Page 47 of Once Upon a Devilish Duke

“It is a bottle of 1795 fine French brandy. It is for you.”

Tony glared at him. “For what reason?”

Edward looked around the table before saying, “Is it not obvious?”

“I want you to say it.”

“I already said it is a…”

“No. I want you to say why you are giving it to me.” Tony put his cutlery down and waited.

“For William George.”

“So, you acknowledge him then?”

“Of course, he was born in my house, how could I not?”

“Indeed,” Tony said.

“If you do not want it, I have a good burgundy in the cellar.”

“Anthony,” his mother said, “it is a lovely gesture.”

“Better than a painting of Ashtonvale,” Marianne offered with a lifted brow.

Tony picked up the bottle. “Thank you.”

“Keep it for his majority, if you wish.”

The dowager, sitting opposite Tony, smiled. “William will need to be baptized.”

“We will organize that once we are home and settled. I will need your input, of course, Mother.”

This made the dowager very happy, and just like that, the whole tone of the dinner changed. The duke sat back in his chair, looking very pleased with himself. Huh, how easily they all gave in to him. How clever he thought he was. A bottle of French brandy was all it took for them all to forgive him. What did he offer them for forgiveness after he left for London and never returned? Champagne?

“How was your promenade with Dunstan, Marianne?” Tony asked.

“It was lovely. The weather was almost a little too hot. And before you ask, he was a total gentleman. May accompanied us.”

“She is no doubt downstairs regaling every detail to the below stairs staff, down to what boots Dunstan wore,” Tony said.

“That would be a certainty. In any case, he has invited me to see the new opera called The Barber of Seville at the King’s Theater. I hear it is quite shocking. He has invited all of us, in fact. He has bought his own box.”

“Oh, how wonderful,” the dowager clapped. “We must go shopping tomorrow for new gowns.”

“Oh, yes. I know that his favorite color is yellow so there must be some on my gown.”

Rose looked down at her dinner. She dared not put anything more on credit until she knew if her allowance had been canceled. She had all but forgotten about it with the excitement of the baby arriving. She looked up at the duke, but he gave her no indication whether he knew anything further about her situation.

After dinner, the duke and Tony disappeared, so all three of them went to see Lucinda and William, of course. Rose needed to finish her sketches for Max.

“You will never guess who came to see me but two hours ago?”

Marianne put her hands to her mouth. “Not May again, I hope.”

Lucinda laughed. “Not May, but she is welcome to visit me anytime. I may need to pinch her from you, Marianne.”

“Don’t you dare,” she replied, sitting on the edge of the bed.