Tavish had no words, no witty remark or timed insult.He remembered his father fighting to provide for his growing family, saving every shilling to relocate them to London for a better life.Those first years, they all had worked in the gentleman’s club in some compacity—cleaning, washing glasses, serving.They did it all.It was a family business.
His father had spent years becoming his own man so that his children would have a legacy outside of the Summerset dukedom.Now that legacy depended on Tavish becoming the very same duke that his da despised
Bloody hell!This was a disaster.
“Fine, I’ll go to the solicitor first.”Tavish said, finally realizing that he had no choice.
There was nothing else for him to do, but to give up fighting.For his family, he would, for his mother, he’d give up his very life.
“Good.”Declan exhaled, and for the first time since he arrived, Tavish could tell that his brother was worried.
“How the feck am I supposed to be a duke and go to balls?”He laughed at the thought of ever being seen as a respectable gentleman.
He’d lived most of his life in a boxing ring, running away from respectability.It was the one thing his da wanted for all of his children, and the main reason the last time they spoke ended in anger.
“You’re the head of this family.All you have to do is claim the dukedom and remove Summerset’s widow.”He shrugged, like kicking a widow out of her home was nothing.“She’s still living in the townhouse like she owns it,” his brother spit out in disgust.
“How do you know the widow isn’t carrying Summerset’s child?She’s young, isn’t she?”Tavish asked, not knowing anything about the woman who married his father’s elderly cousin.
What sort of woman would marry a man such as Summerset?From what Tavish could remember, the man was a fiend, an old hateful bastard who hated the O’Briens with every fiber of his being.So much so that he’d tried to prevent Tavish’s father from opening the gentleman’s club when they first arrived in London.
“It’s been six months.If she was with child, we would know by now.She is not.Besides, there would be questions of the child being the legitimate heir.”His brother sat up.
“What the hell does that mean?”Tavish asked.If the current duchess was with child, surely that would free him from any responsibility.
That would leave his family’s financial problems to be solved, but he had funds saved from years of fighting.
“It means that rumors about the duchess having affairs with her staff as well as other members of society have been circulating since Summerset died,” his brother said, chuckling lightly.“Who could blame her really?He was an ugly old bastard.She’s beautiful to be sure.Any man would fall at her feet of course, but she does not have the best of dispositions.”
That was comical.Tavish didn’t have a particularly pleasant disposition himself.It was hard for him to believe that a lady of thetonwould be unpleasant at all.They were all the same—spoiled, entitled princesses who wanted nothing but a husband to provide for them for the rest of their lives.Surely, this duchess was the same as every other lady in Mayfair.
“I suppose the dukedom will provide for her now that he’s gone?”he asked, wondering how rich exactly the Summerset dukedom was.
It was a rarity for a dukedom to be overflowing with funds.There were plenty of aristocrats who loved drinking, gambling, and whoring as much as commoners.It was shocking that Summerset was not such a man.
“Summerset, the old bastard, only left her two hundred pounds a year?—”
“Fecking hell!I made more than that as a fighter.How can anyone survive off of that?”He wondered for the third time what type of woman married such a bastard.
“It doesn’t matter.She is not your responsibility.You just need her to leave.What happens to the duchess is no concern to our family.”
The words were harsh, even for his brother, but it did not sit well with Tavish to dispose of the current duchess like she was nothing.Leaving her with only two hundred pounds a year while his own family reaped the benefits of the Summerset fortune.
Tavish closed his eyes and welcomed the sweet escape of sleep.He’d worry about the dukedom, the widow, and his family once he was in London.Until then, he would enjoy what remained of his own freedom.
Florentia stood facing the eager footman, Thomas, whose eyes trailed down her form.She was draped in her dressing gown, readying herself for the day when he entered, wide eyed and expectant.He’d become increasingly attached to her in the short time that they had been involved.Like Montague, he was a dismal lover.
She’d long discovered that the only way she would find pleasure with a man was to please herself while they were inside her chasing their own release.
Men, in her opinion, only cared for their own pleasure, which Florentia often shortened due to the fact that she never allowed anyone to finish inside of her.There was no way she would be able to explain a child a year after her husband’s death, and she had no inclination to be saddled with someone she did not love.Not that she believed in such fantasies.
There was a time before her first season that she prayed for a love match and a white knight on a horse to save her from her mother and the fate of a loveless marriage.She was no longer that foolish girl.
Florentia knew that no one would save her but herself.
“I was wondering when you’d send for me,” Thomas said, leaning forward to kiss her.
Florentia stepped back, avoiding him and his attempt to seduce her.He had been an itch that needed to be scratched, but like Montague, he had become overly attached.
