His father huffed his approval.
Max struggled to keep his thoughts away from Chris’s possible demise.
“And now for the last. Father, you will have no say whatsoever in the woman I marry. Lady Kimberly has thrown me over and thank God for her intelligence. I shall choose my duchess as suits my fancy. And again, if you make my lady the least bit uncomfortable, you shall be the one shipped off to…” He grinned, loving the strength of this threat. “Yes, the Irish estate.”
Silence greeted this pronouncement. Good. He and his father had come to an understanding. The shift in power was natural and normal, given the situation. And though Max had true sympathy for his father’s difficulties, he had begun to take the long view of matters.
In his prime, his father had been a mean, domineering bully. Now that he was injured, the duke was suffering the effects of a life spent without respect for his fellow man. Max would see to his comforts as best he could, but he would not give muchkindness back. Not until his father found a way to appreciate the people who cared for him.
“Well,” he said as he slapped his hands onto his thighs. “I believe we understand each other. And now, if you excuse me, I believe I heard the knocker. That’s my present for my fiancée, and I shan’t like to miss it.” He stood up and gave his father a cheeky bow. “Good afternoon, Father. I’ll have someone bring you some towels to clean up your spill. You still have use of one half of your body. That’s plenty to clean up your own mess. Though, I suppose if you ask nicely, your valet may help you.”
Then with a jaunty wave, Max departed, feeling both lighter and heavier at the same time. True, this was exactly what his father deserved. But he wasn’t sure that he wanted to be a man who meted out just desserts. After all, exactly what kind of mercy would he receive then? He’d spent the last half decade carousing with Prinny.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
Yihui heard thenoise upstairs and worried for Max. In the week that she’d been coming here to be taught how to behave, she and Max had often discussed his father’s illness. She knew he struggled to balance respect for his elder, duty to his title, and his own personal honor. For Yihui as a female child, her responsibilities had been so much less. She was to do what her father commanded, even to the point of being sent to marry a foreign king to pay his gambling debts. Blind obedience was terrible, but she didn’t have to daily question her path the way Max did.
So when he headed upstairs to speak with his father, she worried about what would come. Even if Max won this battle, how would it hurt his spirit to discipline a parent that he had once respected?
Though she didn’t say it, the duchess worried as well. They heard the sounds coming from upstairs and exchanged worried glances. And neither said a word as they waited in taut silence.
Then it went quiet. No outbursts, no thrown dishes, no thuds, thunks, nor raised voices. Whatever was going on upstairs, it had reached a balance point. And that, apparently, was enough to recall the duchess to her task.
“Now then,” she said, “from the beginning. Whom did William the Conqueror marry and who were his children?”
Yihui tried to remember, but the foreign names were so much nonsense to her. The duchess couldn’t understand whyshe could barely pronounce Plantagenet, much less remember who begat whom. By the time the knocker sounded, they were both relieved by the distraction.
The duchess looked up with a frown when an unfamiliar voice introduced himself as Mr. Reginald Karr. Yihui could see the woman struggle to place the name somewhere, anywhere in her prodigious memory. In the end, she put on a bland expression as the man was announced in the parlor.
Mr. Reginald Karr had a broad face, a placid smile, and a stiff bow. Yihui thought him a harmless kind of man who might or might not be a good customer one day, depending upon his female relations. Then he turned to greet her and spoke in Cantonese.
Her jaw dropped open in shock. How wonderful to hear her native language again, even when spoken in an English accent. It was so delightful, it took her a moment to answer while she blinked back tears of surprise.
“Greetings,” she finally managed in the same language. The word fell across her tongue like an old nail. “How are you?” Those words came a bit faster.
“I am doing well. Lord Maximus said you would be kind enough to speak to me in Chinese. I am so grateful to be able to practice.”
“We are speaking Cantonese,” she corrected. She switched to the emperor’s dialect. “This is Mandarin,” she said. “It is for all formal conversations with Peking.”
“I am not well versed in that,” he said, continuing in Cantonese.
“No matter,” she said honestly, switching back. Her words were speeding up now and she had to consciously remember to speak slowly for him. “This is the language of commerce from Canton, and it is wonderful to hear it again.”
They exchanged a few more pleasantries until the duchess cleared her throat in obvious irritation. “It is impolite,” the lady said, “to exclude one member from a conversation.”
Mr. Karr immediately turned to her, his expression contrite. “I do apologize, Your Grace. My excitement over being able to practice Chinese has overwhelmed my good sense.”
“Very well, sir. Can you explain the reason for your visit—”
“Reggie! You made it!” Max strode into the room like a returning prince. His expression was filled with good cheer, and though Yihui studied him closely for signs of distress, she could detect nothing but an impish delight in seeing his friend.
Or perhaps it was delight in introducing Mr. Kerr to her because he very quickly turned that devastating grin her way.
“This was my surprise,” he said. “I thought about how I might feel thrust into a country that was in every way different from my own. I thought I might long for even the smallest thing from home.” He gestured for Mr. Kerr to sit down even as he settled on the chair closest to her. “Was I right?” he pressed.
Yihui nodded, her eyes brimming with silly tears of delight. How could something so small fill her with so much joy that she was literally overflowing with it?
“Thank you,” she whispered.
