“But that was going to be after you made your curtsy before the queen and are officially on the marriage mart.”
“What a bore that will be. I want to meet Mr. Quick now and I think I should. Besides, what good does it do to be the sister of a duke if I can’t break the rules? If you wantme engaged by the time the Season starts, I really need to meet him now. And I’d like to be acquainted with his sister as well. I want her to come, too.”
Hawk sat up straighter in the chair. “Miss Quick?”
“I’m intrigued by what you said about her. Besides, Miss Wiggins should have her puppies by the time a visit can be arranged. You can judge a lot about a person by how they treat puppies, don’t you think?”
Hawk felt a kick in his breathing. He remembered Miss Quick being in his arms. Her soft lips, her warm body, and the whispered satisfied sighs of enjoyment while he kissed her. Suddenly his mind started reeling with the possibilities of Miss Quick visiting his estate. Yes, he very much liked the idea of her coming to Hawksthorn with her brother.
Perhaps Hawk was happy his sister had come to London after all.
“Yes, Adele, you’re right.” He cupped her chin affectionately. “You can judge a person by how they handle puppies.”And sickly beggar boys, too.
Chapter 8
A few lines of self-written romantic poetry is the perfect gift for a gentleman to present to a lady.
APROPERGENTLEMAN’SGUIDETOWOOINGTHEPERFECTLADY
SIRVINCENTTYBALTVALENTINE
Farley.
Loretta worked the dark-gray yarn with her knitting needles and watched him from a large, comfortable wingback chair she’d moved over by the one window in the small room. His pain-racked cough had started before the apothecary had arrived from Grimsfield a few days ago. It was deep, throaty, and hoarse. A wet cloth that she often dipped in a basin of cool water lay on his hot forehead. His chest rose and fell with loud, long, labored breathing.
The apothecary had assessed what Loretta had already realized. Farley was gravely ill. The man didn’t know if the boy’s frail, lean body could fight off the fever and weakness that had developed in his lungs. Before leaving the next morning, the apothecary gave them a plethora oftinctures, tonics, poultices, and medical herbs of varying kinds along with instructions on how to use them all.
There was nothing more he could do.
During one of the boy’s semi-lucid moments yesterday, he’d answered “Farley” when she’d asked his name. Through most of his wakefulness he mumbled delirious, unintelligible words before slipping back into a fidgety sleep. Occasionally he would groan and thrash about wildly in the bed. From time to time she’d rouse him and force him to swallow a spoonful of broth or an herbal concoction Mrs. Huddleston had mixed for him before he’d succumb to fitful sleep again.
Though she was only seven years of age when her mother had died, Loretta remembered a few things about her mother’s care. For one, she was never to be left alone. Loretta didn’t intend for Farley to be alone, either. All the servants helped see to that by taking turns sitting with him, including Arnold, who hadn’t seemed to mind that he’d had to give up his own room to the stranger.
Loretta tried to remain positive by thinking of the future. If the Duke of Hawksthorn’s observation was correct and Farley was indeed a street child, without family and with no place to call home, Mammoth House would be the best place for him.
Once Farley was well enough, she’d ask her uncle if he could stay and be a part of her household. There certainly was plenty of room. He could learn how to help Arnold care for the horses, or plant and tend to the herb and vegetable gardens. The two cows had to be milked each day, and the eggs had to be gathered. There were any number of daily chores and other animals that needed attention. The house and grounds were so extensive that there was always something that needed to be cleaned, repaired, moved, or taken away.
Farley shouldn’t require much payment, if any, since he was so young. Perhaps just a place to live and food to eat would be enough to tempt the lad to stay—if he had no place to go. The main thing was that he could start learning how to do something other than beg for a loaf of bread at a stranger’s door.
The knitting needles went still in her hands and she rested them on the ball of yarn. Besides, it was easier on her to think about Farley than to think about the duke. When she thought about him, she remembered stimulating conversations, sharing a meal, and tasting a sip of brandy with him from his glass. She remembered being in his arms, being touched, and—and yes, thinking about Farley was much less stressful for her.
But despite her best efforts, she thought often about the duke and wondered what he meant when he’d said they were in a battle for her. Did it mean he wanted to kiss her again? That he intended to seduce her and go even further given the opportunity? Maybe he knew that deep inside, her resolve was weaker than she proclaimed. Her fear was that maybe he could win her over. She was not immune to him as she had been to the viscount.
“Miss Quick?”
Loretta turned to see her maid standing in the doorway. Bitsy was a robust, rawboned young woman with one of the softest voices Loretta had ever heard. At her first interview, Bitsy had told Loretta she knew her size didn’t match her name but that her mother never expected her to grow so tall.
Bitsy didn’t know much about being a lady’s maid, but Loretta hadn’t been left with many choices after word spread among the servants about the isolation of Mammoth House. Neither of her first two maids had been able to tolerate the loneliness of not even having a village towalk to once a week and had left her after only a few months of service.
So far, there hadn’t been any signs of restlessness or regret from the young woman, and Loretta hadn’t heard any complaints from Bitsy since she came to work almost a year ago. Not having a social life outside the other servants hadn’t seemed to bother her at all. When there wasn’t much for her to do for Loretta, she made herself useful to Mrs. Huddleston, which made her and the housekeeper happy.
“I came to tell you right away just like you asked me to,” Bitsy said. “I saw Mr. Quick riding up to the front of the house.”
“Oh, wonderful!” Loretta exclaimed excitedly, swinging the knitting over to the table beside her chair and slipping her feet back into her slippers before jumping up. “Yes, thank you for letting me know. And please stay with Farley for me.”
Loretta picked up the hem of her skirt and hurried toward the front of the house. She made it to the vestibule just as Paxton was walking through the doorway with a carefree bounce to his steps. He took off his hat when she stopped and smiled.
Her brother was such a handsome man. Tall, and thin as a reed. His thick, wavy blond hair, which had been creased by his hat, swept low across his forehead. His blue eyes sparkled and danced with a happiness that never quite seemed to leave even when he was angry or sad.
