Page 96 of Stolen and Seduced By the Duke

Pierce took a measured sip of brandy and refused to acknowledge how accurately the observation struck him. Duty had always been his answer, his shield and, when necessary, his excuse. It was far easier to say something was his duty than to admit he wanted it. Yet lately, duty had become tangled with Margaret in ways he found increasingly inconvenient.

Nathaniel watched him over the rim of his glass, amusement slowly replacing his earlier irritation. "You are in a foul mood," he observed.

"I am not."

"You are."

"I am perfectly well."

Nathaniel leaned back with a grin. "Then Ravenfield House must have become a remarkably cheerful place."

Pierce gave him a cold look. "Everything is going perfectly at home."

"Ah," Nathaniel said knowingly. "So you are still testing the Duchess."

Pierce's mouth tightened. "There is nothing left to test."

Nathaniel raised his eyebrows. "Really?"

"Margaret has stopped provoking me," Pierce replied, swirling the brandy in his glass. "She follows the revised household arrangements. She does not challenge every instruction I give her, and she has shown considerable restraint regarding the rules surrounding our marriage." He paused, and an image of Margaret entered his mind with entirely unwelcome clarity. "Therefore, I have no reason to give her any more lessons."

Nathaniel's grin widened. "You sound disappointed."

Pierce looked at him. "I did not say that."

"You did not need to."

Pierce leaned back, scowling at the fire. "I would enjoy giving her a lesson."

Nathaniel laughed. "There he is."

The amusement faded somewhat when Nathaniel studied him more closely. "Margaret and Hugh seem to be taking up most of your time, despite your determination to solve the mystery surrounding your son."

Pierce's fingers tightened around the stem of his glass. "That is true."

He hated admitting it, particularly because the investigation remained unfinished. Every report he received seemed to lead towards another dead end. The carriage his men had traced after the masquerade had travelled south, but beyond that, there had been little to discover.

"The latest reports have given me nothing useful," he admitted. "The carriage was found, the driver questioned, and still there is no clear indication of where the woman went."

Nathaniel frowned. "And you believe she knows what happened to Augusta?"

"I know she may."

Nathaniel studied him for a long moment before saying, "Or you are simply allowing the investigation to consume you because it gives you something safer to think about than your wife."

Pierce's gaze hardened. "Margaret is also a distraction."

Nathaniel laughed softly. "I suspected as much."

"She occupies more of my thoughts than she ought," Pierce admitted, lowering his voice. "And Hugh occupies the rest."

There was no irritation in the admission concerning his son. That surprised him. Hugh had once been an unanswered question, a source of fear and responsibility. Now the boy's laughter could halt Pierce in the middle of a moody thought. Worse, he had begun to look forward to seeing Margaret with him.

Nathaniel set his glass aside. "Why does the investigation matter so much to you?" he asked more seriously.

Pierce stared into the fire. He had asked himself the same question many times and had rarely allowed himself to answer honestly.

"Because whoever kept Hugh hidden for all those months may still exist," he said at last. "They knew where my son was. They knew how to keep him from me. If they chose to take him once, what prevents them from doing so again?"