Page 75 of Distracting the Duke

Delightful though Georgie was, Marcus couldn’t wait to speak to Clara. He was desperate to discover if he would be forgiven for having forced this reconciliation with Kate. It had been the biggest gamble of his life, but he feared that Clara would never be able to love him if she couldn’t love herself—and she would never love herself while she was still hell-bent on punishing her sister.

The door to the drawing room remained closed, and he could hear feminine voices in what sounded like normal, amiable conversation. A good sign.

He hovered. Should he knock? Would he spoil things by intruding too soon?

“What do you think we should do, Georgie?” he whispered, “Shall we go in?

The little boy’s head was drooping against his shoulder. It seemed a shame to wake him up.

“I know,” Marcus said softly. “We’ll go up to the old nursery and take a look around, shall we? See what toys we can find.”

Georgie nodded sleepily. “Yes, please, Lord Duke,” he said.

It was an intriguing experience, carrying the child up the narrow stairs to the attic nursery. So, was this what fatherhood would feel like? One day he’d do the same with his own children, and what a proud father he’d be! He would spoil them rotten, and never beat them nor allow them to be beaten, although he was not so foolish as to think they wouldn’t occasionally require some sort of discipline. He would make sure they knew where the boundaries lay between good and bad behavior. But castigation for the latter would not leave scars on either body or mind.

“So, young Georgie, how do you like my nursery? If you come and live with me and your Aunt Clara, you can enjoy being up here all the time. I’ll buy a rocking horse and you can have as many rides as you want. You’ll have your little Albemarle cousins to play with, too. I’ll make sure there are games for you all to share, as well as special toys for each to treasure as their own. And when you are all bigger, we shall make little boats and sail them very carefully on the lake, with a long string to pull them in again.”

He looked down at Georgie’s curly head. There had been no movement for a minute or two, and the child’s breathing was regular and quiet. Very gently, Marcus relieved himself of his burden and laid the little boy down in an ancient cot.

Suddenly, he had the ominous feeling he was being watched. There were no ghosts in the attics of Kessington…were there?

He turned round slowly, ready to laugh at his imaginings.

“Good God, Clara, I didn’t hear you come up. How long have you been standing there?”

She gave no reply, just stared at him pale-faced and round-eyed.

This was not what he’d expected. Surely, only moments ago she’d been enjoying a pleasant discourse with her sister?

“Dearest, whatever is the matter? Has Kate said something to upset you? She promised me faithfully she wouldn’t.”

He stepped toward Clara, but her jaw went rigid and her mouth pressed into a thin line. How could she be so forbidding now, when so short a time ago she’d nestled beneath his chin as if being in his embrace was the best thing in the world? He shook his head, banishing the fears that invaded his thoughts.

He stopped two feet from her, held her gaze, and waited, holding his breath.

“You have it all planned, I see,” she said stiffly. “You assume that I will accept your offer of marriage. You assume that Georgie will come to live with us, even though I’ve never even seen him before today. You assume we’ll have children of our own. You assume I want, or can even have, children. That amounts to far too much presumption on your part, Marcus.”

He was truly flummoxed. Didn’t she want children? “Clara, I didn’t mean—”

“Please, it’s time for me to speak. Not only do you make all these plans without consulting me, you also conspired behind my back. You decided it was time I spoke to my sister but gave me no choice in the matter. You made me see, not only Kate, but Simon’s bastard. I know you’re not cruel, Marcus, that you meant well. But are you not, in your own way, just as controlling as Simon ever was? No, I won’t marry you. I don’t think a wedding will give either of us the happiness we deserve.”

She was trying to sound cold and determined, but he could tell by the tremor in her voice that she was deeply upset.

What had he done, what had he said, that could have overset her so?

He thought frantically as he felt his jaw drop in consternation.

And then it came to him in one horrible, awful stab of insight.

Children.

He cursed himself for every kind of a fool. Clara had not conceived during her marriage, but Kate had. There was no fault in Simon’s ability to sire children, so Clara must doubt her own.

He held out a hand. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t think—”

“Enough! I’m going to find Philip and demand he take me home.”

Unshed tears sparkled in her eyes, and he longed to take her in his arms and kiss the moisture away. What did it matter, even if she was barren? They could adopt, couldn’t they?