The Mischievous Bride (9 page)

Marcus’s silver eyes popped wide in shock. “I did not say bad words.”

Emily pursed her lips, her violet eyes glittering with amusement. “I think you did,
Uncle Marcus
.”

He reddened. “What did I say?”

Gabby leaned across the table, lowering her voice. “You said . . .” she looked left, then right, “devil.” She gave a curt nod and returned to her eggs.

Milli snickered. Marcus glared at her.

“Ah,” Marcus replied, clearly reprimanded by the child, “I won’t say it again in your presence, Gabby. Forgive me.”

Gabby smiled as she took a sip of her chocolate. “I forgive you. But only if you take me shopping.”

Emily gasped in outrage. “Gabby.”

The little girl blinked her innocent blue eyes. “But Mama. He said he would take me last month, but he went to the races instead.”

Emily shot Marcus a cool glare. “I seem to recall something to that effect. I believe you will be taking Gabby shopping.”

Marcus choked on his coffee. 

Milli sat down beside Gabby. “You must keep Uncle Marcus on his toes, Gabby. It is your duty.”

Gabby slurped her hot chocolate and set her cup onto the table. “That’s what Mama said too.”

Emily reddened. “Eat your breakfast, dear.”

Gabby shrugged and took another sip, her eyes traveling over the table, watching the adults with a curious eye. Roderick was silent. He had taken his plate and sat at the head of the table, looking quite out of sorts.

Marcus squirmed in his seat. His little niece was almost as much trouble as Milli. Shopping, indeed. “Gabby. Perhaps your mother can take you. She has a better eye than I do.”

Gabby tilted her head and stuffed a buttered roll into her mouth. “No, you have good eyes too. Your eyes are silver and just as pretty as Mama’s.” Munch munch. “But I think you should take me. You are the best shopper. Mama told me so.”

Marcus glared at his sister. “She did, did she?”

Emily’s violet eyes smiled back. “Yes, indeed, Marcus. Anyway, I will be needed here for a while. And my dear husband and the baby are home with sore throats. He was under the weather last night, but things turned worse. We don’t want Gabby to become ill, so she is staying here as well.”

Marcus frowned. He didn’t like this turn of events. “My roof is being repaired, so I have been taking my old room this past week.”

“Oh goody!” Gabby clapped in joy. “Then you can go shopping with me every day. I want a new hat, a purple one. ’Member you promised me a purple hat on my birthday, but they were out of them. Then we can buy some more gloves. And then shoes. And then some writing paper. We will have so much fun!”

Clayton let out a snicker. “Yes, Uncle Marcus, you are by far the best shopper in this entire room.”

Stephen couldn’t help but snort. “I hear the ladies adore shopping with Marcus.”

Marcus slapped his napkin onto the table.

Roderick looked up. “Is something amiss?”

Marcus realized the duke hadn’t been paying attention to a thing that was said. Even Milli was frowning.

Marcus blew out a tired breath and turned his attention to the little girl. “Purple?”

“Yes,” Gabby said, looking at him. “Your lady friend had on a purple hat last month at Hyde Park, and I liked it. She was in the open carriage and you were on your horse. ‘Member? I was with Papa.”

Marcus cleared his throat. Milli raised her brows, waiting.

“Lady friend?” Clayton put in. “Tell us about this lady friend, Uncle Marcus.”

“A purple hat lady friend?” Stephen asked with a smirk.

Even the duke chuckled. “Purple feather too?”

Everyone, including Marcus, seemed surprise by the duke’s amused outburst.

“Probably a purple face too,” Milli muttered to herself, looking at her plate.

Gabby turned to Milli. “Oh, no, her face wasn’t purple. It was very white with red circles on her cheeks.”

Emily’s fork clattered against her plate. “Marcus?” she squeaked.

Marcus laughed. “Devil take it, it was Miss Canton. She had a cold—”

“Mama! Uncle Marcus said bad words again! Are you going to make him sit in the corner?” Gabby threw two little fists to her hips and shook her head Marcus’s way.

Milli put a hand across her mouth to hide her smile.

Marcus looked around the table and groaned. “Jupiter! I did not say a bad word!”

Clayton snickered. “Must say, same thing happened to me years ago. Haven’t said a bad word in front of you know who for ages. Paid my dues, I can tell you that.”

Gabby started crying. “Uncle . . . Marcus . . . is yelling at . . . m-me.”

Emily gave Marcus a scowl that could burn coal.

Marcus’s lips thinned. He rose from his chair and came around the table, handing Gabby his handkerchief. “Perhaps I did say a bad word or two.”

The little girl sniffed, peeking up at him. “Y-you d-did.”

“How about I take you shopping today and we forget all about the bad words?”

Gabby nodded, blowing her nose. “But no more bad words.” She handed the wet cloth back to Marcus who looked at the thing as if it had worms.

“Very well, no more bad words.” He pocketed the handkerchief and knelt beside the child, kissing her cheek.

From across the table, Milli’s heart tumbled. He was not stuffy at all.

Gabby kissed him back. “If you say bad words,” she whispered loud enough for everyone else to hear, “You can get in big trouble with Mama. I said a bad word once and had to stay in the nursery all day.”

Marcus kept a straight face. “No?”

Gabby nodded. “And then, I had to tell Papa I was sorry. And he said I should never say bad words, even though I hear them from other people. Like you.”

The others tried to contain their laughter with coughs and clearing of throats.

“Come here, you little poppet.” Marcus swiped her from her seat and threw her up in the air, catching her.

She giggled, grabbing his neck and wrapping her legs around him. “You won’t say any more bad words, Uncle Marcus, will you?”

“No, and I think if you are ready in an hour we can go shopping and buy two purple bonnets.”

“Oooooh, two? But my little brother won’t like purple. I think we should buy him blue! He’s a boy, and he will be the Earl of Stonebridge one day just like my papa.”

“Blue it is.” Marcus laughed with everyone else but the duke.

Out of the corner of her eye, Milli could see Roderick’s hand halt as he was about to raise his fork. The duke’s features were etched in stone. Blue was for the boy he might have lost, Milli thought with a frown. And then, there were the two babies before that.

The duke’s chair scraped against the floor. “If you will excuse us ladies. I need to speak to Clayton, Stephen, and Marcus for a few minutes.”

The words were more of a command. All the brothers stood, following the duke into his library.

As the men entered the hall, Milli rose from her seat to follow. She tapped Marcus on the shoulder. He turned, his brows raised in surprise.

Milli wasn’t going to hold a grudge now. It had been a terrible night, and she had to put things into perspective. Jane came first.

“Yes?” he said, his face not showing any emotion.

“Keep the duke busy for a while, would you, please?”

“What?”

“Keep him busy. Lizzie doesn’t need him in Jane’s room all day.”

Marcus glanced at the duke and scowled. “He won’t listen to me. He won’t listen to anyone.”

Milli’s eyes narrowed. “Well, figure something out. If you have to, take him shopping with you and Gabby.”

Marcus lifted a shocked brow. “Hell’s teeth. You must be insane. The duke doesn’t shop with children.”

“Maybe it’s time he did. Gabby can keep the two of you on your toes and that’s just what he needs. And I would watch that language if I were you!”

Marcus looked down at her with a grimace. “I don’t see how I am going to get that man out of this house. He won’t leave Jane unless he knows she’s better.”

Milli thought for a second. “Very well. I will have to take matters into my own hands then.”

Marcus froze. “I would not be in favor of that.” He leaned toward her. “Have you been nipping at the brandy again?”

She glared back at him. “Perhaps I will at a later time.”

He frowned.

And on that note, Milli strode into the duke’s library with Marcus on her heels.

Roderick looked up from behind his mahogany desk. “Millicent?”

“I forgot a book last night.”

Roderick nodded and took a seat in his grand leather chair. Milli grabbed the leather bound Shakespeare book and walked toward the duke.

He lifted his head to watch her approach. His piercing gaze made her tremble. He was back in duke mode. “Is there something else?” His tone was as frosty as the Thames in winter.

She swallowed. Should she try two for two? “Yes, there is something else. I need you to go shopping with Gabby and Marcus.”

A brittle silence settled over the room. She could feel the brothers staring at her as if she had just asked the formidable duke to jump in the lake.

“No.” His reply was curt and final.

She leaned against his desk. “It’s for your own good.”

“No.”

“Confound it, Your Grace! You cannot smother Jane after she lost that baby. She needs to heal. Lizzie will console her. If you sit by her side all day and night, you will remind Jane of everything she lost. Do you want that?”

The color drained from the duke’s face. Milli thought that perhaps she had gone to far.

“Millicent!” Marcus yanked her from his brother’s side. “Have you forgotten yourself?”

There was a chill in the room that was not from the weather. The duke shuffled some papers, studied one in particular, then set it aside.

Milli wanted to sink beneath the Aubusson rug and hide. But she had done this for Jane. Yet, what in the world had she been thinking? She rested her book on the duke’s desk and bowed her head, afraid to look at him. “Forgive me, Your Grace. I have a big mouth.”

Milli knew that shopping was the last thing a Clearbrook man wanted to do.

A few seconds of pained silence passed before the duke cleared his throat. He stared at the papers on his desk. “Perhaps I do, uh, smother her. If I had not—” He cleared his throat. “Very well.” He looked up at his brother. “I will go with you Marcus. You and Gabby.”

Marcus’s jaw dropped. He stared at Clayton whose eyes had widened in shock. Stephen could only stare at the duke in utter horror.

Milli pursed her lips, turned, and eyed Marcus with triumph written on her forehead as she strode from the room. Well, would wonders never cease?

Marcus sank into the wing chair and blinked in awe as Roderick waited for the door to close. What kind of spell did Milli have over his brother?

 The duke glanced up from his desk, fingering the note in his hand. “Gentlemen, we have a problem that has come to my attention. This missive has been delivered from the Home Office.”

Marcus sat forward. He had never seen his brother so fatigued, so sad, as if something inside him had died. “Perhaps it would be best to have this conversation another time.”

Clayton agreed. “There is no need to rush matters. Home Office or not. Sometimes we must think of family.”

Stephen walked toward the desk and put his hand on the duke’s shoulders. “We have been involved in politics so much that I fear we have lost sight of what is important. We share your loss, and if there is anything we could do—”

Roderick’s face turned to each brother, his eyes blazing. “Are you all quite finished?”

Marcus smiled. Now, this was the duke speaking. “I believe you have something to say. Spit it out.”

Roderick’s eyes turned stormy. “This note is in regards to William Shelby. I received it personally, from the general last night. I meant to speak with you after the supper ball.” He tapped the paper against his desk, frowning. “But other things came to my attention.”

“Something about Shelby’s will?” Marcus asked, thinking about Milli.

Stephen glanced at Roderick, his expression concerned. “I thought we were done with that. Shelby was my father-in-law. The man died two years ago in his sleep. The will was read. His daughters inherited everything. End of story.”

Roderick grimaced. Marcus puckered his brow.

“He’s dead,” Stephen continued. “I don’t want to start anything. My solicitor firmly explored any other matters pertaining to his last will and testament. I believe we covered everything that was needed to secure the inheritance for Lizzie and Milli. Not that I care a bit. Would rather the money wasn’t there. But I won’t have my wife subjected to any more questions.”

Roderick glared at his youngest brother. “Is that all?”

Stephen colored. “Well, I can only assume this has to do with the money. And I can only presume someone wants a part of it.”

Marcus felt an icy chill snake down his spine. “It does have to do with his money though?” he asked, afraid to hear the answer.

Roderick’s face was grim. “In a way. As I said, I received this missive yesterday from the general. However, a few days ago, I had some business with the Home Office. It was there where I was informed of the circumstance regarding Shelby. This only confirms my suspicions.”

Stephen sat on the corner of Roderick’s desk. “I can’t fathom anything more than a problem with the will. Unless someone is coming forward saying Shelby owed them money.”

Roderick kept tapping the paper against his palm, annoyance written across his face.

Marcus watched the interplay between the youngest and oldest Clearbrook males. It would have been fascinating to let it go on. Stephen was acting quite the know-it-all, while Roderick was quickly losing his patience. It was hard enough for the duke today, he didn’t need to add to his troubles.

Marcus stretched out his feet and glared at Stephen. “Shut up. Let Roderick have his say.”

Clayton had the audacity to chuckle.

Marcus shot him a cold look, and the man’s grin only increased.

“I am only agreeing with you,” Clayton replied, his eyes smiling.

Stephen stiffened. “I am only giving everyone the lay of the land. William Shelby was family. His death two years ago was quite a shock. But dying in his sleep was not a bad way to go. At least my wife didn’t have to see him suffer a lingering death.”