Page 71 of The Duke of Lies
“To London,” Kit agreed softly before helping her into the coach.
She could hardly wait to get there.
Chapter 16
It wasa week that felt like a month, and Kit wasn’t looking forward to the return—at least not right away. Traveling such a long distance with an energetic six-year-old boy had proven taxing, but also endearing. Every night, Beau curled up between Kit and Verity and fell immediately to sleep, and though Kit wasn’t able to share any intimacy with his wife, he couldn’t be annoyed by the lack of it when the resulting sense of family and connection were a different kind of intimacy that was both unexpected and incredibly satisfying.
And he supposed he couldn’t say there hadn’t been any intimacy of the sexual kind. They’d managed a rather brief coupling in a dark, shadowed corner of the stable while Beau had been inside the inn with his nurse. Kit smiled at the memory and looked very forward to having Verity alone that night. Hopefully, Beau wouldn’t mind sleeping in his own chamber at Aunt Diana and Uncle Simon’s.
It was just past noon on their eighth day of travel as the coach rolled to a halt on Upper Brook Street. Kit tried not to gape at the grand town houses lining the road. He knew Simon was particularly wealthy, but this was a level of elegance and prestige Kit had never seen.
Welcome to your world.
Beau tapped his foot impatiently as they waited for the groom to open the door. They’d long since abandoned trying to coax him to wait for his mother to depart first. On the contrary, theywantedhim out of the coach as soon as possible.
He bounded forth the moment the steps were in place. Kit followed him and helped Verity descend. She looked at him with a heat that seemed to indicate her mind had maybe taken the same direction as his. He drew her hand close to his chest after she stepped down. “Soon,” he murmured.
She grinned, then turned her head to the town house, where the door was already open and Simon and Diana were now stepping outside.
They exchanged hugs and greetings, and soon Beau was off with their butler, exploring the house. Randolph was a younger fellow and had explained he had four younger brothers and was up to the task of managing Lord Preston. He had, in fact, seemed eager for it.
Simon and Diana escorted Kit and Verity into the drawing room where the housekeeper delivered refreshments.
“Would you mind if we closed the door?” Verity asked.
Kit tensed. They’d discussed the need to have this conversation, but he was still nervous. Verity didn’t want to lie to her cousin, her best friend, her confidant about who Kit really was. And Kit simply couldn’t deny her a thing. He was, in a word, besotted.
“Not at all,” Simon said, rising and closing the door. He retook his seat with a look of eager curiosity. “Though now my interest is quite piqued.”
Verity sat beside her cousin on the settee while Kit and Simon faced them over a low table in a pair of chairs. She angled herself toward Diana. “We wanted to tell you something—something very important and very secret. We don’t wish to put you in an awkward position, but this isn’t something I could keep from you.” She looked over to Simon. “And I know Diana would need to share it with you.”
Simon exchanged a warm glance with his wife. “I would tell her she didn’t have to, but that wouldn’t make any difference.”
This provoked Kit to laugh. He was new to this marriage business, but he already knew that trying to manage his wife would not turn out well.
“Which is why we’re telling you both,” Verity said. She took a deep breath and laid her palms flat atop her lap. She looked over at Kit, hesitating. “There’s just no easy way to say this.”
Kit glanced from Simon to Diana and back again. “I am not Rufus.”
“Oh, thank God.” Diana clapped her hand over her mouth and then laughed. And then it spread. First to Verity and then to Simon and finally to Kit, who really didn’t know why it was amusing, but in that moment, he didn’t think anything had been more humorous.
At last, their laughter began to die down, and Kit found his breath. He looked at Diana. “You’re glad?”
“Oh yes. Rufus was awful. And you’re not at all. It made no sense. And honestly, this is far more palatable.”
“Who the devil are you, then?” Simon winced. “Er, sorry. I presume you mean to tell us. Or not,” he added lamely.
“Of course we mean to tell you,” Verity said. “Kit is Rufus’s cousin—the illegitimate son of Augustus Beaumont. Kit is short for Christopher, which was one of Augustus’s names.”
“It’s also one of Beau’s,” Diana noted. Her gaze fell on Kit and softened. “How lovely.”
“Yes,” Verity agreed. She’d brought the names up the first night of their journey after Beau had fallen asleep. She’d said she loved the fact that their son had his name—his real name. That she’d referred to Beau astheirson had filled Kit with joy.
“That’s why you look so much like him,” Simon said. “You’re rather closely related.”
More closely than that, of course, but they’d decided not to disclose the part about him being Rufus’s half brother. They didn’t see the point in publicizing Kit’s mother’s adultery.
“That’s where the similarity begins and ends,” Verity said firmly. “Kit is nothing like Rufus.”
