Page 77 of All Duke and Bothered

That was what Preston was afraid of. To give them all false hope only to have them grieve Spencer all over again. And who knew if they would ever find out what had happened, let alone find him?

“How do we find him?” asked Richard, echoing his thoughts.

“Yes, we simply must do everything in our power to find him!” Grandmama exclaimed.

“We will,” said Preston. “The man to talk to is Thorne Blackmore, the owner of Elysium. He was hired by Lord Beckett to rough Spencer up. Not to kill him. But it seems they took more than one misstep, first targeting the wrong man and then beating him to death. Blackmore or his men may know more about what happened that night.”

“What is Elysium?” asked Calliope.

Preston and Richard exchanged a glance. “That need not concern you, sister,” said Richard. “It’s a club gentlemen shouldn’t know about, let alone ladies.”

Calliope exchanged a cheeky look with Miss Alexandria. Preston didn’t like it one bit. When Calliope was determined to do something, she did it without regard for any rules.

“I’ll take care of it,” said Richard. “You’re a married man now. And it’s out of the question that Calliope gets involved or even shows her face in Whitechapel. I’ll go and talk to Blackmore.”

Preston nodded. “This is a good idea, Richard. But you must inform me of whatever he tells you.”

“Of course, brother,” said Richard. “We will find Spencer. Whatever it takes.”

They had to find him. Of course they did.

But even though hope filled Preston’s entire body like hot air, there was a dark worm of worry in the pit of his stomach. Because if they found Spencer alive, he’d discover the woman he loved married to his brother…

And that was yet another pain Preston would have to inflict on Spencer.

* * *

When their guests left, Penelope pulled Preston to her studio. She hadn’t wanted to tell him her own world-changing news before he’d had a chance to share what he’d learned about Spencer with the rest of the family.

But now that everyone knew about Spencer, she couldn’t wait to tell him. They went down the hall from the sitting room and entered the studio. She’d asked the footmen to keep it well lit, and, as it did every time she walked in here, her heart soared and lightness and happiness spilled through her. Seeing her paints, the easels, and canvases with her work still in progress, it was like someone plucked the string of her very soul and it rang and reverberated in every part of her.

“Why are we here?” asked Preston. “I’d like very much to take your clothes off and to wash you and then make love to you.”

She chuckled. “You can do just that in a moment. I want to show you something.”

His eyes dropped to a recently started portrait of himself. “This?” he asked.

It looked almost like the one she had done of him when Miss de Luca came to teach her, only it was even better. She was pleased to see that Penelope had improved.

“No,” she said and walked past where the landscapes of Grandhampton stood propped against the wall, along with watercolors and sketches she’d done.

In the corner of the studio, she leaned down and picked up a smaller painting, still unframed, and showed it to him. He studied the brown-dotted spaniel puppy sitting among flowers. If its big, cute, shiny eyes with long eyelashes didn’t give him the message…

“It’s pretty, Penelope,” he said and leaned down and gave her a short, soft kiss on the lips. “You’re so talented. I have never noticed your interest in painting dogs before. Where would it even go? Are you intending to sell it?”

“No, silly.” She giggled. “It’s not for sale. And the only room where it belongs is the nursery.”

“The nursery,” he said and nodded. “Yes, that’ll do fi—” His eyes widened and darted to her, then dropped to her still-flat belly. “Wait, the nursery?”

She couldn’t contain her smile, the tears of joy blurring her vision. She nodded. “Yes, Preston, it’s very early, but the physician confirmed it.”

“Heavens!” He propped the painting against the wall and scooped her into his arms, squeezing her in a bear hug. “Penelope! Darling! A baby!”

He pulled away and looked her over, his eyes shining. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine.” She chuckled. His fussing over her was endearing. “Everything is all right.”

“Just tell me if you’re tired…need to lie down…or whatever ladies feel like when they’re expecting.”