Page 44 of Three Weeks with a Princess
“The problem is that two royal side-slips staying under one roof would be manna from heaven for the gossips,” Jack said bluntly. “It would wash right off you because you’re a duchess and married to a powerful man. But such would not be the case for Lia. Moving to Leverton House would focus a great deal more attention on her, which is exactly what we don’t want right now.”
Gillian let out an endearing little growl. “Blast! I simply hate the Ton and their small-minded ways. I’d like to set fire to them all.”
“Small-minded but dangerous, at least for Miss Kincaid,” said the duke. “Lendale is right, I’m sorry to say.”
“We have to do something,” Gillian said, waving her arms so wildly she almost knocked the plumes out of her coiffure. “I won’t let her be shipped off to Yorkshire if she doesn’t want to go.”
“I believe I have the solution to this particular problem,” said a deep voice from the hall.
Lia looked up to see yet another stranger in the doorway. Like Jack and the Duke of Leverton, he was tall, broad-shouldered, and elegantly dressed, but he was some years older, probably in his forties. He had a rugged face with a great deal of character and carried himself with an air of powerful authority.
“There you are, Hunter,” said Leverton. “Finally.”
The newcomer gave a slight smile. “I wished to get the measure of the situation before I intruded.”
“So, you were eavesdropping on us, Sir Dominic?” Gillian asked.
The man raised his eyebrows in polite inquiry. “Isn’t that exactly what you would do, Your Grace?”
Her mouth twitched in a smile. “Yes, but how dreadful of you to point that out. Well, you’d best come in while we try to sort out this mess.”
“Indeed,” he said, easing in beside the duke. The room was now so crammed that Lia’s stepfather all but climbed up onto Mama’s dressing table to avoid being trampled.
Lia pressed the tips of her fingers to her temples, suddenly overwhelmed by the heat and by absorbing too many surprises in so short a space of time. With the appearance of the mysterious Sir Dominic Hunter, she suspected yet more revelations in the offing.
He smiled at Lia and managed a very credible bow, considering the tight quarters. “I am Sir Dominic Hunter, Miss Kincaid, and it is a pleasure to meet you. I come on behalf of your half brother, Captain William Endicott, who wishes me to extend his best wishes and his protection on your behalf. In short, Captain Endicott has made it clear that he desires you to come home with me.”
Chapter Ten
“Don’t tire yourself out, Lia,” Chloe, Lady Hunter said. “You’re still convalescing, so the last thing you need is a rambunctious baby to manage.”
Lia settled little Dom on her lap, smiling at the lovely woman who’d so kindly taken care of her during her illness. “I’m feeling much better now, thank you. I still can’t believe I was so ill.”
This was the first day she’d come down to the drawing room since moving into the Hunters’ lovely town house on Upper Wimpole Street. Far from contracting just a little cold, she’d been felled by a nasty infection that had left her as weak as a half-drowned kitten.
Chloe rummaged in the sewing basket by her chair. “It was no doubt from all the hard work and excitement leading up to opening night, combined with a jarring transition from the country to the city.” She glanced out the pretty bow window onto the quiet street. “I’ve always found the country to be a healthier environment, and certainly more peaceful.”
While it was true the Hunters’ town house was tucked away in one of the quieter neighborhoods of the city, Lia had discovered they generally lived quite out of the way at their manor house in the country village of Camberwell. Their primary home also doubled as a charitable establishment for unwed pregnant girls and young women, providing shelter for those cast aside by their families.
Most members of the Ton had already decamped to their country estates, and Lia suspected Chloe and Sir Dominic would have done the same had she not been so precipitously thrust into their care.
“You are not to be considering yourself as any sort of burden,” Chloe said, clearly reading her expression. “We’re thrilled to have you stay with us for as long as you like.”
When Lia bounced Dom on her knee, the baby chortled and waved his chubby fists in the air, then made a grab for the ribbons that trimmed the waist of her dress. “You’re very generous, but I’m sure you’d both prefer to be in the country.”
“Indeed, no. My husband has a number of interests in Town. There is always something to keep him occupied while we are in residence here.”
“And you? Don’t you miss your home and your charity work in Camberwell?”
A soft smile curved Chloe’s mouth. “I do, but my true home is wherever my husband and little Dominic are. I can ask for nothing more. Besides, while I do miss my work, my son and his wife are staying at our villa, looking out for my girls. Justine is close to one of the children under my care, and she never misses the opportunity to spend time with him.”
“And your son? Does he enjoy it?” Lia couldn’t help asking with a hint of mischief. From everything she’d heard about Griffin Steele, she found it hard to believe that the former gaming hell owner was the sort of man to enjoy spending time in a house full of women and babies.
Chloe laughed. “Griffin is less enthusiastic but surprisingly good at keeping order and generating a calm atmosphere in a sometimes exceedingly lively household. In any case, he goes wherever Justine goes, especially now that she’s with child.”
“I’m very much looking forward to meeting the Steeles. It’s still amazing to me that I have a real family beyond my mother and grandmother.”
While Lia had always counted Jack and Lord Lendale as family, now she was discovering she had arealfamily, bonded by blood and apparently eager to accept her. She’d barely gotten over the shock of meeting Gillian when Sir Dominic had marched into the room and announced she also had a half brother. Captain William Endicott was the natural son of the Duke of York and had been raised by his aunt and uncle, respectable members of the country gentry. Privately acknowledged by his father, Will had gone on to have a successful military career and marry the daughter of a viscount. He was now stationed in Vienna as part of the British diplomatic delegation.
