” her mother said, repositioning the ribbon with tender hands, “is Monday. We have five more whole days until Jamie returns. You must be patient.”
“I shall get presents.”
Georgie gave her a tickle. “Mercenary. Of course you get presents.”
Lully crowed. “Sugarplums!!
Georgie crowed right back. “Books!”
Hattie joined in. “Stockings!”
Lully was giggling. “Ewephants!”
Georgie grinned. “Elephants? Now, how is Uncle Jack to fit an elephant in his carriage? Where will Aunt Olivia and Jamie sit?”
Lully wasn’t deterred in the least. “On top!!”
Impulsively Georgie pulled her little Lully back into her arms for a series of smacking kisses that had the little girl squirming and squealing. It was so hard to stop. She almost felt as if she were storing up the sights and sounds of her child before someone took her away. Before Adam Marrick took her away and gave her to Jamie’s father. Or worse, her own parents.
“Mama!” Lully protested. “Cook has buns.”
Well, Georgie couldn’t argue with an afternoon in the warmth and yeasty comfort of the kitchen with Mrs. Prince. Giving Lully one last smacking kiss, she turned her back towards the grinning nursery maid and gave her a pat on the bottom. “Be good for Mrs. Prince and Sissy, now. I shall see you at tea.”
Lully begrudged her mother a final, perilous curtsy and then ran out, Murphy lumbering right on her heels, to bask in the splendor of Mrs. Prince’s kitchen.
“What am I to do, Hattie?” Georgie asked, her arms unbearably empty of a sudden.
Hattie didn’t take her gaze from the doorway Lully had just disappeared through. “Talk to the duke,” she suggested.
“I cannot. You know I cannot.”
Her friend shrugged. “I have nothing else to offer.”
Georgie sighed. “Neither do I.”
CHAPTER 3
HE CAME BACK, of course. The problem was that he came early and caught her unaware. Georgie had anticipated receiving him back in what Jack had fondly called the Blinding Sun Parlor, dressed in her most austere gown, her hair rigidly controlled into a knot at the back of her neck, her hands resting quietly in her lap, the veritable picture of calm and control.
But the dastard came an hour early when she was still in the garden tumbling about with Lully and Murphy. In fact, he found her on the ground beneath the great dog, with Lully rolling about dissolved into peels of laughter.
“Muwphy won, mama!! Muwphy won!”
“Yes, he did,” Georgie admitted, breathless with her own laughter. And then Murphy gave her a long, wet lick across her face and the both of them dissolved into fresh giggles. Throwing herself atop her mother and dog, Georgie snuggled in for a few extra hugs from her mother and licks from her dog.
“Excuse me….”
Georgie’s laughter stopped and her stomach dropped. She wanted to run. She wanted to hide her baby and call to have one of her footmen show the duke out of her house. Out of her life.
Instead, she sat up. He was standing at the garden gate, as elegantly put together as an Ackerman’s illustration, his curly-brim beaver hat resting against his leg, his cane looking more like a fashion accessory than a necessity, his hair gently tousled by the breeze. And she was near-sprawled on the ground with her skirts tumbled around her legs. She gave them a quick tug over her ankles. It was the best she could do.