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Jordan was blushing madly. William gave his brother an irritated smirk and put his arm around his wife, guiding her into the room.
“Not much of a greeting, even for you,” he said, then looked at Jordan. “Love, I am sure you have guessed by now who this is. Robert, meet my wife, Lady Jordan Scott de Wolfe.”
Robert Richard Christopher de Wolfe, the Earl of Wolverhampton, put his arms around Jordan when she went to curtsy.
“Don’t you dare act formally in my presence,” he ordered. “I would display my affection for the woman that tamed my youngest brother.”
She returned his pleasant hug. Then she noticed a woman coming up behind him, a very pretty woman, with light brown hair. The woman’s blue eyes studied her nicely enough.
“Robert?” the woman put her hand on his arm. “Tell me that this is Jordan.”
Robert nodded. “I could scarce believe it when I opened the door,” he said. “My little brother has done unbelievably well for himself, wouldn’t you say? Lady Jordan, this is my wife, Lady Giselle.”
Giselle took Jordan’s hand in her soft one. “Lady Jordan, what a pleasure it is. I see that everything William has told us is true.”
“Thank ye, my lady,” she said. “I am so glad to meet ye.”
Giselle looked at William. “She’s adorable.” she exclaimed with a wrinkle of her nose. “And her accent is charming.”
William nodded gallantly. “I thank you, both of you, for everything you say is true,” he said, helping his wife remove her cloak. “She is all that and more.”
A serving wench took her cloak and Giselle clutched her arm, leading her over to the warm conversation area near the hearth. She felt very comfortable, but she still glanced over her shoulder to make sure her husband was near her. He and Robert were close behind, with William taking a place by the chair his wife was settled in. Giselle sat opposite her.
“We were so surprised to hear that William had finally wed,” Giselle said. “And doubly surprised it was a Scot lass that had caught him. We had no idea what to expect.”
Robert cleared his throat and Giselle suddenly realized what she must have sounded like. She was a sweet woman, but a little dense. “I simply meant that William has been fighting Scots most of his life,” she put in quickly. “We never expected him to marry one.”
“Or marry at all, for that matter.” Robert’s brown eyes grazed his brother’s form. “ ’Twas hard to believe the mighty Wolf was snared. Jonathan still refuses to believe it.”
“Well, it is true,” William said, his gaze lingering lovingly on his wife. “Jonathan is simply jealous that I married before he did.”
“Jonathan is yer other brother?” Jordan asked him softly.
“Aye,” Robert answered for her husband. “He’s dark, like we are, but swarthier.”
“And shorter,” William snorted.
Robert nodded with a smirk. “But he’s a terror with a sword. He taught William everything he knows.”
William looked doubtfully at his brother. “Now, I would not go so far as to say that. I learned a bit on my own.”
“Of course you did,” Robert said with a wink, “ ’else you would not have become The Wolf of the border. Even Jonathan isn’t that good. Lord, we’re proud of our baby brother.”
Jordan grinned at William’s discomfort. “So am I,” she said.
“What attracted you to my brother, Jordan?” Robert broke into the warm moment between them.
Jordan looked up at the earl. “His beauty, of course; inside and outside.”
Giselle smiled. “You cannot ask for anything more than that, William. A woman who sees you for what you are.”
William put his hand on his wife’s shoulder. “And she loved me, anyway.”
“I understand you are expecting again,” Giselle said eagerly. “William was nearly bursting with pride to tell us.”
Jordan nodded. This woman talked faster than anyone she had ever heard. “Aye,” she said, “And our sons, Scott and Troy, are at Northwood and thriving.”
Robert snorted into his wine. “Twins,” he said. “My God, William, you must have had her abed day and night to beget twins.”