Page 74 of Duke with a Deception
“Ah. That’s a good reason, it is,” Emma declared, clearly finding the explanation reasonable.
“I think so too.” Verity smiled, running the brush through the girl’s hair one last time before setting it aside. “When I was a girl, my brother liked to collect spiders. He would keep them in jars, and then sometimes, he would let them free in my bedroom.”
“Yer brother’s a rotter, Lady Vitty,” Emma said, utterly serious.
Verity chuckled. “He’s a good brother now that we are grown. He was a mischievous boy, however.”
King heard the fondness in her voice and knew a swift stab of guilt. Verity and Riverdale had always been very close to each other. King didn’t like being the cause of any rifts between them. And there was no doubt about it, he was the source of their fractured relationship.
Because he was selfish.
He had seen what he wanted, dangling before him, and he had seized it—seized Verity—without a thought for what the cost would be later. But he was thinking of it now, and it was an ache in his chest. He loved Verity, and she deserved the truth.
How could he tell her, if telling her meant losing her?
He didn’t think he could bear it.
The nursemaid bustled into view, dragging King from his troubled musings. She dipped into a curtsy.
“Good evening, Your Grace.”
He inclined his head to her, noting that she bore a tray laden with some biscuits and tea.
“I was just paying a visit to the nursery to see if Her Grace was finished visiting with Miss Emma.”
That much was true. He needn’t admit he had been watching, consumed by maudlin sentiment, for the better part of a quarter hour now. He and Verity had begun paying evening visits to the nursery together. However, he had been out this evening paying a call upon the Duke of Brandon, and King had returned late to discover his wife already attending to her nighttime duties.
The time for another of their society’s wicked house parties would soon be upon them, and whilst King had taken on the burden of making the arrangements in the wake of every one of the founding members’ marriages, he was no longer desirous of partaking in the ode to debauchery as he once had. Something needed to be done. He had met with Brandon at the Black SoulsClub to discuss the circumstances in which they now found themselves.
I never thought I would see the day, Brandon had teased him good-naturedly.The Duke of Kingham, a happily wedded man.
Yes, but for how much longer?
He vanquished that unwanted thought, gesturing for the nursemaid to precede him over the threshold.
“Yer Grace!” Emma greeted happily, rising from the carpeted floor to dip into a curtsy that was so enthusiastic, she nearly toppled over sideways.
He stopped to bow. “Miss Emma. How are you this evening?”
“Better now that Nurse’s come with my tea,” Emma told him conspiratorially. “My stomach was rumbling while Lady Vitty told me a story.”
His gaze traveled, inevitably, to Verity, whose full pink lips were curved in a tender smile of welcome. She rose to her feet, shaking out her skirts, the epitome of domestic elegance. How at home she looked in the nursery, a place that had once been sealed away and forgotten.
Rather like his heart.
She had changed that.
Had changedhim.
“You have returned from your visit with Brandon so soon?” she asked.
“You would have me stay away longer?” he teased. “Perhaps I shall go again.”
Verity chuckled. “Of course not. I missed you.Wemissed you this evening, didn’t we, Miss Emma?”
“Yes, we did,” Emma agreed, already across the room and washing her hands at the pitcher and bowl in preparation for tucking into her biscuits and tea.
“I missed you both as well. I must admit that I, too, long to know more about dragons and what they eat for dinner.”
