Page 3 of To Tempt A Highland Duke
“You should not be encouraging them, Connor. You of all people know the consequences for these young girls when they have been trifled with.” Connor’s mother had been a serving girl, just like Sarah.
He could not look her in the eye. “Tis’ only a bit of fun.”
“You are the Duke of Monreith’s son, that alone is enough to turn a girl’s head, let alone the fact you have your father’s good looks.”
“You forgot to say illegitimate son.” Connor’s eyes flashed with fire.
Flora walked to stand in front of him. “Your father loves you. He recognized you. He gave you his name. As far as most are concerned you are a duke’s son. So act like one.”
“He recognized me for my mother. He loved her.”
“He loves you too, from the moment he held you.” She cupped his cheek, noticing the slight stubble that was showing on his face now. “Aye, he loved your mother very much. That is why you are so precious to him.” And why Dougray Firth, the Duke of Monreith, had never married. He still held a torch for Connie, Connor’s mother, who had died in childbirth.
“Did you know he has decided to marry?” His eyes narrowed. “Because he wasn’t married to my mother, I cannot be his heir. After all these years, suddenly he wants an heir. It would appear I am no longer enough.”
So this was the reason Connor was acting up and trying to be the man he’d yet to become.
She drew him into a hug. “It does not mean he loves you any less. You know it’s the duty of any peer to ensure the continuation of the title. Your father being one of only a few Scottish dukes has even more pressure to ensure his lineage continues. And with the King’s visit…”
Connor pushed out of her embrace. “It has always just been father and I.”
“Oh, Connor, it still will be. You’re almost a man. If he marries and has a son, it will be years before your father can hunt, fish, and more with him. You’ll still have him to yourself and by the time a younger brother is grown, you’ll likely be married with your own family.”
“But she will be my stepmother. Bruce got a stepmother, and she was awful to him. What if she doesn’t like me and she convinces father to send me away?”
“He’d never do that, and he’d never marry a woman who could not love you. You are too important to him.”
Connor’s eyes filled with hope, and just as fast she watched the hope drain away. He scuffed his boots along the Persian rug. Suddenly a grin replaced his scowl. “You could marry him. I like you. You’d never come between father and I.”
A two-pronged pain almost ripped her apart. She’d been in love with Dougray for years, long before her family married her off to Viscount Iain Grafton. But Dougray’s heart closed after Connie’s death. Dougray was not there at the end of Connie’s life, and he never recovered from the role the late Duke of Monreith played in the sorry affair.
Over the years Flora came to recognize that Dougray had not loved her enough. He had stood aside and watched as she married another.
Besides, he would not want her now. She’d been married for over five years before her husband died, and the union never produced a child. She’d be a bad wager for a man needing an heir.
Dougray must know that truth because she had been a widow for three years and he’d never come courting her. They were friends, but not the same as it had been before she wed. Flora almost thought he avoided her as much as possible.
She wanted children more than anything. That was the primary reason she would risk marriage again, but not to someone who would be devastated if she never bore them a child. She’d pick a widower who already had children.
“You like my father, surely? You are good friends. Most women find him handsome. Or is it me you would not want as a son?”
She sighed. “I’d be honored to be your stepmother, but it’s not possible.”
His head tipped to the side. “You’re not that old, and you are very beautiful. I heard my father’s men say so.”
“I don’t think I could marry a man who still loved a ghost.”
Connor nodded. “I think he’s ready to move on. I heard him tell Mary.”
Lady Mary was Dougray’s sister, and Flora’s best friend.
If Dougray were ready to love again, the woman who could capture his battered heart would be one lucky woman indeed.
“So why not you?” Connor pushed.
“Think about it. I know your father has talked with you about men and women. I was married and yet I have no children.” Just saying the words filled her eyes with tears.
The boy noticed and quickly huggedherthis time. “I did not mean to upset you. Please don’t cry.”
