Page 76 of Raising the Duke’s Unexpected Twins

“Did you sleep?” he asked. She shook her head. “Cordelia, you must sleep a little. It will keep you from falling ill too. Mrs. Browning can watch Tim while you sleep. Or let me watch over him.”

She said nothing, only smiled at Olivia. “Tim will get better, Olivia? See? He is still resting.”

Just then, Tim made a fretting sound, and Cordelia rushed to his side. He started to cry, and then Olivia’s face crumpled.

“Tim. I want Tim!” she cried, tears coming down her cheeks as she tried to squirm out of Nicholas’s arms.

“I know, dear, but Tim must rest. Cordelia, I will send breakfast up.”

He closed the door and took a crying Olivia down the stairs. It hurt him to separate them, but he feared for Olivia if they let her spend any more time with Tim.

“We shall have breakfast, and then we will go outside. Look at the lovely day!” he pointed out of one of the windows as they went down the steps, and she wiped her tears, sniffling a little.

“We can play?” she asked, and he nodded.

“Yes, as long as you like.”

She laid her head against his shoulder. “You won’t go?” she asked, and Nicholas felt like an utter cad for any time he’d left and for any time he tried not to let anyone into his heart. It had been an impossible task and a foolish one.

He rubbed a hand over Olivia’s back. “No, I won’t go,” he said, a firm resolution growing inside him.

They made their way to breakfast, and with a little more distraction, Olivia was able to eat and then go outside to play. They played together a while but then, she was content enough to play with a few toys in the grass while he sat in the garden.

Mrs. Wright brought him a tea tray, and he asked, “Mrs. Wright, could you please send for my wife? I should like Mrs. Browning to watch Tim while Cordelia rests. I hope that she has eaten some of her breakfast?”

She grinned at him. “No worries, Your Grace. Anna and I have been able to wheedle her into a bath and then her bed after her getting a few bites of breakfast in. I also brought her a tray of tea. And I shall be taking young Olivia for a bath soon enough.”

They both looked to Olivia, whose hair was slightly wild, and she had a patch of dirt on her cheek.

“Bless you, Mrs. Wright. My wife does not like to take my advice on the matter of her health.”

Crinkles formed at the corners of her eyes as she smiled at him, her hands folded in front of her. She had been the closest thing he’d ever had to a mother, even if he had kept her and everyone else at arm’s length. She at least knew what his home had been like all his growing up.

“A woman never does like to be told what to do, Your Grace. You shall learn that soon enough.”

He nodded. “Yes, I’m learning that very well, indeed. Although I wish there was a way for me to tell her that I do it for her, that I order her about so that she will be safe and happy and not neglect herself.”

He noticed the soft expression on Mrs. Wright’s face as she listened and then poured him a steaming cup of tea and handed it to him.

“Your Grace, I believe she knows that. A woman only wants to know that she is her own person, in charge of her own destiny, and has her own power. It does not mean that she doesn’t believe you care.”

Nicholas swallowed hard, feeling again like an utter cad. Was it possible Cordelia believed he cared for her? Truly?

“If you must know, Mrs. Wright, I have done my very best to tell her that I do not care, not more than I am capable of.”

She nodded with a little smirk. “Yes, I know. If I may speak boldly?” she asked.

“Please.” He took a sip and felt the warmth of the tea spread to his tired muscles, a little nervous about what she would say but too tired to stop her. In fact, he knew he needed to hear some truth.

Leonard spoke the truth yesterday, why should the pattern not continue?

“You were always a sensitive boy, knowing and feeling the feelings of others before they even said a word.” Tears filled her eyes. “Your father tried to make you feel as though that was a bad thing. But it is your great strength, and I know you have worked hard to push it away, to push people away because he blamed you for your dear mother as well as this ‘weakness’. But when you brought our lovely duchess home as your wife, I saw a change in you. There is life and hope in the house again, Your Grace. Laughter too.” She grinned. “I am happy for you, for I can feel the care you have for your new family, even if that care frightens you to death and even if you are unsure of it. Let the love come. You deserve it, you know. After all these years.”

Nicholas let out a long exhale, amazed at his housekeeper’s stark advice. Yet it felt so right to hear it, to let it sink in. Those musings had been niggling at his brain for some time, but he could never have brought them to the light without at least some help. It was safer to hear the words from someone else than to admit them to himself.

“Thank you, Mrs. Wright,” he said genuinely. “I think I needed to hear that.”

“You enjoy your tea, Your Grace. I will take Lady Olivia upstairs for a little while.”