Page 9 of A Mother for the Blind Duke’s Orphans

She let out a soft breath of air. “I believe you.”

He nodded. “Good.”

“But Aurora and Princess would⁠—”

“Princess?” he frowned as he repeated the name.

Miss Norish sighed. “There was no name in the records. At first Aurora made it a game, but it was the only name that made her sister smile, so it stuck.”

“I would have to deal with that some other time then.”

The name irritated him as well as the fact that taking his nieces without Miss Norish would probably tear them apart. It was unwanted trouble on his side, but he could see that she had been constantly with them, and that she genuinely cared for them too.

Good, then my plan would probably work out.

“Miss Norish,” he said simply.

“Yes?” she replied, almost impatiently.

“Have your maid begin packing.”

The countess gasped, and the earl snapped his head toward him.

“I—I beg your pardon?” Miss Norish took a step backward, her voice quivering.

“Pack what you need for immediate travel, and the rest can follow over time,” he ordered, then turned toward his footman. “Jonathan will assist you.”

Her uncle found his voice first. “Your Grace?”

Hector did not look at him. “My nieces need continuity. You made that clear, did you not, Miss Norish?”

“I—yes, but—” Her composure faltered enough that he heard her step back. “I meant time. I cannot accompany them with… with you.”

“You can.”

“No, I cannot.” She turned her back on him, and he admired the contours of her body. “I am unmarried, and this arrangement would ruin me!”

Hector heard her frustration and imagined that tears were beginning to pool in her eyes. He cleared his throat, tightened his grip on the cane, and stalked toward the nearest window.

“You will be coming with me; that is why I am here, Miss Norish.”

The silence struck harder.

“This is scandalous,” her aunt whispered.

“With all due respect, Your Grace, but if this is a proposal, you ought to have approached me privately.” The earl felt the need to make himself important, but Hector had no time for him.

Miss Norish faced him, and he could see the shape of her eyes and the tears that gathered there. But the color remained a mystery. “I do not understand⁠—”

He cut her off with a tap of his cane. “Perhaps I shall make this easier for you to understand?” He could see the frown lines on her pale skin, and part of him yearned to reach out and smooth them away. The other part, the Duke, cared only for the safety of his family. “Miss Norish, you will come with me as my duchess.”

Chapter Three

He has lost his mind.

The thought struck Poppy with such force that for a moment she could not do anything but stare.

The Duke of Sterling stood tall and sure of himself as though he had merely suggested a change in the weather, and not marriage. His gray eyes were fixed on her face, and their strange, icy color intimidated her along with his proposal. A cinnamon scent drifted from him and intoxicated her senses.