Page 35 of Dubious about the Duke (Second Sons of London 5)

He gestured toward the carriage and handed her up. Sera tried to ignore the tingle that rippled through her at his touch as she entered the vehicle and sat facing forward. Win joined her, sitting beside her. She should have sat on the other bench and faced him but she despised riding backward. It did something to her belly and head.

But having Win seated so close to her, the spice of his cologne and the warmth of his body near, unsettled her.

As the carriage started up, Sera waved to her sister and brother-in-law and then sat back against the cushions.

“Thank you,” Win said. “I don’t know of any lady who would have volunteered as you have, especially hearing how unruly Freddie and Charlie can be.”

“I haven’t even met them—but I do not think they are badly behaved at all.”

He frowned, the crease between his brows looking very appealing. “Why would you say that? I shared with you some of the trouble they have created. Sera, they have run off two governesses in less than two weeks.”

“I think they have just been mischievous, Win. That they aren’t bad. They are simply acting out. Think about it. Their world has turned upside down in the last year and now in the past fortnight. They went from living in a nice townhouse to being crammed into a single room at a boardinghouse. Their mother was having to sell anything of value to keep them going. From what you shared, it sounds as if they were down to their last farthing. Their mother was so ill she could no longer care for them and so they began to run wild and act out.”

She shifted in the seat, trying to move slightly away from him as she faced him.

“Then their world was turned even more upside down when you arrived and announced that their mother, the only stable adult in their lives, had passed. They never got a chance to say goodbye to her. They were whisked away from London, the only place they had ever lived, to the country. For city boys, a move to the country would be a shock to their systems. Then they were placed with people who did not want them. Returned to you because supposedly they were so horrible. They’ve struck out because they are hurting. That is why they were unkind to their governesses.”

“I hadn’t thought of all that,” he admitted. “I supposed they should be grateful they didn’t have to live on the streets but you are right. I am a stranger to them. The country is a strange world. They only have each other to cling to.” He smiled at her. “Thank you for opening my eyes, Sera. I am seeing things from their point of view instead of my own. I only hope you won’t regret coming.”

“They need stability. They need to see that the rug won’t be pulled out from under them. Whether they know it or not, they need me.”

Win’s gaze penetrated her. “I think I need you, too,” he said softly.

And then he kissed her.

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