At the startled gaze of his brother-in-law, Hamish sighed. “There goes that surprise.” He shot Percy a smirk. “You knew already, right?”
“Of course.”
Her Grace’s recent sour complexion had turned into a healthy glow over the past few weeks. Along with her natural gait increasing, as well as her appetite, that would put her at about... “Twelve weeks.”
“Amazing!” Charlotte said.
Hamish regarded him like a specimen under one of Gregori’s glass slides. “Inhuman.”
“Come along, Leo.” Renard had his nephew by the hand, the other rubbing his surprisingly flat stomach. “We’ve tarts to taste.”
Charlotte smiled at the pair when they paused for approval. “Go ahead. We’ll be along shortly.”
The two’s continued conversation could be heard all the way down the hall.
“Now, Leo, there is something vitally important you must know about tarts before we go too far.” Renard’s voice was utterly serious.
“What?” Leo asked.
“When offering a lady one, always bring extra.”
“Why?”
“That is a way to win her heart.”
Hamish shook his head as the two voices faded into the depths of the house. “I shudder to think what the Duchess of Lux will teach him when her confinement is lifted. Between aunt and uncle, he is sure to be a rogue.”
Charlotte slipped her arm around her husband’s waist and smiled. “Just like his papa.”
Hamish lifted her chin and placed a soft kiss on her lips. “Just like his mama.”
Percy looked away from the tender display and prayed the couple wouldn’t ask him to join their merry parade. Though it was a damn shame he’d miss the tarts.
He thought he’d excuse himself quietly while the duke and duchess were preoccupied when Leopold came rushing back in the room and stopped right in front of him.
“Uncle Percy.” The boy gave him a big grin. “Will you come on our picnic, too?”
So close. Percy offered his godson a smile, the words ‘Uncle Percy’ doing something uncomfortable to the husk of muscle in his chest. “Of course—”
“Not today.” Hamish placed a hand on his son’s head and threw Percy a look as if to say,“I apologize for my role in this morning’s derailment of any future happiness.”
“His Grace will be anxious to oversee his affairs now that he’s inherited. Isn’t that right, Lord Grandfellow?”
The man deserved a slow death. A live burial in the peach grove he loved so much.
Leopold swung to face his father. “Lord Grandfellow?” He turned back around. “But you are a spy?”
“Leopold!” Charlotte said.
The boy frowned. “Mama, you say—”
“IsaidUncle Percy is a man of mystery,” Charlotte clarified. “And even if hewerea spy, it isn’t polite to ask outright.”
Percy chuckled. “You think I’m a spy?”
Charlotte shrugged.
“I’m not a spy,” he said.Not anymore.
