Page 47 of The Duke of Pain

“Well, only a few sporadic accounts. The debts that could not wait for the quarterly payments, gambling, and the like. Giving them what they wanted kept them at bay, giving me some sort of peace. But more than that, my father instilled a sense of duty in me since I learned to walk, some of it stuck. Obligations to the dukedom and all that rubbish. My father left Mother a tidy sum. That is what she and Whinstone have been living off of these past years.”

Gideon snorted. “My late father was shrewd, doling out the money in increments. If he had given to her in one lump sum, it would have been gone decades ago.”

Speaking this aloud, it was clear he should have refused to pay incidentals and the like, but he owed it to his father’s honor and memory to keep at least a minimum of obligation. How strange that he never used that particular honor criterion in his own dissipated dealings.

You arrogant bastard.

“When will you leave for Essex?” Olivia asked, pulling him from his self-reflection.

“Day after tomorrow. Stay here, Liv. Relax. Read. Sleep. Take tea in the afternoons. And I will return as soon as I can.”

“I will,” she stated, reaching for a crumpet. “And I will think over about going to stay with you at Foxmont.”

Gideon raised an eyebrow. “Minx. Think it over?”

“What can you tell me about it?”

He finished his eggs, all while crafting a reply. “To be honest, I haven’t been there much since my father died. While he was alive? I have pleasant memories of a well-situated Georgian brick manor house surrounded by sweet chestnut trees, along with ash and sycamore. The gardens were filled with wildflowers and shrubs, like bilberry and holly. Very pretty in the autumn.”

He gave her a teasing smile. “Did you know that it was the Romans who introduced the sweet chestnut tree to Britain? Not only for the nuts, which they ground to make flour, but for timber.”

Olivia laughed. “No, I didn’t know that.”

“You will think on Foxmont while I’m gone?”

She sobered. “Yes, on that, and much more.”

The air between them crackled with life.

“After breakfast, let us take a walk,” Gideon suggested. “There is a dressmaker not far from here who has a few gowns you can buy for the trip. If you decide to join me, that is. I do have an appointment later this afternoon.”

He told her of his newfound work with certain members of the House of Lords and a select few Members of Parliament.

“Oh!” Olivia exclaimed. “I think that is brilliant. I am so proud of you for taking your responsibility seriously. Well done.”

That praise, the warmth, and admiration in her voice were music to his ears. Tremain Hornsby was right: love can make one examine one’s soul.

And hell, he was falling in love.

It beggared all belief.

To continue to bask in her approval, he would work twice as hard at the parliamentary causes.

“Your words mean the world to me, Liv. You have no idea.”

“Take as long as is necessary this afternoon. There are so many people in need.”

“Yes, there is. But as soon as I return, it is off to bed. We will have supper served to us on trays in between the bouts of lovemaking.”

Olivia blushed prettily. “And I will ride you again?”

He closed his eyes, remembering the previous night when she did that very thing. Gideon moaned.

“Yes, for all its worth.”

Gideon, at last, now understood what Christian, Asher, and Brandon had discovered. Now that he had experienced it, he never wanted to let it go.

Ever.