Page 46 of Raising the Duke’s Unexpected Twins

His gaze darkened, and she saw a muscle tick in his jaw, but he said nothing. Ignoring his look, she turned away, taking Olivia with her. “Take up Timothy, Your Grace!” she called, amused at leaving him on his own to finally pick up one of the children. She was delighted to see him acquiescing, and at breakfast, she called a maid to assist with the children as they sat and ate.

This time, they all sat at one end of the table, and Cordelia tried not to notice how Nicholas asked for a footman to fill plates for her as well as the children.

“Be sure to serve the duchess first with as much food as you can fit on the plate,” he commanded before he himself sat down. Olivia enjoyed sitting on her own, tears now gone, eating but also making a mess. Tim had moved from his seat to crawl into Cordelia’s lap, and she gave him a bite or two of her own meal.

Cordelia noticed the maid’s distress at Olivia, and she smiled at her. “It is no trouble, Mary. They are only children. They will learn their table manners soon enough.”

“Of course, Your Grace,” the maid replied.

“I think we can handle things, Mary. I’m sure you have other duties,” Nicholas said kindly.

Mary looked to Cordelia who nodded, and then with a curtsy, she was gone.

“Do we have matters in hand, Nicholas?” Cordelia teased. She fed Tim a piece of toast, and he chewed away happily.

“We do, if you would start eating.” He glanced down at her food, and sighing, she began to eat, while keeping one hand on Tim.

She watched as Nicholas kept his eyes on Olivia. “She looks just like her, you know. Helen.”

A little ache filled Cordelia’s heart. “Yes, she does. She will be quite a beauty. We will have to do our best to keep her away from all the rakes that infest London.”

She smiled at him, and warmth bloomed in her stomach at his handsome, genuine smile in return.

“Are we an infestation, Cordelia? I’d say there are only a few good rakes who have any real skill at it. The rest are useless tossers.”

Cordelia laughed, mirth bubbling up from somewhere that she did not expect. She saw a light appear in Nicholas’s eyes, and her heart skipped at his happy expression.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you laugh before,” he said with a sort of awe. “Not to anything I’ve said, at least. David could always make you laugh.”

He looked down at his plate as he buttered a piece of toast, and Cordelia wondered if he was sad. He never truly showed it, but she was certain he was. He had lost a dear friend and now he was with a wife whom he did not marry for love.

“I remember when we first met that first fateful night and how we disliked one another immediately. I could feel it in the air.” She chuckled, shaking her head. “I was furious with Helen that she married a rake and had now drawn me into a circle of rakes.”

Nicholas looked at her and shrugged. “If you must know, I never disliked you, love. It was always you who couldn’t stand me.” He lifted a brow, and Cordelia blushed, embarrassed that she had said such a thing.

It would not have bothered her before, but it did now, now that they were married and now that last night had occurred. She was surprised when he continued.

“I always thought you lovely, beautiful, intelligent. You were just always quick to react and share your honest opinions. You were not like any other woman I’d met before, and it only made you easier to tease.”

“Which made me angrier and angrier,” she said, trying to keep her face from going beet red at his compliments.

He chuckled. “Yes, and I only fanned the flames.”

She was surprised, truly and honestly surprised. She had assumed their constant tense banter had been because they both disapproved of one another. She didn’t know what to do with this new truth.

Helen, had you known this?

Suddenly, she realized just how unfair she had been towards him over the years, and looking at him again while he cut his meat, she saw him in a new light, a light that scared her to death.

“You must get your strength from your mother.”

“Oh yes,” she answered, clearing her throat, recovering from the swirl of new and confused thoughts in her mind. “My father too. He loved my mother so dearly, and he never tried to contain her or my sisters. He always approved of women learning and speaking their mind.”

Nicholas nodded. “I rather enjoy it myself,” he teased, his eyes flashing wickedly. “A woman speaking her mind.”

Cordelia looked down at her plate again to avoid his gaze and took another bite. She thought she heard a soft chuckle from Nicholas.

“I think your family delightful. I didn’t know the viscount, but now that I’ve met your mother and sisters, I am very glad to be connected to them.”