Page 1 of Good Duke Gone Rogue

Chapter 1

1816, England

SOMETIMES LIFE IS KIND. It allows one to grow into one’s station and circumstances. It’s a wonderful feeling to trust life, fate, and the universe, knowing that it will not press upon a person more than one can bear. As with children and flowers, there are stages to observe, learn from, adapt to, and grow with. Take a small seed. Plant it. Water it. Nurture it. And rewards will come. So with children, a person grows alongside and as much as their children do. Hopefully.

Other times life is rather ruthless. It thrusts one into being and becoming something one never expected.

And one just has to grow the bloody hell up. Fast.

Bernadette rubbed her thumb over her son’s knuckles, the bumps mimicking the road beneath their rolling carriage. Hewas nine. Already. Where had the years gone? Nine years of her life. Gone. Not wasted. Never. But somehow…hollow.

Of course, she had married young. She was a diamond of the first water, and her family had needed money. Being their only child, she knew her duty. It was not asked, rather, it was simply expected and accepted. She married for convenience. The earl had been a decent man, if not a bit cold. And old. That had been the hardest part of the whole deal. His age. He was just so…old. She had never known his face and hands without wrinkles. Loose skin. A constant clearing of his throat. Threadbare, hardly there, hair. But he had been kind enough, and he had given her her son. Jacob. There were no regrets.

There were no regrets on either side. The Earl of Simcott begot an heir. After which he had been nearly defunct; thus no spare.

“Are we there yet?” Jacob asked.

Bernadette chuckled. “We’re close.”

“Why are we visiting the Earl of Winchester?”

Bernadette studied her son. His gangly arms were bouncing on his lap. With hair only a shade darker than hers and an angular face quite similar to her own, their resemblance was not unnoticeable. To look in his eyes and see herself caused her heart to swell in gratitude and intimidation. It was one thing to have to fend for oneself in this world. It was another thing, an utterly terrifying thing, to have someone completely dependent upon her. But if there was ever a time to dig deep within herself and find some courage, it was now. She just needed a bit of time in a safe environment to figure things out.

“Mama?” he prompted her for a reply.

“They are family friends, son.”And we need friends right now, since we have no family left.“It’s always nice to visit old friends.”

“I don’t want to visit old people.”

This elicited another chuckle. “They’re not old sweetheart. Well, not particularly old. I’ve known them my whole life.”And not only are they the only ones I trust, but they’re willing to let us in while I figure out what to do.“You’ll have fun. I promise.”

“Will there be any children there?”

“No, sweetheart. Unfortunately their children are my age.”

“So theyareold.”

“Excuse me, young man,” she faked a reprimand with a soft swat on his hand. “I am not old.”

The first response was a scowl. Then, “No kids equals no fun.”

She couldn’t fault him on his mathematics. She often thought the same thing. Children had an innocence about them that brought joy and laughter into an otherwise stale room. Though not everyone in thetonheld that view. In fact, many subscribed to the adage that children should be seen but not heard. Those were not her beliefs, nor those of her parents.

Her childhood was full of bright memories. Many of those memories even included the family she was about to visit. Bernadette, Kat, Charlotte, and Reggie had often spent weeks at a time hanging out with each other. She had no siblings, so it was always a delight to see how the three would tease each other yet still get along. She was lucky to have grown up so closely with them. Only after she was married did she see less of them. Much less.

“Is there anything fun about the earl’s children?”

Children was a strange word to attach to the earl’s adult children, but she supposed it was still appropriate. They were his children despite being well into their twenties. That thought did make her feel old though, as she was the eldest among them and nearing thirty herself.

“Well, he has three children.”

“Boys or girls?”

“Two girls and one boy.” Boy? Did she really still think of Reggie as a boy?

“Are you friends with all of them? Even the boy?”

“Yes. In fact, especially with the boy. But he’s a man now.” Calling Reggie a man sent a shiver up her spine. This would be the first time in a long while that she would be seeing him again as an adult. More daunting was the single attribute that they were bothsingleadults. She a widow. But still…that would complicate everything even more unless she was able to harness her emotions. She had experience now. She knew what it meant for a man to take a woman.

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