Page 51 of His Improper Lady

“I see.” Megan nodded, her bright eyes going to Desiree. Desiree suspected that the duchess’s daughter-in-law wasn’t about to accept the story whole cloth. That was all right; Desiree sensed in Megan an independent, tough-minded, realistic woman not unlike herself. As with Tom, there was in Megan a fierce protectiveness of the Moreland family. Desiree wondered what it would be like to engender such devotion in others.

“The person you need to talk to is my cousin Wilhemina,” the duke told Desiree.

“Yes, she and Alistair were close,” Uncle Bellard agreed. “They were much the same age, and their families didn’t live far apart.”

“You should call on her.” The duchess nodded. “The woman knows all the gossip of about half of London, let alone all the Morelands.”

“Better take someone with you, though,” Theo advised. “She can be a bit prickly.”

Desiree and Tom turned toward the twins, but Con began to laugh, and Alex said, “Not either of us. She’s never been too fond of us since that time with Wellie.”

Theo let out a hoot. “It wasn’t just the parrot—there was an incident with insects, I believe. Or maybe it was the snake.” He turned to his wife. “You best go with them, love.”

“She thinks I’m an upstart American,” Megan protested.

“Take Sabrina and Lilah with you,” Con suggested. “Aunt Wilhemina’s surprisingly fond of Alex’s wife and mine.”

“No doubt she pities them, being married to you two,” Theo jibed.

“Probably true,” Con admitted agreeably.

“You might want to ask your wives first before you volunteer them,” Megan said.

Con shrugged. “Lilah doesn’t mind Aunt Wilhemina. Well, if you’d met Lilah’s aunts, Aunt Willie probably wouldn’t seem that bad.”

“Besides, Sabrina and Lilah will be furious they missed this whole thing,” Alex put in. “They’ll jump at the chance to meet Desiree.”

Desiree wondered if that was really true or if the men’s spouses, like Theo’s wife, might have a warier view of her. Whether or not Alex was right, Megan and Desiree arranged to meet, with the understanding that their plans could change because of the other two women.

Tom had apparently had enough of the camaraderie. A few minutes later, he reminded Desiree that they still had business to attend to and must leave. There was a round of friendly farewells. The duke called Desiree Miss Miller as he smiled pleasantly; Uncle Bellard patted her hand and told Tom that he must bring her around sometime to see his collection of battles; the duchess squeezed Desiree’s hand warmly; and the little girls tugged her down to plant sticky kisses on her cheek.

Desiree’s throat closed at the girls’ sweetness, and she had to blink away the moisture that suddenly threatened to fill her eyes. She took Tom’s arm and left the room, resisting the urge to look back to make sure it was really there. As the front door closed behind them, Desiree released his arm to spin around, arms upraised, in a joyous gesture.

“Oh, Tom!” It was all she could do not to hug him in her exuberance. “They were so wonderful. And he has a name! Alistair. That’s a nice name, don’t you think? And the duchess!” She shook her head, unable to describe what she thought of the woman.

“She’s one of a kind.” Tom watched her, a faint smile playing at his lips. “I told you they were different.”

“Oh, but no one could describe how different they are!” She laughed. “I wouldn’t have believed you if you had tried.”

She climbed into her carriage and turned to Tom, continuing to chatter. “Those little girls kissed my cheek! Did you see?”

“They’re charmers,” he agreed.

“I didn’t know what to do,” she went on candidly. “I’ve never been around children...well, I mean since I was one. And I don’t think any of us were like them.”

“You don’t really have do anything with those two. Though I’ve found giving them lemon drops strengthens their friendship.”

“And Uncle Bellard was such a sweet little man, though I had no idea what he was talking about sometimes. What are Plantagenets?”

He shrugged. “I’ve no idea. Sound like flowers to me, but given Uncle Bellard, they’re likely some kind of historical thing. He sets ups little re-creations of different battles, with little tin soldiers and cavalry and all. Don’t worry. He doesn’t expect people to know what he’s talking about—no one else is as smart as him. Well, except maybe the duke, but the things the duke talks about are all two thousand years old and in foreign places.”

Desiree settled back in the seat. “I never thought I’d find them. Not really. I used to make up all kinds of stories about my family, and I wondered about them, wished I knew who they were. But I didn’t really believe someday I’d meet them.”

“Desiree...” Tom said carefully. “It seems like you might be related to them, but there’s no real proof.”

The little sting of hurt that had pricked Desiree earlier now blossomed in her chest, and she turned in her seat to face him. “Why are you so unwilling to accept me? Why do you not want me to belong to them, to be one of them?” Tears sprang into her eyes, surprising her, and Desiree jerked her gaze away, staring out blindly at the street.

“No, that’s all wrong,” Tom protested. “It’s not that I don’t want you to have a family or to be a Moreland. All I ever wanted in this was to keep the Morelands from being taken advantage of—worse, from being hurt if they discovered that you’d lied to them.”