ChapterThirteen
The plan was simple.He was expected to move into their home as if he were their real father. Not just Hector’s.
All of them.
“And then we will see if we can be a family together. Or not.” Lena met his eyes and looked away quickly. He watched in fascination as a fine sheen of pink blush spread across her cheeks like a rose in full bloom.
Theo nodded. “That is our condition.”
All five pairs of eyes were on him.
Now it was his turn to blush, and the telltale heat crept up his neck. Confound it. He hadn’t blushed since he was a schoolboy at Eton. “You expect me to play the role of your f-father?” Dash it if he had to stumble over the word.
The children all shook their heads at the same time. “No. We just want to find out if youcouldbe our father,” Theo explained. “There’s a difference.”
He had no idea how to be a father, noteven in a hypothetical sense. He didn’t think it would come naturally to him. He’d never had a real father figure in his own life, because his own father had been cold, distant, and absent. It had only been seventy-two hours since he’d realised that he might actually be a father, and the notion had confounded his reason and addled his senses. Judging by the way he was behaving now he evidently still hadn’t completely recovered them yet. In his defence, most fathers had a considerably longer time to get used to the idea of fatherhood than he had. Now they wanted him to live with them to see if hecould, potentially, be their father.
“As a sort of test, so to speak,” he said aloud.
Everyone nodded.
“To see if I measure up to it.”
Once more, they nodded.
It was absurd.
The Duke broke out into a sweat.
“And if I don’t?” He crossed his arms over his chest to support himself.
Theo shrugged. “Then it won’t work. It might be best for all of us to discover that now rather than later.”
It was completely ridiculous, of course. Had anyone ever heard of such a thing?
“What if I have no interest in participating in this experiment?”
A chair scraped on the floor as Lena stood up, a stubborn tilt to her chin. “If you choose not to do this, Your Grace, then I am afraid we must break off contact immediately. Regardless of whether I really am your wife or not, whether Hector truly is your child or not. My loyaltyis to my family and I must do what is best for them. We have discussed this and agreed that this is the best course of action. If you are disinclined to participate, then you may leave.”
Julius stared at her, fascinated. He’d never seen his Catherine stand up for herself or others and fight with such stubborn determination. She lifted her chin and there was a stern glint of what might be called contentiousness—which was ludicrous. Catherine wasn’t quarrelsome.
Never had he encountered such hard-headed negotiators. Yet, before signing a contract, one had to be informed of all the details.
“What exactly would this entail?” His voice was clipped as it was during his diplomatic negotiations.
“It would mean that you would live here, with us, of course,” Catherine said, her blush deepening.
“And live our kind of life,” Harmonia added.
“The life of the middle-class,” Theo said.
“Not the life of a rich, privileged Duke,” Achilles said.
“And what, pray, does that involve, in greater detail, if you please?”
“It means no servants, no fancy food, no fancy clothes,” Theo said.
“And then we can decide whether you suit us or not.” That was Hector.
