His Secret Heroine
Page 23
But Robert was a man full grown now. He had been away four years, and suffered frighteningly serious injuries. One would think he might be willing to reconsider what he had to lose.
The duke had handed over to him the marquisate and its properties. Whenever Robert attempted to quarrel, the duke simply conceded, and walked away whenever he needed to avoid a clash. Perhaps what Robert really needed was a roaring battle with the duke, to get it all done with. But the duke would not fight, for he had made up his mind to do anything and everything he could to restore his family. He was equally as stubborn about learning to relinquish control over others as he ever had been about gaining and maintaining it.
But that was their affair. Reggie had no intention of trying to solve his family's problems for them.
And he was too busy basking in the pleasure of the moment, with Chloe beside him. Chloe had managed her pregnancy and delivery well, and their son was beautiful, healthy, and wonderful. Even though the duke had driven Chloe to distraction with his fretting, she had learned to adore the man. Her two sisters had immersed themselves in their new family, nearly driving Reggie crazy with their constant musical banter as they argued over the husbands they would someday have. And Robert was going to recover, with little more than a residual limp.
Aunt Daphne was rather much the same, content with her spinsterhood, content with her family. And the duchess, tranquil as always, still lived on her beloved estate on the Avon and grew roses. She had ventured out to town for the season this last year, but only for a short while because she could not bear to be separated from her gardens at the very time of year when they burst forth to start a new cycle of beauty.
Reggie's heart tugged as he watched his father bend over and tenderly lay the now-sleeping infant in his cradle. It was truly something wonderful, this touch the duke had with children.
It had been his father's love and devotion that had carried Reggie through his struggle as a misfit child, and that had, whether he had realized it or not, sustained him during that terrible time when his father was lost to him.
He was glad he had never given up. He was glad Chloe had understood that. And he was glad his father had found Chloe, and established that bond that somehow had provided what the man had needed to find his way back to life.
The duke continued to watch the cradle and the sleeping baby. He drew an assessing breath and crossed his arms. "He shall go to Eton, of course, and Oxford. I believe he will make a good scholar, Reginald. Perhaps he shall be a don. We have never had one in the family. Yes, that will do nicely."
Chloe narrowed her eyes at the duke. "Or perhaps not."
The duke blinked. He took a breath. "Yes. Well, perhaps not. Merely speculation. Hard to tell what the lad might choose."
The duke was rewarded with one of those glittering smiles Chloe seemed to keep reserved just for him. Reggie had no doubt she had become the daughter of his father's heart, the daughter the duke had thought he would never have. She would never be Elizabeth, but she didn't have to be. She was Chloe.
"Well," said the duchess brightly, "now that our little Alexander's fate has been so properly undecided, I believe I shall go for a stroll in Chloe's garden. I rather like the way you have managed the colors, my dear."
"Perhaps I will join you, then," said the duke. "Perhaps it is time I regain the habit of strolling in gardens."
Robert frowned, but he said nothing. Off in a corner, the twins giggled with Aunt Daphne. After a while, Robert limped with his cane to the window of the sitting room, and stared out over the parterre garden Chloe had filled with blooms in riotous colors, the plants shaded from the hot summer day by towering lime trees.
"Bedamned, Reggie," Robert said, frowning. "They're holding hands like a green girl and her benighted bumpkin."
Reggie said nothing. He was aware of a bit more than that going on between their parents. Chloe raised an eyebrow at Reggie, and her lips pursed with curiosity. Reggie answered with a wink. It was a secret on dit he would share with her tonight.
"Blast. I think he's going to kiss her. You'd think she'd have more sense. After seventeen years of banishment, she ought to have a right to tell him..."
Let him rant. Robert would eventually work things out.
Reggie lost interest in Robert's ramblings. He slipped his hand around Chloe's, interlacing his fingers with hers. Raising their hands up on elbows, he studied the shape of her long, slim fingers. Such delicate dimensions. From eyebrows to bone structure, her dainty, feminine features belied unusual strength in her hands, and in her character.
He wondered, how would those hands look chopping palm fronds to build a shelter on the beach of some remote tropical island, say, somewhere in the South Pacific?
~The End~
Drop by my web/blog at dellejacobs.blogspot.com
Look for my other historical and paranormal historical romances on
Amazon.com, Smashwords.com or other ebook distributors.
Traditional Regency Romances:
THE MUDLARK
HIS SECRET HEROINE
Regency Historical Romances:
HIS MAJESTY, THE PRINCE OF TOADS
LADY WICKED (re-release March 2013)
APHRODITE’S BREW
SINS OF THE HEART
BELOVED STRANGER (Coming Soon)
GILDING LILLY (Coming Soon)
Medieval Romances:
FIRE DANCE
LOKI’S DAUGHTERS
FAERIE
Fantasy Historical Romance Novella:
SIREN
Contemporary Novella:
THE BOSS WORE RED
in the CUPID GONE WILD Anthology