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He guffawed.“Lord, I never expected a grandmother and a villainous one at that.”
She cracked her cane against the floor.“A villain?A lesser woman would have never opened the door.”
“Why didn’t you stop him?”
She hung her head for a moment, then pursed her lips.“Are you telling me you never shagged another woman before your wife?Go ahead.You can tell me the truth.You rutted around just like every other man with life between his legs.Somewhere out there you have a child.No man is so lucky to avoid that fate.”
“That is none of your concern,” Matthew said, incredulously.“And I do not have illegitimate children.”Well, the unasked question was just answered.She didn’t know about young William’s parentage.And who could guess, the men in the family looking so much alike.
She tapped her cane again.“If that is all, I’d like to return to my room.I’ll not be badgered.”
“That’s it?That’s all you have to say for all the years of misery you and your family have caused?”What a miserable group of jackasses.Matthew had wasted a good part of his life wanting to be them.Dreaming of the day he would walk these hallowed halls and wear red robes to some coronation ceremony.Now he wanted nothing more than to tear it all down.
“I’m an old woman.I know what real misery is.If they are healthy, they can make it on their own.”She struggled to her feet, and Matthew, feeling like a petty bastard, did not offer to assist.“I know you will never be back.I wish you luck, Mr.Hardy.”
Luck had never been part of the equation.He watched her depart from the room, then he walked to the sideboard were there were still a few bottles of whisky.After pouring himself a healthy drink, he swallowed back half of it, then took a deep breath.The painting of his father was above him.Was his expression as full of contempt as his mother’s?
The dowager duchess did one thing: she illuminated the soul of her son, and it showed an unhealthy, unprincipled line.He felt a weight lifted—whatever characteristics he had inherited had been from his mother.Jezzy, the mistress.The woman who sacrificed her own body to see that her son was raised a real man.
Matthew didn’t turn when he heard footsteps.
“We are not all like her or our father,” a voice said.Coming up beside him was His Grace, the Duke of Welliver.Dressed well, not extravagant.Noble.Matthew would have bowed curtly, but the desire to be courteous to any degree had fled.
He stood beside Matthew, also looking up at his father.“I knew from a young age what he was like.It was no secret.When I was sent away to Eton, I vowed I would be nothing like him.You might think otherwise, but I do try to live honorably.”
“You don’t have to explain.”And, Good Lord, the one person he wanted to be an asshole was him—the man Matthew had cuckolded.
“The gala at Highwood was extravagant by any measure.You’ve done well for yourself.”
“What do you want, Your Grace?”
“To explain, I guess.I’ve known about my half-siblings; not all of them.As soon as I saw you the other night, I knew.Or I should say, I suspected.But that is a hard thing to discuss, don’t you think?Say, old fellow, you wouldn’t happen if we share the same father?”
And, son of a bitch, Matthew liked the deprecating, dry humor coming from the man.
“My name is Byron, by the way.I don’t mind if we are on a first-name basis.”
“Why?Your grandmother fairly bade me to never to set foot in the house again.”
“She won’t be around forever.Would you sit with me for a few minutes?I’d better pour a drink for myself.You know what they say about men who drink alone.”
“Let me,” Matthew said.He topped off his own drink and filled a second glass for the duke.What is the worst thing that could happen?Well, it wasn’t the worst thing that could be happening, but it was certainly the most unexpected.
Matthew felt the need to sit in his sunroom and stare out across the back lawn, toward the canal and the river.Perhaps finish some of the leftover gala Oban.He certainly wasn’t in the mood to discuss anything of import.
“You brought news of others, I take it?Though you must have ultimately come to announce yourself.”
“Yes.Recent events made it seem imperative.I actually thought it was Welliver’s responsibility to provide for them.Your grandmother pretty much told me to bugger myself.”
The duke smiled tightly.“She would have said the same thing even if the dukedom were able to provide an allowance.Her only curiosity about you is that you are married to the Duchess of Sandhurst.Though, I would like to hear about my brothers.”
“The ones you don’t know?”Matthew asked, feeling churlish again.
Hell, it was getting stranger by the minute.Matthew recounted his meeting with Archie, finding Bobby and the recent sad news of Levi’s passing.“And Levi has two daughters for whom his mother is caring.”
“And how did you find out yourself?”
“My mother was Welliver’s mistress.One of them.Maybe he had more.”
