Page 10 of A Duke, a Virgin and a Baby
Frowning, Anna stepped closer and peered into the basket, her heart skipping a beat when wide blue eyes met hers and hands reached up, as though trying to grab hold of her.
“What –” Anna stuttered, reluctantly reaching into the basket to lift the child into her arms, barely managing to securely hold onto him as a piece of paper fluttered down to the floor.
Ellen picked it up and read, “His name is Nicholas.”
“Is that really – my goodness. He blinked. It is a child. A live one.” Gretchen huffed, staring at the creature in the duchess’ arms in horror.
“I heard they are little bundles of terror. My sister has four of the little brats and she always looks as though she is waiting for the right time to jump into a well.” Regina expressed sagely as she peered over Gretchen’s shoulder.
“I thought she did jump into a well.”
“She did. That was after the third one. She’s looking for a chance to try again since she was rescued last time.”
“Who left him here? Did anyone see anything?” Anna asked, trying her best to keep her arms firm enough around the child, without making her grip too tight to make him uncomfortable.
“We were going to pick some herbs for tea in the garden and that’s when we noticed the basket. At first, we thought one of the farmers had brought us some produce again. But when we went to check it… he laughed at us.” One of the maids who had been waiting at the door reported.
Anna had never been so befuddled in her life. Why would some abandon their child at someone else’s home? Most people dropped their children at churches. And why this particular estate –
She looked down at the boy, her heart sinking as he stared back at her for a moment and burst into a fit of happy giggles.
His eyes… they were an unmistakable shade of blue that she knew. One that she couldn’t forget.
“Here, take him,” the duchess said, passing the child to Ellen, who let out a squeal of surprise as she collected the infant.
Without another word, she walked into the house and went straight to her study, rage coursing through her veins.
How could he? How could he be so careless and callous? After everything, he said about letting her live however she wished, he went ahead and had an affair and was now forcing her to raise the child?
Anna settled behind her desk and put a piece of parchment paper, her pen practically flying across as she let her anger inspire the message she wished to convey.
About five minutes later, she sent for the butler.
“Here,” she held out the letter that she had painstakingly sealed in an envelope. “Send this to the duke as soon as possible. Ensure that he is made aware that this is directly from me.”
Julian raised his gun to the sky and aimed, inhaling deeply before he snapped,
“Pull!”
There was a loud crack, followed by the sound of something spinning in the air. Quickly, he spotted the clay disk and shifted his gun in that direction before taking a shot.
His bullet met its mark, shattering the dish.
The duke lowered his gun for a moment, frowning at the sky before he pulled the gun back up.
“Pull!” he requested again.
The dish was thrown and this time, he tried to be quicker, to fire his shot without hesitation, smirking in satisfaction as his bullet met its target.
Usually, he liked to spend such hot afternoons drinking by himself in his study as he conducted his business, but for some reason today, he felt a little uneasy and decided to move around. It had been a while since he had practiced his shooting skills, and the smell of gunpowder in the air was eliminating some of the tension beneath his skin.
Julian considered taking a break, deciding to take one more shot the next moment instead.
“Last one,” he informed his valet and took his stance in preparation for the shot to be fired.
He heard the tell-tale crack and shifted his gun in the direction he knew it would be flying, his finger putting pressure on the trigger. However, at the last moment, he heard a door slam shut, and his concentration was broken, causing him to miss the shot when he fired.
Irritated, he turned to find the butler looking uncomfortable by the entrance.
