Page 55 of His Unwanted Duchess

Stephen met Theodore’s gaze squarely. “Oh, this and that. I believe I just wanted to come home.”

Theodore said nothing, but Beatrice was willing to bet that if the two men were alone, there’d be words exchanged.

“Have you thought about a name?” Beatrice asked, nodding towards the baby. “Will you name him after Theodore?”

Anna chuckled. “I should say not. I always think that children should have their own names—not simply borrow their parents’ names—and if he is to be named after anyone, it should beme. I am the one who gave birth to him, after all.”

“You’ll get no argument from me,” Theodore remarked with a grin, leaning forward and kissing her temple. “I’m not sure we’ve decided on a name quite yet.”

Beatrice nodded, shifting from foot to foot. They hadn’t been offered seats or tea. Not that she was offended, of course—her dearest friend had just given birth, after all—but it seemed suddenly that they were intruding on a very private moment.

As if reading her thoughts, Stephen spoke up.

“We should leave you both—the three of you, I should say—to rest and bond,” he said, smiling. “Gifts and well-wishes will arrive, I’m sure.”

“Thank you,” Anna and Theodore said at once, still staring at their baby, transfixed.

Kitty was there, too, but she was uncharacteristically quiet. She sat in her nurse’s arms, staring at her new baby brother, fascinated. Anna smiled at her oldest child, reaching out to touch her cheek.

“If you want to sit next to me, Kitty, you can hold your new brother. Would you like that?”

Kitty nodded, squirming her way onto the bed. Carefully, with a parent on either side of her, the swaddled newborn was eased into Kitty’s arms. The baby stared up at her, serious and wide-eyed.

A smile spread across Kitty’s face.

“We could call him Harry!” she suggested, beaming up at her parents. “Or Piper.”

“Piper?” Theodore laughed. “Is that another name from a book? Anna, have you been reading novels to our daughter again?”

“I certainly have.” Anna chuckled, smoothing Kitty’s hair back from her forehead. “I’m glad you came, Beatty,” she added. “I wish you could have been here during the birth. Can you believe it, Theo insisted on being in the room, along with the midwife? The woman was quite scandalized, I think.”

“Enough of that, I think,” Stephen remarked. “Come, wife.”

Blinking dazedly, Beatrice allowed herself to be led out of the room, leaving her friend behind to her new life.

“You’re worryingly quiet,” Stephen said.

Beatrice, who had been staring out the window in silence for the entirety of the journey, dragged her gaze over to him.

Her husband sat in the opposite seat, one leg folded elegantly over the other, and he was watching her.

“I’m just thinking,” she responded, which seemed suitably vague.

“Goodness. And to what conclusion have you come?”

She sighed. “Can’t my thoughts stay private? It’s bad enough that you’re coming to stay here…”

“Not coming to stay,” he interrupted. “Coming home. It’s not as if I plan to share your bed, so don’t fret.”

She snorted. “I should think not. I would not wish to lie with Mr. Blackheart, thank you very much.”

“That’sDukeBlackheart to you, dear.”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh, heavens.”

“I shan’t bother you, I promise. However, since you and I both have the day free—while the servants clean up that hellish mess in the house—I suggest we go out together. To silence those scandal sheets that say you are a despised and neglected wife.”

She glanced sharply at him.

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