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“Oh, I’m afraid I do.”
“I have a real weapon now,” Matthew said.He’d wanted Rose as leverage.Another way to break into the Beau Monde.He’d been very wrong.She wasn’t a woman to be used so, but his course was set.
“The duchess?What can she do?”
“Shame them.Shame them in a way an ordinary tradesman cannot.I may be able to take their money, but that has never brought a noble low, even though it should.”
“Have you told her?”
“I’ve had opportunities but, with that, a number of hurdles.Not yet.I will.”It would start by confessing to his true heritage.
It wasn’t every day that a man tried to ruin two dukes at a time.Sandhurst had written the story of his own demise.But to be honest, it wasn’t Matthew’s half-brother Matthew was trying to ruin.It was their father’s name and reputation Matthew wished to shred.
If the new Duke of Welliver made everything right for his bastard brothers and their children, all could be forgiven.If not, well theDaily Informercould be more effective than a well-placed solicitor.And there were other, complicated reasons he couldn’t outright destroy the name, though the temptation was great.
“How have you been, Mother?Really?”he asked, before sipping more of his drink.
“You must think I am a silly old woman, marrying a man twenty years older.His children hate me.”
“His children don’t know you.And you’ve bemoaned this fact for three years.If you moved to London, they could see one of your mansions which would singe the hair from their condescending brows.Did you tell them you aren’t after the earl’s money?”
“What little there is,” she said with her usual exaggeration.“But I do so love being addressed as a countess.I could do without all the bowing and scraping, though.”
“You love that too, Jezzy.Admit it.”
“All right.Just a little.But if land and riches are what it takes for his children to love me, I will stay here in Dover with the earl.”
They heard the girls as they came down the stairs.Even Matthew enjoyed their happy chatter and their little arguments about what Mama said and what she meant and why they had to study French when neither of them wereevergoing to France.
“Shall we?”Matthew asked as he helped his mother to her feet.
Inside the drawing room, the others had already arrived.Ava sat on her mother’s lap.A servant carried in a tea tray and cups and returned with another tray of food.
“Now, tell me about your trip.Did you enjoy Canterbury?”Jezzy asked.
“Oh, yes!We got to swim at the ocean,” Elaina said.She sat on the edge of a couchette, plate in hand, ready for another serving.Matthew was sitting a bit behind Elaina, but he saw Rose shake her head when Elaina made that silent plea.Matthew took her plate and set two small sandwiches and two sweet biscuits on it.His stepdaughter flashed him a broad smile.
“And Mama and Papa did too,” Ava said.
“Along with that, we had a lovely time with my sister and her husband,” Rose added.
“I have four cousins!”Elaina added.
“What would you enjoy doing tomorrow?Aside from shopping?”Jezzy asked.“We can walk along the cliffs.Of course, the earl wouldn’t be able to walk with us.”
“I can watch and wait in the carriage, old girl,” he said.
“Maybe take a picnic.”
“Yes, we are enjoying all the wonderful picnics we’ve had on this trip,” Rose said.“Oh, and did you know my sister is married to Lewis Sturry?He tells us that you are related, my lord?”
“Indeed, a fine boy,” the earl said, his head bobbing.“You’ve come at a perfect time, Mr.Hardy.The weather has been superb.”
It rained the next three days in Dover.Matthew spent more time with his mother than he had in the last five years, but he also spent time at her writing desk.Even with quill in hand, he was thinking of his wife.
Rose seemed peaceful with the children.And right on time, she experienced a spell of morning sickness, that vague timing which betrayed a woman’s condition.A timing that could mean she was anywhere from four weeks to ten weeks pregnant.But it was reassuring for Matthew and Rose that it wasonlyfour weeks, after all.
Dipping the quill, he took the time to inform Alice DuPuis that the plan was progressing, and the goods secured, and that he had put together a list of names that might be suitable for her gaming table and with whom she might obtain additional business for her particular skills.It was the least he could do since his marriage seemed to be working so well.
