Page 87 of Yours Truly, the Duke
“I thought I made it clear to you that you are more important than my tournaments, Fredericka. I’m staying with you until she is gone.”
Fredericka wanted to throw her arms around him and kiss him, but of course that would cause a scandal as Jane would be sure to see it so she merely enjoyed how wonderful his words made her feel.
A few moments later, they greeted her cousin and entered the house together.
“So when I realized I hadn’t seen the children in almost two weeks,” Jane said, placing her bonnet and gloves on the entryway table beside Fredericka’s, “I decided to come today. You’re sure you don’t mind, Your Graces?” she asked with a smile that was as pleasant as the morning.
It amazed Fredericka how perfectly normal Jane could seem at times. Giving her typical answer, Fredericka answered, “You are always welcome.”
“Join us in the drawing room,” Wyatt said.
“So kind of you, but I only came to see the children, and I have only a short time.”
Excellent. She wasn’t staying long. Fredericka returned Jane’s congenial smile. “Yes, of course. They should be in their schoolroom. I’ll have Burns get them for us.”
“No need for that. I’d love to see where they are tutored.”
Sharp cackles of laughter suddenly erupted from Charles and Bella. The merriment didn’t come from abovestairs.
“That seemed to come from the book room,” Fredericka noted, slightly bemused. She’d never known of Miss Litchfield taking the children there.
“Why do you suppose Miss Litchfield has them in there?” Wyatt asked, appearing as puzzled as Fredericka.
Unease skittered up Fredericka’s back. It was never a good sign for the children to be somewhere they shouldn’t. She had a bad feeling they had escaped Miss Litchfield’s attention. It seemed they had become experts at slipping away from her.
“Why don’t you two go on up to the schoolroom,” Fredericka suggested. “I’ll go find them and we’ll join you.”
“Nonsense,” Jane replied as cheerfully as any delighted guest would be. “Perhaps they are having a lesson about the importance of reading. We can visit in there. Besides, I’d enjoy seeing the duke’s library collection.” She smiled affably at him. “You don’t mind, do you?”
“Of course not. Allow me to lead the way.”
The uneasy feeling stayed with Fredericka as she followed Wyatt down the corridor. From the giggles thatcontinued, the children were definitely having a good time. Not lessons. If Miss Litchfield wasn’t with them, they could have destroyed the entire room and all the books in it by now. She whispered a silent prayer she wouldn’t see Charles standing on the top rung of the ladder or, worse, find him swinging from it.
When Wyatt reached the door, it was closed. He gave Fredericka a curious glance before opening it and immediately stepped aside to allow Fredericka and Jane to enter first.
The room spun before Fredericka as she entered and beheld the sight in front of her. A roar filled her ears and she couldn’t catch her breath. Surely what she was seeing couldn’t be true. She must be having a fit of vapors or some kind of demented episode.
Elise sat in the chair behind Wyatt’s desk holding what appeared to be a cheroot between her fingers. Stacks of cards were strewn before her. Bella and Charles were seated in the two big wing chairs in front of the desk. A pipe dangled from Charles’ mouth. Spilled tobacco littered the front of his white shirt. And Bella, dear angelic Bella, had a cheroot pressed between her rosebud lips.
“What are you doing?” Fredericka whispered as her legs went weak.
All three children went stiff as wood.
“By all the saints!” Jane exclaimed. “I think I might faint.”
“What’s in those glasses?” Wyatt exclaimed, rushing over and picking up the crystal sitting beside Bella. He smelled it. “Brandy.” He glared at Charles. “What the devil are you allowing your sisters to do?” he said gruffly. “Give me that!” He yanked the cheroot from Bella’s lips and the pipe from Charles’ mouth.
“They all have filled glasses sitting by them!” Jane stared at Fredericka as if she were seeing a monster. “You’ve been letting them drink and smoke!”
“No, of course not!” Fredericka managed to gasp out as she stared transfixed at the front of Bella’s dress. It was wet from what had to be brandy.
Fredericka realized she might faint too. “You, you didn’t drink that, did you?” she asked the little one.
“Charles, Elise?” Wyatt demanded as he picked up all three glasses and moved them away from the children. “Don’t sit there mute. One of you answer your aunt.”
“No, we didn’t drink it,” Bella said. “It tasted too bad.”
“So they did drink from the glasses!” Jane huffed in disgust. “I’ve never seen or heard anything so disturbing, Fredericka.”
