Page 35 of Tamed By a Duke
"Your Grace," she squeaked, her face flushing red at the sight of him.
For a moment, Hugh wondered why on earth she was so flustered, but then recalled their searing kiss the day before and found that he too was now blushing.
So much for suave charm, he thought as he waved for Miss Drew to join him.
"Oh, I hope I'm not interrupting your reading," Charlotte said politely, as she joined him upon the leather seat. She glanced down at the book in his lap, before looking up at him with amused eyes.
"Are you thinking of embroidering some clocks, Your Grace?" she enquired sweetly, with a pointed glance at his book.
"I beg your pardon?" Hugh stuttered, before looking down to find that the book he had selected was one filled with elaborate design plates for embroidering stocking-clocks.
"If I told you that I had picked this up by mistake, would you believe me?" he queried, with a wan smile.
"Only if you tell me what it is that has you so glum," Charlotte countered, her eyebrows narrowed in thought, "For you do not seem yourself at all, Your Grace. One would struggle to describe you as toplofty today, when you seem so sad. I am feeling quite discombobulated by it all, so you shall have to tell me what ails you, so that we might fix it."
How strange it was that a girl who had known him but a short time could so quickly discern his mood. Not only that, but Charlotte's gentle, teasing manner was the perfect antidote to Hugh's dark musings. She was inviting him to share his troubles with her, and to Hugh's surprise, he found that he wished to unburden himself.
"My brother has returned to England," he said, clearing his throat uncomfortably.
"Capital!" Charlotte cried, though one glance at Hugh let her know that there was nothing capital about it.
"We have not spoken in several years," Hugh continued, his stomach churning with anxiety as he began to tell his tale, "In fact, the last time that we spoke was just before Leo sailed for France, when he told me that he wished me to hell and damnation for buying him a commission in the army."
A sharp intake of breath from Charlotte made Hugh pause for a moment, but she did not speak, and so he ploughed on. For the next ten minutes, Hugh spoke without stopping, telling Charlotte of his younger brother, who had been so bright in Oxford but had fallen in with a bad crowd once he had come up to London.
"He fell into drinking, carousing, wench—" Hugh paused, he could not tell Miss Drew about his brother's wenching, that was not a matter for delicate ladies' ears, "Er, and all sorts of nefarious activities. I ignored it all for a year or two, for most young-bloods lose their head a little, when they taste their first drop of freedom in town."
"I had heard," Charlotte commented dryly, before urging Hugh to continue with his tale.
"It all came to a head, when Leo turned one-and-twenty," Hugh said with a sigh, "One of his friends had lost his entire family fortune at the gaming tables, whilst another had fled to Paris to escape his debts. I began to hear whispers that Leo had already lost his annual allowance and was seeking to borrow on the foot of next year's."
"How dreadful," Charlotte whispered, raising a gloved hand to her mouth.
"Indeed," Hugh sighed, "I had seen many of my own peers destroy their lives at the gaming tables and I feared that Leo's life might take the same downward trajectory. I could not bear to see him end up broken—or worse, dead—so I intervened."
"By buying him a commission?" Charlotte ventured and Hugh gave a nod.
"As well as cutting off any avenues of credit that he might have tried," Hugh admitted; it had been cruel of him, but he had spoken to many of the city banks and lenders, and had used his title and power to ensure that credit would not be available should Leo go looking.
"So, when you told him of your plan for his future, Leo was upset with you," Charlotte guessed.
"Upset is a rather mild way of putting it," Hugh gave a smile, "But I was able to persuade him that the army would straighten him out and would mould him into a man more suited to be second in line to the ducal seat. Unfortunately, he has not spoken to me since. I have been waiting for an apology that I fear will never come."
Charlotte gave a strange sound, one which was half-way between a sigh and a muffled scream, and Hugh looked up to see Miss Drew biting down on her gloved hand. What had he said to upset her so?
"What?" Hugh asked curiously.
"Your Grace," Charlotte sighed, as she shifted in her seat, "I am afraid that I must speak plainly."
"Is that not what you always do?"
"Well, yes," Charlotte offered him a weak smile, "But this time I know that what I will say might offend—usually when I upset people, it comes about by mistake."
"One would wonder why you would insist on speaking when you know it might cause upset," Hugh countered, preparing himself for whatever it was she was about to unleash, "But go ahead; I fear holding you back from speaking your mind would be akin to attempting to hold back the tide."
"I rather fear," Charlotte began slowly, straightening her posture and shuffling as far away from him as was possible on the snug couch, "That it is not your brother who owes you an apology, but rather the other way around."
What? Hugh looked at her stupefied; had she not heard his tale? Leo had been well on his way to an early death or a life in the debtor's prison, until Hugh's intervention.
