Page 34 of It's All About the Duke
“Your colleagues the Duke of Griffin and the Duke of Hawksthorn are here to see you.”
Rath inhaled a deep silent breath. He expected them. Just not this soon. So much for his hope of a few minutes of leisurely time alone in front of a warm fire with a strong drink to think about the feelings Miss Fast had stirred inside him. It certainly hadn’t taken Esmeralda and Loretta long to inform their husbands about his venture into the unknown lion’s den earlier in the day.
“I did as you instructed me last time they were here and settled them in your book room with a bottle of your best brandy,” he said, helping to pull the cloak from Rath’s shoulders. “Would you like for me to pour a glass for you or would you prefer to be alone with them as before?”
“Alone, Sneeds. I’ll let you know if I need anything.”
“Of course, Your Grace.”
Rath walked down the corridor, taking off his coat and then rolling his shoulders a few times. If there was one thing he could be in his own home, in front of his boyhood friends, it was comfortable. Though this day he didn’t know how comfortable their conversation would be.
But he’d handle it. He always had.
The three dukes had been friends since Rath’s first year at Oxford. He was a year younger than Griffin and Hawk, but it hadn’t taken him long to discover those were the two he wanted as his friends. They were the smartest in the class, courageous, and fair. They loved a good escapade, and a little bit of trouble, as much as he did.
Though a strong friendship had already been established between Griffin and Hawk, Rath knew how to get their attention. He’d hidden a bottle of port in the fake bottom of his satchel. They were more than happy to help him drink it then—and all the other times he’d managed to slip a flask or two into the school without any of the headmasters knowing.
Their friendships hadn’t ended but their long nightsof drinking, gaming, and voraciously indulging in extravagant behavior of the previous ten years had. The other two rakes had married. In all their experiences together over the years there had been many times one had tried to beat the other two, whether it be a wager about gaming, shooting, racing their horses, or the favor of a woman, but they’d never had a lasting quarrel.
He hoped tonight wouldn’t be the first.
Rath strode into his book room seeing a familiar sight. Hawk and Griffin sat on opposite sides of the dark-blue velvet-covered settee. Both were tall, well-built, and handsome men, some would say. Unlike most dukes and other peers, they weren’t stiff or haughty in their appearance or ways. They wore their privilege as easily as most gentlemen wore their neckcloths. There really wasn’t much difference in the two, save for the fact that Griffin had dark-brown hair and blue eyes while Hawk’s hair was a lighter shade and his eyes decidedly green.
Both held a glass of brandy. Griffin had one booted foot resting on the opposite knee, while Hawk’s legs stretched out before him with his feet crossed at the ankles. There was no doubt his friends felt at ease in his house. They always had, and he in theirs. What surprised Rath was that they didn’t look as if they wanted to rain hellfire down on his head for being caught by their wives in a ladies’ unmentionables shop.
“Do either of you need a refill?” he asked, throwing his coat on his desk and making his way over to the opposite side, where the brandy was sitting on a tray.
“Not me,” Griffin said.
“I’m good,” Hawk added.
Rath poured a generous splash of the amber liquid into a glass and took a sizable swallow before turning around. He swung one of the upholstered wingback chairs away from the low-burning fire to face his friends. After settlinghimself onto the cushion, he took another drink from his glass and waited. He wasn’t going to bring up the subject that was most assuredly on everyone’s minds.
Finally, Griffin said, “So you have a ward?”
A ward?
Why yes. He did have one, but that’s not the first question he expected to hear from either of the other two rakes. He supposed he should just be grateful he wasn’t being cursed, so he simply nodded.
“A young lady,” Hawk added.
Griffin’s brows knitted a little between his eyes. “Who is set to make her debut this Season?”
Rath nodded again. He saw no reason to answer anything they weren’t asking.
“Then why the hell didn’t you tell us?” Griffin asked, leaning forward in his seat.
Rath shrugged. “It was only settled a few days ago. I kept thinking I’d see one of you this week at White’s.”
“We don’t go out to the clubs as often as we used to,” Griffin admitted.
Rath knew and understood why. But he was still a bachelor and had different pursuits from the two husbands. They now had other duties to attend in the evenings, and they seemed more contented men for it. He was happy for them. At times he’d wondered what it would be like to go home to a wife and children running up to grab him around the legs. But usually when those thoughts came to his mind, he dismissed them quickly.
“We should have been the first to know,” Hawk added in a perturbed tone. “Not the last.”
“Surely long before our wives,” Griffin finished on an aggravated note before settling back against the settee again. “It shouldn’t have happened they knew before us.”
Other than Esmeralda and Loretta, Rath had told no one but Miss Fast and her cousin. He had no idea howmany people they might have told. It couldn’t have been many. There had been no mention of it that he’d heard at White’s or any of the other clubs where he’d spent time the past few days.
