Page 35 of A Treacherous Bet to Win a Duchess

“Where, Lord Farellshire? May I see?”

He turned his left arm over, showing Meredith the offending red bump.

Lord Gillinghamshire laughed uproariously, “It must have thought you were being too loud!”

“Or that you were being dishonest.” tutted Lady Cecilia.

Appalled by the lack of sympathy for his unfortunate plight, Lord Farellshire turned up his nose and announced that he was going back to the house to see if Mrs. Oakley had anything to treat the bump with.

Meredith could not help but smile as she watched him stride deliberately across the grass with his head held high.

He really is an overgrown child.

“Oh, cheer up, Lady Cecilia. Kenneth is always that dramatic. I assure you that he will be back in a few minutes as carefree and jovial as ever. Isn’t that right, Tony?”

“Very true, Colin. Have you heard of the game ‘I Spy…’, Cecilia? No? Well, I’ll have you know that I happen to be quite good at it. Come, I shall demonstrate how it works.”

Just as it was predicted, several minutes later Lord Farellshire sauntered over the grass towards the table whistling a tune.

“I’m good as new! Mrs. Oakley rubbed some herbs on it, and I think the swelling has gone down already. Are you ready for another round of Stone Paper Scissors, Lady Cecilia?”

* * *

Hugh watched the lively group from around the corner. He never had children of his own, but he imagined that the feeling welling up in his heart was how proud fathers felt.

“Tsk, tsk. Are you shirking your responsibilities, Hugh?”

“Oh! Catherine! You’re very light on your feet. Don’t you go scaring me like that.” He nodded towards the garden table, “Would you look at them? Not only are His Grace and Lady Cecilia spending time together, but they’re smiling, too.”

“Yes, Mr. Fletcher. I would be so bold as to say that your high stakes gamble has paid off quite handsomely.”

Hugh and Catherine hastily made their way inside, lest the group notice them staring. The estate now seemed to be transforming before their very eyes.

“Ever since Her Grace fell ill, I felt as though this house itself became quite sorrowful,” Catherine pointed out.

But Hugh went even further, “I daresay it has been sorrowful ever since His Grace, the late Duke, passed away all those years ago. For that was when the parties stopped, do you remember?”

“Oh, yes! It breaks my heart just thinking about it. Her Grace was never quite herself again. After His Grace’s death, it felt as though the house grew ten times its size.”

“Quite so. It became so dreadfully desolate and lonely. But now, dear Catherine, a change has started to sweep through. At long last, we’re starting to see—”

Shrieks and yells interrupted their conversation. Hugh and Catherine listened carefully to discern what direction they were coming from.

The kitchen!

They barreled down the hallway.

Chapter 13

As Hugh and Catherine drew closer to the kitchen, the cries became clearer. “There! There! I see it!” and “Mr. Tulk! Do be careful!” were some of the first exclamations that they heard.

They burst into the kitchen and found Jenny and Philippa clutching each other tightly in a corner, and Mr. Tulk raising a broom whilst urgently scanning the floor.

“What happened? What is it?” asked Hugh.

At this very moment, the second door of the kitchen—which happens to lead out into the garden—also swung wide open and through it burst His Grace and Lords Farellshire and Gillinghamshire.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” asked His Grace.