Page 82 of Sincerely, the Duke
“Happy?” He smiled.
“Yes, of course I am. Especially when you have been less than—”
“Glowing with my compliments of your father?”
She shrugged and said, “Yes.”
“I have more admiration for him now that I know he saved your life after you were born. I’m indebted to him. However, in keeping with our promise not to hide or withhold all the truth from each other, I must reveal that Hurst had already bought the book. He brought it in here in case I wanted to look it over.”
“It doesn’t matter how you got it. Thank you for reading it. And, as long as we aren’t going to hide anything from each other anymore…” She grinned. “I remember a conversation where you once said you’d never been attacked by two women at the same time. What exactly did you mean?”
Rick made an exaggerated sound of clearing his throat. “Yes, my darling wife. I seem to recall something about that, but perhaps I’ll take a bit of advice from a man who wrote a book titledThe Art of Being A Fine Gentleman.”
Her eyes filled with delightful surprise. “And what is that?”
Rick grinned. “When talking to a lady, a fine gentleman knows when to speak and when to hold his tongue.”
EPILOGUE
THE ART OF BEING A FINE GENTLEMAN
SIR DUDLEY SAMSON PEMBERTON FINE
At the end of the day or the end of this book, being a fine gentleman doesn’t start with good manners. It starts with his heart.
“It looks like rain,” Rick called from the back steps of their London townhome. “What are you doing out here?”
Edwina looked up from their son on her lap to see her husband coming down the steps toward them. She smiled and waved, thinking he was now more handsome than the first day she saw him. Five years hadn’t changed him. Or her. Her heart still fluttered when she looked at him.
“Papa!” Emmeline squealed and ran over to him. Rick picked up his daughter and swung her around a few times before planting a kiss on her forehead and setting her back on her feet. That was enough attention for the active little girl who looked so much like him with light-brown hair and sparkling blue eyes. She skipped back over to her governess at the play area filled with a small wooden castle and cloth dolls.
“There’s already a mist in the air. You may get wet.” Rick bent over his son’s head and kissed Edwina on the lips before making himself comfortable on the bench beside her.
She looked at him lovingly. “We have time. Emme doesn’t want to go in yet. Who won?”
He shrugged arrogantly. “I did.”
“Are you ever going to let Matthew win another shooting match with you?”
He seemed to think seriously about that before shaking his head and grinning. “Not in this century. Maybe in the next.”
“It would help make Elle feel a little cheerier at times if you would be more cordial to him when we are with them. He’s been in the family four years now.”
“They spend Christmastide with us at Stonerick and dinner most Sundays with my mother. I tolerate Malcolm. That is enough.” Rick chuckled and rubbed the top of his son’s bonnet-covered head. “What’s our little red-haired fellow doing? You can’t get both fists in your mouth at one time,” he said to his babe. “Sir Dudley Fine would never approve of a gentleman doing that.” Rick tried to pull Stone’s hands down but his son wasn’t having any of that and started to fret.
“He’s trying to help his teeth come through. Leave him alone and let him be about his work.”
Rick immediately ceased and scrunched up his face. “The front of his shirt and sleeves are soaked.”
“I will see he gets into dry clothing as soon as we go in,” Edwina assured him patiently. “Your shooting was obviously excellent today. You are in a wonderful mood. How did you find your mother?”
“Happy as a lark on a sunny Sunday morning.”
The dowager had always been polite toward Edwina and her family. But something in her had changed the day the heir to the title was born. Rick’s mother had become warm, friendly, and a frequent visitor to their home to spend time with Stone.
“Speaking of family…” Rick pulled a letter out of his inside pocket. “Palmer said this had just arrived for you so I brought it out. It’s from Eileen.”
“Oh, wonderful. I haven’t heard from her in a month.” Edwina plopped Stone onto Rick’s knee and took the letter out of his hand.
