Page 73 of Love and Other Disasters

They would make wonderful sisters, united against Nash’s rules and coldness, if Laura dared to trust her words and come back home with them.

Laura sniffed. “You must be tired from your long walk carrying her.” She backed toward a fallen log, holding Isabelle tight against her chest, and sat herself down.

“It’s not that far to walk home again,” Liam explained to Laura, releasing Sophie to follow his mother. “Are you really our mother?”

“Yes, I am,” Laura admitted, and it was plain to see she was worried about his reaction. “I missed you.”

“Sophie always said you would come back soon. Is that my sister?”

“Yes, she is,” Laura admitted.

“That’s good. She needs more than a governess, too. We need our mama,” Thomas said, and then sat down close to Laura, allowing her to pull him into her embrace.

Jasper pressed his lips close to Sophie’s ear. “Do you think they would notice if we slipped away now?”

“Possibly not, but we can’t leave them out here alone. Laura comes home today or she might never. We’ll be there by her side offering our support when Nash sees her again,” Sophie said, her expression setting in determined lines. “We’ll help her find her place in their lives again, and then we’ll be married.”

“If you think that would be best,” Jasper whispered grinning at the way his life was being properly brought to order.

“I do,” Sophie told him and smiled. “She needs her children as much as I need my favorite rake.”

“You should call me your betrothed now, my dear,” he replied, grinning and offered his arm. “I am a rake no longer,” he vowed. “I am utterly yours.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Sophie was the first to catch sight of the duke standing at the foot of the garden, hands on his hips, watching them all with an inscrutable expression on his face. She moved past Jasper, and headed directly to him and curtsied. “Your grace, isn’t it wonderful? Lady Laura has returned.”

“Indeed, it is, Mrs. Radcliffe. Indeed it is.”

“It is a day of celebration for the family, but I regret to inform you that Lord Nash no longer has a governess to tend his children. I resign my position immediately and will take my leave of the estate soon.”

He appeared startled by her announcement. “Is that so?”

“Yes. The children have their mother back, so they will not be neglected.”

“Ah, I thought perhaps Jasper might have scared you off with his little party with his friends.”

“No.” A ghost of a smile touched his lips.

“Did you think I didn’t know what he was up to and disapproved?”

She frowned. “Well, I suppose I did.”

“These are difficult times, Mrs. Radcliffe, and we must all play to our strengths,” the duke murmured. “Jasper excels at helping people give him their money and enjoy doing so. Excuse me, for now. We will talk again before you leave.”

And then he walked past her to approach Laura who regarded him with deep suspicion. The pair greeted each other warily, and the duke lowered his head to whisper something to the woman.

Jasper left them, coming to stand by Sophie’s side. “He’s pleased.”

“I’m sure he is. He’s lost a governess and regained a sister,” she said dryly.

“It’s not about you,” Jasper promised in a whisper. “You’ll belong in the family too, I promise.”

Sophie turned her attention back to the duke, who was taking a keen interest in Isabelle now, bending down to the child’s level. Tickling her cheek and laughing when she tried to catch his finger with her mouth. “What a charming girl,” he said, loud enough for all to hear. “She looks a great deal like our mama at that age. I must show you the portrait of her tonight, sister, so we can compare. She’ll be a beauty when she’s grown.”

“She could never hold a candle to her own mother,” Nash announced, surprising Sophie almost out of her skin because he was standing right behind her and heaping praise on his wife. Sophie had never heard him speak so warmly of Laura before. But there was an impatient edge, a huskiness, to his voice, too.

He barged past them, and Jasper pulled Sophie to one side. She held her breath as Nash advanced on his wife, wondering what he would do or say to the woman that had fled him and their marriage. There must have been something frightening in his expression because the boys fled the scene, rushing to Sophie for comfort.