She ignored the rush of gooseflesh his movement caused. She must be desperate for a husband if Harry caused such reactions.
Charlotte giggled as her father tried to sit. Her smile touched Louisa’s heart. She wanted a husband who had no issue joining his daughter for tea even if his body was too large to fit at the table and the teacups too small. Determination filled her as she glanced over at him. He gave her a half-smile and a shake of his head. His russet colored hair was longer than she’d ever seen on him and made him far more handsome. Or maybe it was the beard he had not yet shaved. She rather liked it on him.
“Now, who will pour?” Harry asked.
“Miss Drake.”
“Ah, but the guest should never be asked to pour the tea,” Louisa said firmly to Charlotte. “The hostess must oblige her guests.”
“Oh,” the little girl said with a pout. “Nurse says I spill.”
“Nonsense,” Louisa said with a smile. “Even if you spill some, we will clean it up straight away.”
Charlotte stared at the small teapot. “Very well.” She concentrated as she picked up the teapot and poured a little into Louisa’s cup. “I did it!”
“Yes, you did,” Louisa replied. “Now you must pour some for your father and then yourself.”
Charlotte pressed her lips together, and her dark brows furrowed as she carefully poured some tea into Harry’s cup. The expression of concentration on her face reminded Louisa of Harry. Other than her mother’s Indian coloring, the girl had Harry’s strong jaw and bright smile.
“Very good, Charlotte,” Harry said after she had completed pouring.
“But I spilled,” she said, pointing to the spot.
Louisa placed her napkin on the damp stain to soak up the tea. “I will tell you a secret,” Louisa said, leaning in closer to Charlotte. “I still spill a little tea every time I pour.”
“You do?” Charlotte asked with a tone of amazement.
“Yes, she does,” Harry added with a smile to his daughter.
Charlotte giggled again. “Biscuit, Miss Drake?”
“Thank you, Lady Charlotte.” Louisa picked up the small biscuit and took a bite. “These are excellent.” She then sipped her tepid tea.
“Oh, no!” Charlotte exclaimed. “I forgot to ask what you put in your tea.”
“She drinks it plain. No sugar, no milk, and no lemon. Very odd, don’t you think?” Harry smiled at Charlotte.
“Very odd,” Charlotte parroted her father before pouring a healthy amount of milk into her teacup.
He remembered how she drank her tea. Louisa thought that particularly odd. “Now, you must make conversation, Lady Charlotte.”
Charlotte looked over at her as if attempting to decide on an appropriate question. “Where did you come from?”
“Where did you come from, Miss Drake?” Harry corrected her.
“London.”
The little girl’s brown eyes widened.
Louisa smiled and continued, “London is a very busy and noisy town. It’s not like here where you can go outside and have all this greenery around you. In town, people stay up very late and then call on their friends in the afternoon before going to balls in the evening.”
Charlotte sighed wistfully. “I wanna go to London. There’re elephants in London. Nurse says Mamma rode an elephant.”
“Your mother was raised in India, where there are plenty of elephants, poppet. There are not many in England.”
“There is one elephant I am aware of,” Louisa said then looked over at Harry. “You must take her to see Chunee.”
“Miss Drake,” Harry said in a low tone. “I do not believe my daughter is of an age to go to London.”
Charlotte’s eyes watered. “I wanna see an elephant.”
Harry tilted his head and stared at Louisa as if to say, “See what you’ve done.”
“I am sure when you are a little older, your father will take you to town, and you can see Chunee then,” Louisa said softly.
“I wanna go now!”
“Charlotte,” Harry scolded in a fatherly tone. “We will go, but not today. Even Miss Drake is stuck here because of the snow.”
“That is very true,” Louisa said. “The time to go to London is in the spring when the weather is warmer, and your father can take you riding in Hyde Park.” She smiled sweetly at Harry.
He narrowed his eyes on her before glancing over at his daughter. “Perhaps we shall go this spring, Charlotte. If you learn everything Nurse wants you to know.”
The little girl smiled, not sensing the tension between them. “I will! I promise!”
“I have no doubt of that, Charlotte,” Harry said but still frowned at Louisa. “Nurse has returned, and Miss Drake and I have much to discuss.”
“We do?” Louisa said innocently. “I thought we had finished with our discussion.”
He tilted his head at her. “Oh, no, we have much more to speak of now.” He scrambled back to his feet before leaning over and kissing his daughter on the forehead.
“What do you say to Miss Drake, Charlotte,” her nurse prompted.
“Thank you for coming to tea, Miss Drake.” Charlotte glanced over at her nurse, who nodded her approval.
“Thank you for inviting me for tea, Lady Charlotte.” Louisa gave the three-year-old a quick curtsy and then smiled as the little girl did the same. Harry clasped Louisa’s arm and led her out the room. “Are we going somewhere, Your Grace?”
“Back to my study.”
“I believe we have already discussed everything, and I am rather tired. I shall retire to my bedchamber for a rest. Good day, Your Grace.” She twisted her arm out of his firm grip and raced to her room. As she closed the door behind her, she leaned against it with a long sigh.
That little girl needed a mother.
Chapter 4
HARRY PACED HIS STUDY as aggravation simmered in him. How dare she come back into his life and create such chaos? His being here suited him just fine. Until she arrived, Charlotte had no notion of going to town or seeing elephants, at least none that he heard of before today. He enjoyed his quiet life away from everyone.
It had taken him years to get over Louisa. Even after what happened with Sabita in India, he’d always thought how ashamed Louisa would have been of his actions. But he’d pushed those feelings aside to focus on his wife and daughter. For a year it worked, until upon his return from India, he saw Louisa again at his father’s home.
He had deliberately arrived late for the small dinner party that night two years ago. His father had befriended Mrs. Drake and her daughters when they had first arrived in London. Harry had known they would be attending the dinner party, but he hadn’t known they were the only guests Father had invited. Seeing Louisa at the long table had brought back feelings he’d tried to forget.
If he’d paid more attention to his wife, and not the woman he could never have, maybe, just maybe, Sabita would still be alive. He might have noticed how oddly his father acted that night. How strange that a duke would pour wine for Harry and Sabita with three footmen in the room.
Instead of watching his father, he’d been gazing at Louisa out of the corner of his eyes.
Now his mind thought of nothing but her again. In one day, Louisa Drake had turned his life upside down.
With her here less than one day, those feelings were returning, and he couldn’t allow that to happen.
He should have known the brash woman would follow him up to the nursery. Now she knew about Charlotte. Now everyone might know. He could not bear to see the pain on his daughter’s face when she saw the scorn of the ton for nothing more than being half-Indian. Those gossipy women in town were all dreadful people, which was part of the reason he had chosen to live at his estate in the North.
He had to keep Charlotte safe from them. And he’d been doing an excellent job of it.
Until Louisa came to call.
“Damnation!”
She had done more than turn his life out of order. She h
ad brought back sensations in him that he had buried. Lust was at the top of the list. He couldn’t take Louisa to his bed as much as he might wish it. She deserved a better man.
“Damn her!”
“What are you damning me for now?”
He turned and found her at the threshold of his study. Once again, tendrils of hair had slipped out of her chignon, framing her heart-shaped face in hues of red, gold, and brown. The breath left his lungs in a rush.
“Why do you think I was speaking of you?”
Her light laugh suffused the room and swirled around him until gooseflesh rose on his arms. Damn her!
“Who else would you be using such indelicate language on?” She stepped into the room and took a seat near the door as if to make a quick escape should she require. “And it’s hardly the first time you have cursed me. Do you remember when we caught Lord Ridgely having...well...in flagrante delicto,” she paused, her cheeks turning pink, “with a woman who was not Lady Ridgely? If I remember you blamed that all on me for wanting to discuss the economic effects the war had had on England in the back of the gardens.”
“I thought you wished to rest.” He stood near the fireplace staring at the flickering flames.
“I daresay we did not finish our conversation after all.”
“Oh?” He moved to a seat closer to her. “And what part did we forget?”
“I wish to learn why you are so unwilling to assist me, Harry. You know me better than any man. And as a man yourself, you know which of the currently available gentlemen would make a good husband for me.”
A husband. She wanted him to find her a husband. He couldn’t do it. The more time he spent with her, those too familiar feelings came back to him. And he couldn’t allow that to happen. He muttered a curse under his breath.
“I did hear you.”
“I beg your pardon,” he muttered.
“Now, back to my plan. All you need to do is come to town for the Season. Introduce me to some eligible gentlemen with whom you think I will be compatible. If I find one I agree with, then if needed, you might exert a little ducal influence on the man.”
Exert a little ducal influence? “Louisa, I haven’t been part of Society in years. I’m certain when the Season starts you will find the perfect man.”
Her face fell as she shook her head. “Harry, I am twenty-five years old. This year marks my seventh Season. The men out there desire younger ladies without any disgrace attached to their name.”
The last thing he needed was Louisa Drake reminding him of what his father had done to them all. Many people had wondered if the late duke had been mad to kill those people and then take his own life. His sister had told Harry there was some speculation making the rounds that he might also be insane for burying himself out here for so long.
“You are not the only one whose name has suffered,” he said in a biting tone.
“You are right.” Closing her eyes for a long moment, she finally said, “But you are a man. And a duke at that. No real harm has come to your name.”
More guilt knifed him in the belly. It was his father’s fault, not his. Seeing Louisa’s pained face across from him, he couldn’t help but think he had some blame in the matter. He should have noticed the changes in his father before he left for India.
“Louisa, I do not have the connections any longer,” he said, hating how she blinked quickly as if hiding tears.
She slowly rose and looked over at him, but not with tears in her eyes. Those blue orbs shone with the fire of anger. “You are the Duke of Worthington. If you return to town, you will be back in the bosom of Society in a day. You will have contacts, friends, and marriage-minded mamas seeking you out.”
“No.”
“But you must,” she insisted.
“Why must I?” he retorted in an angry tone.
She paused briefly before saying, “You need an heir. And Charlotte needs a mother.” Her full lips turned upward, and her blue eyes sparkled. “And I can find you a wife.”
“Absolutely not!”
She took a step close to him. “Yes, and you shall find me a husband. Who better than I to find you a lady who you will come to love?”
“You truly have lost your mind, Louisa Drake.”
“See,” she said with a bright smile. “You do know me so well. Find me a man who will tolerate my madness.”
“I am not sure one exists,” he muttered, shaking his head. Once again, she had turned everything upside down.
He leaned against the fireplace mantel as frustration swept across his body. The idea of matching her with a husband did not sit well with him, but the thought of her finding him a wife was abhorrent. There was no point in continuing this conversation. Nothing would drag him back to those miserable, small-minded people.
“I have no intention of returning to London.”
“Harry, you have a daughter. If she does not socialize with your peers, she will never be ready when the time comes to enter Society.”
Harry cringed. Not arriving in Society until sixteen, Louisa had never fit in with the fine people of town, which was a part of what had drawn him to her.
“There is no need for her to be part of that group,” he retorted, even knowing she might be right. At some point, Charlotte would want a Season.
Louisa rose and walked the room. “You are being terribly selfish, Harry. She needs friends. She needs a mother.”
“No.”
“You need an heir,” she said, turning to face him.
“Enough,” he rasped. “I am not returning to London. I am not marrying again. And under no circumstances will I take Charlotte to town.”
Her sapphire eyes sparkled with anger as she glowered at him silently.
He pointed at her and said, “And you will not speak of Charlotte to anyone.”
“You are being foolish, Harry,” she said with a hint of anger in her voice. “What do you propose to do, wait until she is eighteen before you allow her to visit town? Think of the talk then. Very few will believe she is your true daughter and not just a by-blow you are trying to pawn off on some fool man.”
He started to protest, but the words wouldn’t form. Was she right? No, she could not be correct for that would make him an utter cad in everyone’s eyes, especially his daughter.
“I understand your reasons for keeping Charlotte isolated. I might not agree with them, but if that is your wish, I will not speak of her to anyone.”
He released a frustrated sigh, angry with himself for even thinking Louisa would do such a thing. “I promised Charlotte I would take her out into the snow. Good afternoon, Miss Drake.”
He strode from the room and didn’t stop until he reached his bedchamber.
“Damn her!”
Everything Louisa had stated was correct. Charlotte did need friends. At Northwood Park, all she had were adults. There were no other children near her age. And if he was truthful with himself, she did need a mother, and he did need an heir.
Harry closed his eyes against the painful memories. He could not marry again.
LOUISA STARED OUT THE window as Harry pulled the child’s sled up the small incline. She could hear Charlotte’s giggles and shrieks as he turned around and then ran down the hill, pulling her with him. Leaning her head against the cold glass, Louisa sighed, wishing he’d invited her to join them.
As Harry raced down the incline, he reminded her of the younger, carefree man she’d known. A happy smile on his handsome face, laughing at his daughter’s reaction. It was the first time she’d heard him laugh since arriving. Until that moment, she hadn’t realized how much she missed his easy laugh.
Something was wrong with Harry.
The change in him went far beyond the standard transformation as a man took responsibility for his estates and family. She supposed after the anguish of his father’s attitude toward Harry’s Indian wife, any man would be cautious introducing his daughter to Society. Still, his stance seemed extreme.
The right woman
could help him. Surely she could help him find a proper lady. There had to be a way to come to a compromise with him about finding her a husband. She could not live alone with her mother. Louisa wanted to believe her mother only had the best of intentions for her, but she knew better. Mamma wanted Louisa married and out of the way of her scandalous relationship with Lord Hammond.
Louisa moved away from the window and picked up a book of poetry from the bookshelf. Sitting by the fire, she stared down at the pages but read nothing. Her mind wouldn’t stop thinking about how to help Harry.
After nearly thirty minutes of contemplation, nothing had come to her. A clatter from the hall told her Harry and Charlotte had returned. The sound of small footsteps and giggling came closer.
“Charlotte, we need to get you changed.” Harry’s voice sounded as if the good humor of the afternoon remained in him.
“Miss Drake, where are you?” Charlotte called in a singsong voice.
“In the library,” Louisa answered in a similar voice.
Charlotte raced into the room with Harry right behind her. She giggled and fell to the floor by the fire. “We went on the sled!”
“Charlotte, I need to take you up to the nursery,” Harry tried again.
Ignoring Harry, Louisa replied, “I saw you from the window.”
“You should’ve come outside,” Charlotte said as Harry reached down to grab her and then tossed her over his shoulder. “Papa! I’m talking.”
Louisa suppressed a giggle.
“You are always talking, poppet. You’re wet and need to change before you get a chill.”
Louisa glanced over at Harry and tried to ignore that strange feeling of breathlessness when he was near. “Indeed. Although, I must say I think you are wetter than she is. I’ll take her upstairs while you change into something dry.”
“Yay! I want Miss Drake to take me.”
His steely eyes glared down at Louisa. “As you wish.”
“Come along, Charlotte,” Louisa said as Harry put her down. She held out her hand for the little girl. “Now you will have to show me where the nursery is again. I fear I may get lost in this big house.”
A Deal with a Duke (The Daring Drake Sisters, #2) Page 5
