Page 69 of Married to the Ruthless Duke

They asked to be invited to tea once she was in town, as they wanted all the juicy details. She laughed out loud, catching Alexander’s attention.

“They are just letters from my best friends, Joana, daughter of the Marquess of Kilburn, and Ariadne, daughter of the Viscount Yardley,” she told him. “They want to be invited to the townhouse for tea once we return.”

“I know the Viscount,” he said thoughtfully. “I asked to purchase one of his mares a while back, but he refused me.”

“And no one refuses a duke.” She smiled.

“You’re learning,” he mused.

“I have a great teacher.” She winked. “Any mail from Nathaniel?”

Nathaniel had tried to fix his broken relationship with Alexander since he discovered his mother’s deceit, and men being men, they’d quickly bonded as Nathaniel mended his ways, and he was now helping Alexander oversee some investments in his absence. The man had good taste in alcohol and had earned Alexander a great deal by telling him which companies to invest in.

He’d even quickly won Helen’s friendshi and now asked after her fairly often. She was looking forward to his visit when they returned.

“Yes. He enquires about the tea he sent.”

“Oh, I forgot to write back to him.”

The tea in question had been a ginger one that he claimed would help with the weird sickness that had riddled her the past month. She’d found the smell of eggs and even custard, which was her favorite, nauseating and had fast gotten used to retching into her chamber pot each morning.

The family doctor was to arrive that day, so she wasn’t too bothered, but her husband had been driven to the end of his wits’ each morning. He’d been attentive, holding her hair and using a warm sponge around her abdomen till the cramping subsided.

She’d thought it was her monthly cycle, but when she thought about it, she realized it had been a while since she had seen her flow. She suspected the cause of her current illness but didn’t want to get excited too early, so she kept her suspicions to herself. Especially because she also didn’t know how well Alexander would take the news.

“What did Father say?” she asked, trying to peer over his shoulder.

Alexander and her father had bonded strongly over their love of horses and frequently corresponded on the subject. They even had private dealings that she wasn’t included in, which made her pout.

“He is my father, you know,” she complained.

“But now, he’s mine.” He laughed, kissing her cheek.

“Hmm.”

She settled back to read Margaret’s letter and squealed in excitement.

“What is it?”

“Maggie is engaged!” she cried joyously.

“To one of her Scottish admirers?”

“No,” she answered, shaking her head. “He’s an Englishman. A duke who’d been visiting his estate in Scotland.”

She read through the story of their meeting and laughed again. Apparently, he’d walked into her chambers one night when he’d come to visit their grandmother, and she’d screamed the entire house down, accusing him of trying to steal her virtue. It had all been a misunderstanding concocted by their grandmother to get her to live outside her novels.

Apparently, her chambers were originally the one he stayed in when he came to visit, and Margaret had been placed there on purpose.

She’d tried to apologize, but he was adamant about avoiding her until she helped him solve a small problem with his three-year-old daughter.

“That is quite an interesting tale,” Alexander stated. “I guess Maggie is getting her fairytale ending, after all.”

“I know,” Helen gushed. “I’m so excited.”

“Which duke is it?”

“The Duke of Holbrook.”

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