Page 25 of The Duke of Kisses
Chapter 4
As he settled into his coach for the ride back to Bolton Street, a smile teased David’s mouth. He’d never met a woman like Fanny. She was so genuinely charming and unabashedly alluring.
And yet a voice in the back of his mind—his father’s voice—kept reminding him that he had a duty, a promise. A promise he’d made to a dying man…
He closed his eyes and rested his head back against the squab, allowing that memory to wash over him, but just for a moment. He never could have foreseen meeting Fanny again here in London or the strong connection he felt to her.
The coach pulled to a stop in front of his house, and he didn’t wait for the footman to open the door before jumping out and striding inside. The butler, Trask, welcomed him into the hall. “The countess and your uncle have arrived, my lord.”
He’d been expecting them, but his current frame of mind didn’t encourage company. Perhaps he’d be fortunate to learn they were resting. “Where are they now?”
“Awaiting your arrival in the drawing room.”
Of course they were. Quashing his annoyance—which was really directed at himself—he handed his hat and gloves to Trask. “Thank you.”
Ascending the stairs, he did his best to push his frustration aside and summoned a smile as he walked into the drawing room. “Welcome to London, Mother, Uncle.”
His father’s brother stood upon David’s entry. Uncle Walter wasn’t as tall as David’s father had been, but his hair was less gray and his eyes more so, and his frame more athletic. In some ways, David supposed he took after him, but then they did share blood.
Uncle Walter came forward and clasped him in a brief but warm hug. Walter had never married and had moved into the dower house at Huntwell when David’s grandfather had died a few years ago. It was unclear where he would live once David’s mother moved there. But then that wouldn’t happen until David took a wife.
The unsettling sensation he’d had in the coach and really several times over the past few days—of promises not kept—stole over him before he tucked it away.
David went to his mother and leaned down to kiss her cheek. He took in her dove gray costume. “You’ve moved on from black, I see.”
A handsome woman with blue eyes and brown hair streaked with gray and white, she smoothed the skirt of her gown over her knee. “It was time.”
David felt a twinge of sorrow. He didn’t like to think of things moving on without his father, but of course, they must. “Did you have a pleasant trip?”
“Yes, thank you.” She smiled up at him and patted the space beside her on the settee. “Sit and tell me how things have been.”
David dropped onto the settee, and his uncle took a chair across from them. He wanted to tell them about Fanny, that he’d met a young lady he wished to court, but he hesitated. “Very well. I am acclimating to things as you’d expect. I’ve made a few friends who are shepherding me through.”
“Who are these friends?” his uncle asked.
“The Earl of Ware and Mr. Anthony Colton—his father is Viscount Colton.” And because it would impress his mother, he added, “And the Duke of Clare.”
His mother nodded in approval. “Well done. Who else have you met? Have you made the acquaintance of Miss Stoke?”
And there it was. David tensed. “I haven’t yet.”
Mother’s brow furrowed. “Why not? They are expecting you to call.”
“They will understand I am busy adjusting to my new role.”
“Of course they will,” his uncle said, sending a glance toward the countess.
“Don’t wait too long,” Mother said. “It’s good that I came to help you. Aren’t you anxious to get on with things?”
Apparently not as keen as his mother was. “What things?” David knew bloody well what “things.”
“You’re in dire need of a countess. You’ve wasted time with your birds long enough.”
Not nearly.
“Is this why you came out of mourning? To pester me about marriage? While I plan to wed, when I do so isn’t your concern. Nor to whom.”
“I am still in half mourning. I will only attend a few Society events, and I don’t plan to dance, of course. But this isn’t about me.” She frowned at him and looked over at his uncle while giving an infinitesimal nod toward David. Clearly, she wanted him to intervene. David braced himself, for he knew Walter would.
