“Yes, I’m dying. I don’t know how much time I have left. Some days are better than others. The doctors can’t say for sure. But the way I feel... I would say a few months at best.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” Gabriel said and meant it. For all his anger at the recent revelations, he had developed a fondness of sorts for the duke. He was going to mourn him when he was gone.
The duke shrugged. “Everybody dies at some point. I have lived for a long time. Long enough to lose most of the people I’ve loved. I’m ready to go. It’s just... There are some matters I ought to set right first. Amends I need to make.”
So this is what was behind the duke’s revelation? He just wanted to unburden his soul? Seek forgiveness? Anger still burned underneath his skin, but Gabriel couldn’t deny a dying old man the redemption he sought. Gabriel took a seat again, facing the duke eye to eye.
“Regarding me, consider your amends made. Over the past five years, you have become my friend and mentor. Regardless of your motives, I have benefited from having your guidance and support. And I have come to admire and appreciate you.”
The duke’s eyes were bright with unshed tears. “You truly are a kind person. It makes what I’m about to ask even more desirable, but harder to request.”
“Sir?”
“I need an heir.”
Gabriel looked at him in confusion. “I am aware, sir. But I fail to see how I can help in that regard. You said it yourself. Even if you claim me as your son, I would be illegitimate, and thus unable to be your heir.”
“But a son of yours and Hannah could be my heir.”
CHAPTER 6
GABRIEL SUCKED IN Abreath. He had thought nothing could surpass the shock of the duke’s earlier revelation. But he had been wrong. He just sat there in utter bewilderment. Unable to formulate a response, or even comprehend what the old man was asking. He must have misunderstood. The duke could not have suggested that he and the duchess... No. Unthinkable.
“Yes. I am asking you to bed my wife and get me an heir.”
“You can’t possibly be serious!” Gabriel exclaimed, exploding to his feet. “The mere notion is indecent. Repugnant. I could never...”
The duke held up a hand. “Are you saying that lying with Hannah would be repugnant to you? That you don’t find her desirable as a woman?”
“Of course not. I mean, yes. She is a beautiful woman.” Gabriel shook his head. “You are twisting my words. What is repugnant is the idea. I could never do that, especially not now that I learned you are my...my biological father. It is almost incestuous.”
“Don’t over-dramatize things. The two of you are not related in any way,” the duke said wearily.
“Still, she is your wife, sir. How can you offer her up to another man? She would be horrified if she knew...”
“First, I have not been a husband to her in almost a decade. It is not as if she would be leaping from my bed into yours. Second, you are not just another man. I would only propose this to you,because you are my son and a good person. And third, I’m not ‘offering her up’ I talked to her, and she agreed—”
“She agreed to this?” It seemed the shocks would never end. And underneath that...a pulse of elation.
The duke sighed. “You know. The two of you are quite taxing, with all your morality and honor. Whereas I don’t have time for so many scruples anymore. Yes, she agreed, albeit reluctantly and after much convincing. At first, she had the same annoying reaction you are having.”
“I would call my reaction perfectly normal, given that you are talking about breeding people as if they were horses,” Gabriel retorted, outraged.
She had agreed. Damn, but it made all the difference. Even though this entire business made him feel like nothing more than a stud—and not in a complimentary way—he still felt flattered that she was willing to have him, in whatever capacity, for whichever reason. He was a bastard, a mistake. And yet this remarkable woman—a duchess, no less—had agreed to lie with him. To bear his child.
“That was not my intent, Gabriel. You and she are the two people I care about the most in this world. Yes, I want to have an heir for the dukedom, but I wouldn’t ask this of you or her if I didn’t think it would be good for you, too.”
“Forgive me, Your Grace, I don’t wish to sound ungrateful for the great honor you bestow upon me,” Gabriel said sarcastically, “but I don’t see the benefit for me in all these schemes.”
“I have been buying the mortgages of the earldom. By now, I would say I own about ninety percent of the total debt. I will return those to you,” the duke replied bluntly.
Gabriel had been pacing like a caged lion, fighting to control his rioting emotions. But at the duke’s words, he swung around.
“You are trying to bribe me?”
“I am trying to give you an incentive.”
“And if I refuse? Will you then call in the debts and ruin me?”
