“Mother!” She stomped a foot on the step. “Lord Robert tried to save his brother.”
“But now Hector is going to be the Duke of Blackburn. That’s a different matter. One can put up with a lot of odd behaviours when dealing with more than seventy thousand pounds per year.” She pronounced the last words clearly.
The sum stunned Maddie for a moment. Not that she cared how much the Duke of Blackburn made, but Lord, seventy thousand pounds was a ridiculous sum.
“He likes you,” Mother said, folding the newspaper. “If you spend some time with him, in a matter of months, I might call you Your Grace.”
“What about what I want? What makes you think I’m ready to marry him or become a duchess?”
“He’s a duke,” Mother said with the tone of someone talking with a particularly slow-witted child. Even her arrogant smile vanished. She didn’t add anything else. Hector’s title seemed to be a good enough reason to marry him.
Maddie gripped the bannister, refusing to consider marrying Hector only for his title. “He isn’t a duke. He’s a man who needs time to recover from a seriously harrowing experience.”
Mother hooked her arm through hers. “And you’re going to help him as you promised.”
sixteen
PEACE AT LAST. Or as much peace as a city like London could offer, which wasn’t a lot.
Nestled in the top branches of the cypress tree in the garden, Hector closed his eyes and listened to the few birds flying across the sky. Their songs were all wrong compared to those he’d been used to listening to, and rather boring, to be honest.
On the island, he’d listened to the most amazing sounds made by dozens of different species of birds. Their high-pitched notes had tricked him into thinking there were humans somewhere. Their melodic songs had been so beautiful he wondered if the birds imitated Bach. Nocturnal serenades from frogs and insects had played like a concert at the Royal Albert Hall.
Here he could distinguish barely four different species, and the loud voices and thuds from the streets ruined the atmosphere. Still, staying on the tree was better than being with Quentin and bickering about how a lord was supposed to dress. Hopefully, Quentin had gone somewhere doing ducal businesses.
Quick footsteps approached the tree, and he scoffed. If it was Quentin again or the butler, complaining about his choice of clothes, the book, or the way he spoke about the island, he would leave the house and spend the night in Hyde Park. Actually, it wasn’t a bad idea. The footsteps stopped next to the tree. He peered down but couldn’t see anything through the thick foliage. He jumped off the branch and landed on his bare feet.
“What the hell—” The rest of the sentence died a swift death as a feminine scream reached his ears.
Maddie stood in front of him, a hand over her rising chest. Her pretty pink hat slid an inch to the side as she jolted. “Good Lord.”
“Maddie.” Hell. He’d given her a fright. He wiped his clammy hands over his breeches and brushed his hair back. Why hadn’t he thought to comb it? “I didn’t know it was you.”
She tilted her head to gaze up at the tree. The movement uncovered a few inches of her slender neck where a vein beat a fast pulse. He had to close his hands tightly not to touch her creamy skin. Or worse, plant a kiss on the tempting spot. He might have forgotten the rules of society, but he wouldn’t kiss a lady without being sure she wanted to be kissed, and Maddie had already been scared by him.
“You were up there?” She pointed a finger at the tree canopy. “It’s so high.”
He buttoned his shirt for her sake only. “Not high at all.”
“Isn’t it dangerous?”
“There are no snakes. I climbed trees on the island every day, but the snakes were a problem. Many of them would avoid me, hissing indignantly after being disturbed, but sometimes, I caught a few of them off guard, and it wasn’t a pleasant experience for either of us.”
She paled. “Snakes?”
He nodded. “I met quite a few snakes as thick as my legs, and others that could swim.”
“Swim?” She paled further.
Right. He wasn’t doing a good job at reassuring her.
“Snakes are highly misunderstood creatures,” he hurried to say in hopes of not worrying her further. “Many of them are very gentle and inoffensive.”
“I’m not sure I’d be happy to see a snake, even an inoffensive one.” She straightened her hat. “I trust you’re well.”
“I’ve missed you. I’m happy to see you again,” he said to distract her from the snakes.
“So am I.” She cast a quick glance over at him.
