Page 69 of Saved By the Rakish Duke

“Could you please go make sure they’re all right?” Penelope asked the footman that Lord Gloushire had left with them.

“Right away, Lady Penelope.”

As the footman chased after them, Penelope tried once more to persuade Reggie in case the others began to get too far away.

“Reggie...” she cooed once again, gently placing a hand on the boy’s shoulder. But to her surprise, the boy aggressively shook her hand away.

Taking a step backward, Penelope worried that she had upset the child in some way. “Is something wrong, Reggie?”

But the boy refused to face her, choosing instead to focus on the surface of the water as he sulked. Bewildered by the suddenness of the change in his mood, Penelope thought it best to let the boy do as he pleased for now.

Her plan seemed to work just fine until she noticed a few minutes later that he was sniffling. “Reggie...” she cautiously began again, “is there anything I can do to help?”

The boy shook his head, wiping his tears on the back of his hands. Digging into her reticule for her handkerchief, she lowered herself and attempted to bring the cloth to the child’s face, but he squirmed at her touch and began to shriek.

Penelope raised a panicked finger to her lips. “Reggie! Please don’t cry,” she begged, using her other hand to bring the handkerchief closer to his face. “Here, let me-”

With another ear-piercing wail, strangers and passersby began to whisper and stare.

Penelope began to feel the sting of her own tears in her eyes as the embarrassment and frustration at her own ineptitude and inexperience began to overwhelm her.

But just as the dam was about to break, Mother swooped in—seemingly out of nowhere—and began pacifying the boy, wiping his tears away with her thumbs.

“What happened?” Mother asked over her shoulder.

“I don’t know.” Penelope swallowed, “I merely suggested that we follow after you both and then he-”

“He probably wants Mother,” explained a wide-eyed Lucy, “She really liked sitting next to these fountains.”

Penelope nodded slowly. “Oh, I’m so sorry, Lucy.” She cupped the little girl’s hands to squeeze them. “May I ask how long it has been since your mother passed away?”

“Ten months,” the girl answered quietly, her gaze fixed on her teary-eyed brother. “I miss her too.”

“Of course you do.” Penelope pulled her into a hug, unsure of what else to say except to simply repeat how sorry she was for her loss.

CHAPTER23

Duncan let out an exasperated sigh.

“Not now, Rowle-” A cough cut off his yell, prompting him to reach for the glass of water on his nightstand.

“Are you all right, Your Grace?” the butler’s muffled voice called through the door. “Her Grace recommends that you take another bowl of-”

“I’mfine, Rowley!” Duncan called back. “Tell the cook that while her work is always impeccable, I truly cannot stomach another drop of chicken soup without the risk of going mad.”

The onset of Duncan's illness had been sudden and quick. As expected, poor Mother’s mind had immediately jumped to a rather harrowing conclusion. But mercifully, a quick physician’s visit revealed that this was nothing more than a cold.

“It could be due to the changing weather!” assured the doctor, “Or perhaps you have been working far too hard, in that case, it is natural that your constitution and strength would falter.”

Duncan didn’t want to admit it then, but he knew the true reason he had fallen sick—his drinking had increased almost five-fold in less than a month.

It was difficult to pinpoint exactly when it started, but Duncan had realized that he was becoming increasingly distracted and agitated during work.

He found himself on edge, uneasy, and short-tempered, and he was concerned that it could only get worse. To make matters worse, the Viscount Gloushire continued to call on the house, prancing around as though he actually had a right to be there.

In the hopes of relieving even a sliver of his own tension, he allowed himself one night of unrestrained drink and woke up the next day with an aching head, but a much more relaxed body.

Having found a solution, Duncan eagerly took full advantage of it. But as usual, Harlington had been the first to notice and the first to worry.

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