Page 16 of An Innocent Bride for the Duke

“There is no need to place me anywhere near the children,” Benedict confirmed quickly, thinking that he would likely sleep better the further away he was placed. “If they have Lady Louisa and their nursemaids nearby, then…”

“Perhaps the east wing, second floor, Mrs. Wilcox? The main suite there looks over the gardens too. His Grace does not strike me as a man who will struggle with an extra flight of stairs.”

“Nooo!” shouted Fanny abruptly, having listened to the adult conversation and only now belatedly realizing that one of their favored playmates was to be removed from the vicinity of the nursery. “You have to sleep near us too, Benedict.”

“Your Grace,” Aunt Beatrice corrected the little girl, who only pushed out her lower lip stubbornly.

“Papa and Mama call him Benedict,” she insisted. “So I shall too.”

“Fanny,” sighed Aunt Beatrice. “The correct form of address for a duke is ‘Your Grace’, just as yours is Lady Fanny, even though your family and friends don’t use it. It is respectful for children to use…”

“Do not worry,” Benedict intervened with a shrug, his mind far from titles and correct forms of address. “Now, as to bedrooms, the second floor would be no trouble to me at all, Lady Esher.”

Suddenly Fanny made a dash across the floor and seized one of Benedict’s legs, sitting down on his foot and clinging on tightly. Espying his sister’s game, a giggling Ezra quickly attached himself to Benedict’s other leg.

“His name is Benedict and he has to sleep near us so that we can play together,” Fanny declared.

“Maybe Uncle Benedict?” suggested Lady Louisa with a mischievous smile that rather weakened Benedict’s resolve to keep his distance in any way.

“There might be monsters in the nursery and they’re scared of dukes,” Fanny added, as though this fictitious argument should trump all others.

“You are making it very hard for me to say no to you, young Lady Fanny,” Benedict told her, swinging each of the children forward on his legs in turn and sparking fresh bursts of happy laughter from both.

Had he ever been so happy as a child? He suspected not. Certainly, no adult had ever played with him, although his mother had done her best to care for him, as far as she could. Glancing at Lady Esher, Benedict could see her resolve weakening with his own.

“There will be two nursemaids in the other nursery bedroom,” Rosemere’s mistress murmured to the housekeeper. “That should suffice.”

The housekeeper nodded, although it was impossible to say whether she agreed the nursemaids were sufficient chaperones or was merely acceding to his mistress’s will.

“I shall go and make sure all is in order,” Mrs. Wilcox replied, just as their tea arrived on trays.

“It looks like you two little tyrants have got your way,” Benedict told the giggling children, “but you must promise to be good neighbors and not make too much noise. I do not want to be disturbed in the night.”

Looking up, Benedict’s eyes met the sweet and sparkling hazel gaze of Lady Louisa. His heart began to beat more powerfully in his chest as he again noted the prettiness of her features. It came to him that even if the children were quiet, there were other types of disturbance he must guard against here at Rosemere.

Benedict was confident he could control his actions around this comely young woman, as he had promised Lady Esher, but could he entirely control his own urges and imagination?

Chapter Seven

“You may go, Thomson,” Benedict instructed his valet, stretching and yawning. “Everything is unpacked and I can ready myself for bed.”

“Yes, Your Grace,” replied the manservant obediently, casting his eyes once more around the room as he retreated to the door, as if expecting to see errant socks or hairbrushes lurking somewhere. “What time will you rise tomorrow morning?”

“I’ll ring when I need you. Likely, I shall go out early by myself for some exercise and will not shave until I return. Do not trouble yourself before then.”

“Very good, Your Grace.”

Once the door closed and he was alone, Benedict sank down into the comfortable embrace of a large armchair in the suite’s sitting room and yawned again. It had been a very long day and he was more than ready for sleep. Dinner had been mercifully early and quick on this first night. Lady Esher was an undemanding hostess who took good care of her guests’ comfort.

The bed was comfortable, the Rosemere staff had ensured that Benedict and Thomson had all that they needed for their stay, and now he looked forward to a peaceful night of sleep. The Rosemere ladies should not require anything very much of his company now that they were at home again. Tomorrow he might visit the stables and take a horse out for a good part of the day.

Benedict’s descent into relaxation was abruptly halted by the sound of a loud bang and a little girl’s laughter. Ezra’s happy squeals soon joined the noises made his sister and Benedict looked at the clock with a jaundiced eye. It was almost ten o’clock at night. Those children ought to have been asleep for hours, surely?

A short interlude of silence followed, lulling the duke into a false sense of security and almost allowing his nerves to settle once more. Then the laughter began again, along with other noises. Heavy footsteps sounded, as though someone was jumping or marching on wooden floorboards. Good god, was that the beating of a drum?!

Closing his eyes and counseling himself to patience, Benedict slowly counted to ten. Then, at a particularly egregious recurrence of the drum beat, he rose with an oath on his lips and strode to the door. Since evidently no one could be asleep in the nursery, he rapped loudly on the door.

“You were very quick, Gertie,” said the voice of Lady Louisa Ascot as the door opened. “I hope you both had some supper… Oh, Your Grace!”