Page 86 of Duke with a Desire

“Lord Corbett is with Lord Timothy,” Alice said. “His lordship wished his accompaniment to look at horses.”

The happiness swelling within Ophelia curdled like milk too long in the hot sun.

She frowned at Alice over Catherine’s little shoulder. “I wasn’t aware Lord Timothy was coming to London.”

In the wake of Corbett’s vicious illness and death, Lord Timothy had taken an increased interest in the children, particularly Reggie. Ophelia resented his interference as much as she disliked being forced to answer to him. Her sole comfort had been in that Lord Timothy preferred to live in the country, meaning he did not often appear unannounced, though he did keep a house in town. Learning that her son was not at home and that he was being squired about town with his uncle without her permission was unwelcome news.

“His lordship said it was an unplanned trip,” Alice explained.

“I wanted to see the horsies,” Catherine complained, pouting. “Uncle said no girls allowed.”

Uncle was a rotter, but Ophelia couldn’t very well say that, lest her daughter repeat the uncharitable words to him and make matters even worse for them.

She rubbed her daughter’s back in a soothing motion. “That wasn’t very kind of Uncle, but you needn’t worry. I’ll take you to see horses any day you’d like, my love.”

“D’you promise, Mama?” Catherine asked.

“Of course, poppet.” She pulled back, smiling with reassurance. “Were you very well-behaved whilst I was gone?”

Catherine’s eyes went wide. “Yes, Mama. I was the bestest behaved I’m ever was.”

“You must say I was the best behaved that I’ve ever been,” Ophelia corrected gently, for Catherine’s grasp of the English language remained a challenge.

“I was the bestest behaved that I’ve never been,” Catherine repeated solemnly.

Ophelia rolled her lips inward, deciding it wasn’t worth the effort to correct her daughter twice. Eventually, her diction would be precise and proper, and Ophelia would likely find herself longing for younger days when her daughter was still such a young, sweet innocent.

She turned her attention to the nursemaid, who still hovered nearby. “Alice, what do you say? How has Lady Catherine behaved in my absence?”

“She has been delightfully well behaved, my lady,” Alice reassured her.

“That is wonderful to hear. And what of my son? Has he been following all the rules and paying attention to his studies?”

Being at home without Reggie didn’t feel right. She hoped he would return soon, even if that meant Ophelia would be forced into an awkward and unwanted interview with Lord Timothy.

“His lordship has been just as behaved as Lady Catherine,” Alice answered.

“How good to hear,” Ophelia said.

“I’m always only ever good, Mama,” Catherine added. “The goodest. Better than Reggie.”

Ophelia chuckled. “The best, you mean to say, poppet.”

Catherine nodded emphatically. “The bestest.”

Ophelia sighed. “I need to get settled back into my room. Would you like to come along with me? You can go through my box of jewelry.”

Her daughter’s eyes went huge, for she loved any chance to rummage through Ophelia’s ever-diminishing collection of jewels. “Oh yes, Mama.”

Some of her finer pieces had already been sold, but there were a few remaining that Ophelia was longing to keep, such as her grandmother’s sapphires and a parure of emeralds and diamonds. It was her hope that the funds she would be collecting from the Wicked Dukes Society would sufficiently pay down the household creditors Corbett had left in his wake so that she could keep some of the pieces for Catherine and for Reggie’s future wife to have one day.

“Come with me, my love.” She held out her hand to Catherine.

Her daughter’s small fingers laced through hers, and Ophelia tried her utmost not to think of the last time she had held someone else’s hand or whom that hand had belonged to.

“Mama!” Reggie’s shout echoed through the silence of the house.

Ophelia had been pacing in her sitting room, growing increasingly worried the longer her son failed to be returned to the town house by his uncle. But at his sweet little voice, she hastened to the door, throwing it open to reveal her son rushing down the hall.