Page 9 of The Scandalous Love of a Duke
‘John.’ She swept towards him as Mary moved aside, and she was in his arms in a moment and pressed a kiss on his cheek. ‘You have been away too long. I have missed you.’ There were tears shining in her eyes.
‘I missed you too, Mama.’
‘Liar,’ she whispered before she drew away, low enough so Mary could not hear. It was not a malicious word, just the truth, and they both knew she was right.
One fingertip tapping her beneath the chin, he made a face. ‘I am home now, anyway.’
‘And I am glad. Come and meet everyone else.’ She slipped her arm through his, linking him to her with an elbow, as she turned towards the drawing room. Mary occupied his other arm, and both women questioned him eagerly as they walked.
He felt very strange and disorientated to be so besieged.
When they reached the drawing room though, all hell broke loose. He was mobbed by his various aunts and elder female cousins.
Once they finally pulled away, hankies in their hands, John was then greeted by the men, his uncle’s by marriage first, and then his male cousins. His stepfather, Edward, held back.
When the pandemonium ceased John looked at his stepfather. He stood across the room with a youth beside him.Robbie!John’s eldest brother. He looked so like his father it was unmistakable. Robbie must be fifteen; the age when awkwardness set in. He seemed to deliberately not look at John. That must be why Edward stayed back, torn between welcoming his stepson and supporting his own son.
John smiled and approached them. He greeted his brother first. Robbie was already over shoulder height against his father. ‘Robbie.’
The boy coloured up with palpable self-consciousness. John’s smile broadened. Robbie had idolised John as a child, but he had been eight when John left. The age gap between them was too wide for any real relationship.
‘John.’ Robbie took the hand John had offered and shook it limply. But John used the grip to draw his brother into a brief embrace and patted his shoulder.
‘You have grown. Would you like me to take you to Tats with me when I look for a carriage and horses?’
‘Yes!’ The boy’s face lit up as Mary’s had done earlier. ‘Will you really take me?’
‘If you are sensible.’ He lifted a closed fist and press it to his brother’s jaw, in a masculine gesture of affection, but the lad ducked away, laughing.
‘I am always sensible. You have just not been here to know it,’ the cocky brat responded.
John laughed.
‘Perhaps you ought to ask me if he has been good. I think his masters at Eton may have some tales to tell if they were asked.’ His stepfather interrupted. ‘John.’ His name was spoken with warmth and layered with hidden emotions.
John smiled. Edward’s hair was still a dark brown, untainted by age, yet there were more lines about his eyes. He was younger than John’s mother. ‘Father.’
With a twinkle in his eye, Edward said, ‘Son,’ as he held John’s shoulders firmly. He had always treated John like his own son, no different to Mary or Robbie or the rest. ‘I am glad you are back.’ Edward’s hands fell away.
* * *
John was woken by a sharp rap on his bedchamber door. He sat up and threw the sheet aside from where it had lain across his hips.
‘My lord,’ a low voice called.
‘Yes, what is it?’ John was already swinging his legs from the bed and rising.
‘His Grace, my lord. The physician believes there is not much time. He sent me to fetch you.’
‘I will be there in a moment,’ John called, instantly shifting to search for his clothes in the dark room.
It felt bizarre to be here. It had felt odd to see his grandfather ill, and now… It was like a dream, not a nightmare though. He only felt emptiness inside, not sadness nor fear.
His eyes adjusting to the dark, he found his trousers and slid them on.
He pulled his shirt over his head.
He had said goodnight to his grandfather, as had the others before they left, one by one, and he had wondered then, how long.
