Dukes by the Dozen

by Grace Burrowes

  The sun was starting to slip in the sky when Lord and Lady Hawksworth reached Kendal and Thalia. She began to discuss something with her sister-in-law, while Kendal sidled up to her brother. “How soon can Thalia and I marry?”

  “There are details to be worked out. Can we discuss it in the morning?”

  “If you wish.” He hated the delay, but he agreed that many pieces of the puzzle had to be put together, and tomorrow would have to do.

  Chapter 5

  That evening, when they returned from the celebration, Thalia’s sisters took her to her bedchamber and bid her a good night.

  “He will still be here in the morning,” Laia said.

  “Hawksworth said there will be a meeting about when you and Kendal can wed.” Euphrosyne hugged Thalia. “We shall come up with a way to make it soon.”

  “The thing we must remember is that you are supposed to be in Wiltshire. That adds at least two or three days to any travel schedule we give Somerset.”

  Trust Laia to think of the details when Thalia would be happy to leave tomorrow. “I am glad you are keeping account of everything.”

  Her eldest sister bussed her cheek. “That is what Guy says.”

  It was all she could do not to go to Giles’s room. Her body still hummed with what they had done earlier. No wonder her sisters and Meg liked being married so much. And to think that when Thalia had awoken this morning, she’d had no idea what a momentous day it would be. Her sisters had been right when they had predicted something good would happen here.

  Her maid brushed out Thalia’s hair, and she caught a glimpse of the combs she had purchased at the fair. “I really should tell Hawksworth to repay Kendal for everything I borrowed today.”

  She could feel her maid laugh along with the brush strokes. “My lady, I don’t think it makes a difference now.”

  “Perhaps you are correct.” She would ask in any event.

  Once Thalia was in bed, she was certain she’d not be able to sleep, but the next thing she knew, Mannering was pulling back the bed hangings. “Lady Hawksworth suggested you might wish to rise, my lady.”

  Glancing around, Thalia found the clock. It was almost nine in the morning. She was usually up at seven. How had she slept so late? “Thank you.”

  When she reached the breakfast room, only the older members of the family were not present.

  Giles rose and pulled out the chair next to his for her. “All of us except Hawksworth waited for you before we began eating.”

  Quartus sniggered, a sound she had never heard him make before.

  “I thank the rest of you for waiting,” Thalia said. “I know my brother well enough not to expect him to wait.”

  “A wise lady,” Guy Bolton said.

  Her aunt, uncle, and Berwick entered as a second round of tea was brought. Her uncle took the seat at the head of the table, and her aunt sat next to him. Berwick found a place on the other side of Giles.

  He placed a pot of strawberry marmalade next to Thalia’s toast.

  “Where did you find that?” she picked up the jar.

  “At the market yesterday.” His smile was a bit smug. “When my servants arrived, I sent one of the grooms back for it.”

  “If I did not already love you, I would for that alone.”

  “Hmmm.” He rubbed his chin. “I must make sure no other gentleman brings you strawberries. I might have to call him out.”

  She was glad to see he had a sense of humor first thing in the morning. “You would not!”

  “Oh, I don’t know about that. I would not wish to lose you to some cur with strawberries.”

  “You will never have to worry about that, my love. I am not fickle.”

  He gazed at her as if he’d kiss her at the breakfast table in front of her whole family.

  “I shall insure all of our estates have strawberries for you year-round.”

  “I see what you mean.” Hawksworth’s lazy drawl could be heard down the table. “Well, then, let’s review the timetable we have been working from and find a way to tighten it.” He drained his cup and held it out for more. “Guy, you were always the best at working these things through.”

  Giles leaned toward Thalia, putting his mouth against her ear and making her shiver. “How does he know that?”

  She kept her voice low. “It must have something to do with the time they were in the army together.”

  Bolton’s fingers drummed a tattoo on the table. “Laia, we are not supposed to arrive in Berwick until the third of June, is that correct?”

  “Yes.” She held her cup as if ready to take a drink. “If we are early, there must be a reason. Mama never leaves Wiltshire before the stated date.”

  Giles whispered to Thalia. “I take it you traveled from Wiltshire to here without the duke’s knowledge?”

  Not wanting to interrupt Bolton’s ruminations, she nodded.

  “So, what could happen to change that date?” he mused.

  “Berwick could have somehow met Thalia and decided he wanted her to arrive earlier.” Meg frowned. “Could he have for some reason gone to Wiltshire?”

  He shook his head. “I have no holdings in the area.”

  “But you do have shipping interests,” Giles said.

  Looking suddenly alert, Berwick nodded.

  “And”—Thalia continued the thought—“even if they are not in Bristol, could a ship have been forced to go into the port, making it imperative that you travel to there?”

  “Yes.” The duke nodded again. “Yes, I could, and the reason need not matter.”

  “In that case, you could have asked to stay at Melbrough for the night on your way to the Great North Road.”

  “Indeed, that could have occurred. It is common knowledge that Melbrough and I are friends.” Berwick glanced at Giles. “If you change your mind, my boy, I have a mind to take the lady off your hands.”

  Giles narrowed his eyes and actually growled. Thalia put a hand over her mouth to smother her laughter, but her family did not bother to hide their mirth.

  “I take it you don’t like the idea?” Berwick was clearly fighting not to laugh.

  “I do not.” Giles slipped his arm around her, pulling her close. “I will thank you for sending me to her.”

  “I was glad to do it.” The older man’s expression softened. “I wish for you the grand passion I had with Elizabeth.”

  “Shall we get on with the plan?” Bolton asked, although he did not wait for an answer. “So, Berwick was at Melbrough and met Thalia.” Guy’s brows lowered. “We have been here for almost two weeks. It’s roughly five or six days from Wiltshire to Berwick-upon-Tweed. If he met her during her first week, then we could arrive at almost any time.”

  “And Catherine would agree to visit Berwick early because it would please Somerset,” Meg said.

  “Does it matter that no one wrote Somerset telling him of the change in plan?” Euphrosyne glanced around the table.

  “Not if she wrote a letter that didn’t get sent.” Uncle Melbrough shrugged apologetically. “I must have forgotten to frank it, and it is still on my desk.”

  Bolton nodded slowly. “Berwick, you must write Somerset immediately and send it by messenger. Does anyone know where he is at present?”

  “He will be in Leicestershire,” Laia said.

  “Then that won’t work.” Bolton tapped his fingers on the table again. “He could arrive before we do.”

  “What if,” Giles said, “we just go to Whiteadder and Berwick writes Somerset from there?”

  “Of course,” Bolton said. “I wonder that I didn’t think of it.”

  “You have forgotten about the settlement agreements.” Hawksworth looked at Berwick. “Did you receive them before you left?”

  “I did, and I brought them with me.”

  “Very well, I’ll review them, and we’ll have my secretary draft the new agreements with Kendal’s name and change your information to his.”

  Euphrosyne shook her head. “That will
not work. His secretary, Belling, reads everything Somerset signs and would easily spot the differences.”

  “Drat.” Bolton rubbed one cheek. “How do we get rid of Belling long enough for Somerset to sign the agreements?”

  “I really hate to ruin what seems to be an excellent plan in the making,” Uncle Melbrough said, “but is that quite legal? I believe Somerset could repudiate the contract when he discovered he’d been duped.”

  “But would he?” Aunt asked. “He is very proud, and if it ever got out that he had signed the documents without reading them, well . . .”

  Hawksworth prepared another bite before speaking. “It’s worth the risk. With the wedding taking place in Scotland, Thalia will be legally wed, and that’s what is important.”

  Her uncle nodded. “Then how do we rid ourselves of Belling?”

  The suggestions ranged from finding a woman to waylay the man—making Thalia blush—to joking suggestions of poison.

  Berwick chuckled. “You are a bloodthirsty group. Remind me not to get in your black books.”

  Finally, Giles asked, “Does he travel with the duke?”

  Euphrosyne shook her head. “No, Somerset prefers to travel alone.”

  “Then we can find a way to cause his carriage to break down and delay him for a day or two.” He looked around the table, and everyone nodded.

  Guy glanced at Hawksworth. “We shall need to locate him and make the accident occur.”

  He grinned wickedly. “That will be no problem at all.”

  Thalia wondered how her brother planned to make it happen, but decided not to ask. She had a more pressing question. “When can Kendal and I marry?”

  Bolton stared in her direction, but not at her. “In five days, if we can depart tomorrow.”

  She looked at her aunt, who rose from the table. “I shall see you later. There is a great deal to be done.”

  “Five days.” Giles’s lips moved against her temple. “I might die before then.”

  Part of her wanted to laugh, but the other part knew exactly what he meant. Five days would be a very long time.

  * * *

  To Kendal’s amazement, their group actually left before nine in the morning the following day. It would have taken his sisters a day more just to decide what they needed to bring.

  He stood idly between Bolton and Hawksworth as trunks, bags, children, and servants were loaded onto several large traveling coaches. The ladies were in charge of all of the organization. Thalia nodded at something Meg said, and scurried off to the lead coach. “I am impressed.”

  “I have come to believe ladies are born quartermasters,” Bolton said.

  “And they don’t forget the food.” Hawksworth scowled at him.

  “It was only once,” Bolton protested.

  “That was more than enough,” Hawksworth retorted.

  Kendal was wise enough to stifle his laughter, but sometime he would ask about Hawksworth’s obsession with food. Had it come from his time in the army or from his upbringing? “Do we have any idea where we’ll stop?”

  “I studied all of our estates yesterday,” Bolton said, “and planned a route that will allow us to stay at properties one or another of us owns without going out of our way. Tonight we’ll be at my manor house just north of Boroughbridge. Laia sent a letter instructing them to prepare for our cavalcade.”

  “I’ll take my son up with me if he becomes too troublesome.” Hawksworth smiled. “He likes the horse.”

  “You are planning to ride?” Kendal didn’t want to travel in his coach alone. He would gladly share it with Thalia, but that would be dangerous. He didn’t think he could keep his hands off her for hours at a time.

  “Yes.” Guy indicated the horses bring brought up from the stables. “Do you have your hack with you?”

  “Unfortunately, I do not.” Kendal wished his mentor had suggested he bring one. “I was assured that Hull could find me a suitable horse for riding.”

  “I’ve got an extra one with me.” Hawksworth motioned to one of the grooms. “You can ride Belen.”

  “Thank you.” Kendal had begun to think of Thalia’s family as his own. Of course, he’d been helped in that by the way they had all embraced him and the sudden betrothal. By dinner last night, he had been on a familiar name basis with all of them except Hawksworth, who no one called by his first name. “I appreciate your generosity.”

  His future brother-in-law nodded. “You’ll find we have all become quite close.” He looked around. “Where have Quartus and Anna gone?”

  “They went ahead early this morning,” Guy said. “Their babies were being fussy, and she saw no reason not to depart when they were all already up.”

  Kendal had spoken to the Duchess of Wharton—the only duchess in her own right he knew of—and her husband Lord Quartus only for a few minutes yesterday because they were busy attending to the children. “I hope they feel better soon.”

  “Once they have a full set of teeth, they’ll be fine.” Meg had strolled up to them. “Giffard was horrible when he was teething.” She glanced at her husband. “We’re ready when you are.”

  “Lunch?”

  “I’ve had baskets packed for today.”

  “Very well.” Hawksworth gave her a quick kiss. “We’ll ride in front.”

  He and Guy strode off to where the horses waited, and Kendal followed. Before they mounted, the other gentlemen joined them. He’d never been part of a large family group before. Or a large group of men. Thus far, he liked it a great deal.

  They rode to the front of the carriages, and some outriders flanked the coaches while others rode behind the last carriage. Berwick and Melbrough traveled in the latter’s coach.

  Stopping at their own estates turned out to be an excellent idea. They had sufficient bedchambers, room for the servants, a nursery for the children, and stabling. Five days of traveling didn’t feel that long at all.

  They arrived at Whiteadder Hall on Saturday afternoon, and the group soon settled into the large house, which had been renovated and improved many times over the past four or five hundred years.

  Once they’d washed the dirt from the road and eaten, Kendal took Thalia around the gardens. “The house had a moat and walls at one point. I saw the plans in the muniments room.”

  “You would never know by looking at it now.” She turned to him, and he drew her into his arms. “I am glad my family gave us time together.” They’d had time to speak for hours in the evenings.

  “It gave us time to know each other better. I love you even more now.”

  “Yes.” She smiled up at him, and he could not resist kissing her.

  If only he could take her to his bedchamber. But he’d agreed with her family that the rest would have to wait until they’d wed. “We can look at the chapel if you wish.”

  Sliding her fingers down his arm she took his hand. “Let’s do that. Do you know the story behind it?”

  “I think Berwick will have to be the one to tell it. He’ll do a much better job than I will.”

  Kendal took her around to the other side of the hall to the small stone chapel where in two days they would be married. If all went well.

  Chapter 6

  Thalia was enchanted. Unlike the squat chapel with plain glass her family had at Somerset, this one was tall, rising two levels above the ground floor. Stained glass windows lined the one side she could see, and a massive double wooden door was studded with hardware that shone like gold when the sun caught it. A covered walk built with arches and columns connected the chapel with the main house.

  This is where she would be married. “I have never seen anything like it!”

  “Come and see the inside.” Giles grinned at her.

  Berwick and her sisters, aunt, and mother stood in the open door exclaiming over the chapel.

  “May I see it too?” Thalia asked.

  Her mother, who had been absent for much of the time, finally felt she could join them, turned and smiled. “I think you wil
l be very happy with it.”

  Thalia stepped inside. Instead of boxes, the chapel had pews covered with bright blue cushions. Statues of saints stood in some niches, stone crypts in others.

  Berwick came up next to Thalia and she indicated the crypt. “Are many in your family buried here?”

  “Only one or two.” He stepped to one of the stone boxes and touched something.

  Suddenly the top and side of the crypt opened, revealing stairs. “How ingenious.”

  “And helpful.” He closed the box again. “These stairs lead back to the cellars in the house. Naturally, that was more helpful when the place was fortified. Others go to rooms in the Hall, and one leads to a cottage in the woods beyond.” He smiled smugly. “My ancestors had a great deal of foresight, I’m happy to say.”

  Giles slipped his arm around her.

  He glanced to the nave. “I think my vicar would like to meet you.”

  “Your Grace.” A short man with sandy hair walked up the aisle and bowed.

  “Mr. Kennedy, I trust you received my letter?”

  “I did, and I am very happy to be conducting a wedding. It’s been too long since we have had one.”

  Berwick performed the introductions, then the vicar took out a notebook. “I shall need your full names for the banns.”

  Thalia glanced at her family, all of whom had frowns like hers. “Banns? But we wish to be married on Monday.”

  Mr. Kennedy smiled gently. “In Scotland, the banns can be called three times on the Sunday before the ceremony.”

  “Oh.” That was interesting. “I am Thalia Elizabeth Joan Trevor.”

  “Giles Horatio William, Duke of Kendal.”

  “Excellent.” Mr. Kennedy inclined his head. “Who will give the bride away?”

  “The Marquis of Hawksworth,” Meg said.

  “You will both need witnesses.” He glanced at the assembly. “I assume that will not be a difficulty.”