Page 70 of Midnight with the Marquess (The St. Clairs 2)

Chapter Twenty-Two

Rachel sat inthe drawing room with Jenny snuggled against her and Delia in her lap. She read a fairy tale to the girls, who were enthralled as she used different voices for the various characters. Timothy, being a typical boy, wanted nothing to do with story time. He sat playing with a multitude of blocks on the floor. Cor and Catherine both sat with sewing in their laps.

They’d traveled to London three days ago. The new Season began in two days’ time. Rachel had determined to take a husband by the end of it. She would start a prospective husband list, where she would write the names of potential candidates and list their attributes. The man with the most would win her hand.

She had to marry. If she didn’t, she’d go mad. Merrick had stirred physical desire within her and she’d taken to pleasuring herself with her own hand after she’d gone to bed at night, which brought her no end of shame. Much of the last several months had been spent playing with her nephew and nieces. The pull of motherhood gripped her and she knew her life would be incomplete without children of her own.

Because of these things, she would wed. Plenty of men had paid court to her last Season. Not all of them had married. There would also be others who took part in the events scheduled this year that would be additions for her to meet. Somewhere, among all of those bachelors, Rachel was determined to find one who could kiss reasonably well and give her children. She didn’t care about titles or number of properties. She wanted a good, kind man who knew how to use his tongue and would be an excellent father—and a decent husband. One that if he took a lover, he could be discreet about it.

Barton entered the room and said, “Lord Merrifield is here to see the duchess.”

Catherine looked at Rachel. “Merrifield is here to see you, I’m sure.” She turned back to the butler. “Please send the earl in, Barton.”

“Yes, Your Grace.”

“Should I ring for Sara to remove the children?” her sister-in-law asked, her eyebrows arched.

“Why? Merrifield wasn’t expected. I’m not going to interrupt what I’m doing simply because he showed up without an invitation,” Rachel replied.

“The Earl of Merrifield,” Barton announced as the nobleman swept into the room.

“Ah, Your Grace,” he said, going straight to Catherine. “It’s lovely to see you again.” Turning, he looked at Cor. “And Your Grace. Always a delight to be in your presence.”

Cor snorted. “I thought you were calling me Cor. You did at Fairfield. Half of Polite Society does. You might as well, young man.” She eyed him with interest and then glanced to Rachel.

Merrifield finally swiveled and bowed to her. “Lady Rachel. It’s a pleasure to see you. And in the company of such lovely ladies.”

“This is Jenny on my left and Delia in my lap, Lord Merrifield. And that’s Timothy on the floor, playing with blocks.”

He came to the girls. “It’s very nice to meet you. Is your Aunt Rachel reading to you?”

Jenny nodded. “She’s a good reader. And she draws with us. We got a puppy.”

“You did? I’ll have to see it sometime.”

Merrifield crouched before Timothy. “What are you building today?”

“Castle,” Timothy grunted. At two, he was already a man of few words.

“I’ve built a castle before with blocks. Might I help you?”

Timothy shrugged.

The earl asked Catherine, “May I discard my coat, Your Grace? Building castles can be hard work.”

“Of course,” she said, smiling indulgently.

Merrifield shed his coat, though it took some effort since it was tailored to him beautifully. Rachel couldn’t help but admire the broad shoulders that had been resting under it. He cut an impressive figure. She would add that under his name on her list.

“Read, Auntie,” Delia commanded. She was the bossy twin but quite loveable.

She kissed her niece’s head. “Of course, darling.”

Rachel continued reading the story with surreptitious glances at Merrifield over the next half-hour as he got down on his hands and knees to help her nephew. The earl was quite good with Timothy, guiding the boy and letting him do most of the work as he gently made suggestions.

Hmm. Good with children.

Something else for the list.

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