Page 44 of I Never Forget a Duke (The Night Fire Club #1)

H ugh’s heart had nearly given out when he saw Adele’s body go lifeless and crumple toward the floor. Fletcher had been behind her and managed to catch her before she injured herself further, but she had still not regained consciousness by the time they got back to the house.

They’d taken Hugh’s carriage to and from the house Collingswood was renting in Cheapside, and Hugh had held Adele in his lap the whole way home, unwilling to let her go. He grew increasingly frantic as they neared his home and she still had not regained consciousness.

“He hit her?” Hugh confirmed with Owen.

“Aye, I saw him do it. I doubt it was the first time.”

“I swear, I will rip his arms off,” Hugh growled.

“You will do no such thing,” said Lark. “He is cooling his heels in Newgate Prison by now.”

When they arrived home, Hugh carried her upstairs to their bedroom.

He was heartened to find her body warm, and she sighed a little as she rested in his arms, but she was clearly quite out of it.

He checked her everywhere for injuries, but found none save for a tiny cut on her forehead and a red mark on her cheek.

“Collingswood must have hit her quite hard,” Hugh said as Lark hovered behind him in the doorway. “We must get a doctor.”

“I’ll send Beresford.”

Fletcher and Owen kept Hugh company while Lark launched into action and coordinated everything. Beresford returned with the Baxter family’s doctor, who immediately went upstairs to see Adele.

The doctor was with Adele for quite some time, though whether it was minutes or hours was hard for Hugh to ascertain.

He was terrified she’d suffer the same fate he had and lose her memories.

What if she woke up with no idea who he was or what they meant to each other?

What if she could not recover her memories?

What if the injury was indeed grave? What if she were ill?

Fletcher had been standing closest to her when she’d passed out, and all he knew was that she mumbled something about not feeling well right before she fell.

As they all waited, Hodges appeared with a package wrapped in brown paper. “This arrived for Lady Adele.”

Hugh took it. He had no earthly idea what it could be, although a card advertising a shop on Savile Road was tucked into the wrapping. Had this been what she was buying when Collingswood abducted her? Hugh held onto it, intending to give it to her when she was awake.

The doctor finally appeared at the door and Hugh held his breath, afraid of the news.

“Her Grace is resting now,” said the doctor.

“Did she wake up? Was she hurt badly? Is she quite ill?” asked Hugh, getting to his feet.

“Yes, she did come to. We spoke about how she was feeling and I examined her thoroughly. Her only injuries are the superficial ones you saw for yourself.” The doctor smiled, which Hugh was not sure how to interpret. “May I have a word, Your Grace?”

Hugh looked around at his friends. Beresford was there, too, but after everything he’d done that day, Hugh supposed he could be considered a friend, too. Hugh looked back at the doctor and reasoned that whatever his news, it was likely of a delicate nature. Hugh gestured toward the hall.

When they were out of everyone’s earshot, the doctor said, “She is not injured or ill. She is with child.”

Hugh’s heart stopped for a long moment. He was so surprised by this news, he could not move.

“She… what?”

“I knew you would want to know right away.”

“Is she… will she be all right?”

“She will be fine. She did not eat enough today, and that combined with the stress of the situation made her pass out. She came around long enough to talk with me and for us to ascertain that she has not had her monthly courses. So I did a more thorough examination.”

Hugh was uncomfortable with the doctor taking such liberties and seeing his wife intimately, but he pushed it aside. “You’re sure?”

“It is early days yet, but yes, I am sure. She will need lots of rest and hearty meals each day, and she may face some difficulties until the baby comes. But don’t smother her, either.

She need not be confined to bed.” The doctor patted Hugh’s arm.

“In my experience, women generally know their bodies and what they need, so listen to your wife, and all should be well.”

“May I see her now?”

“She may be asleep, but if awake, I think she will be happy to see you.”

Hugh instructed Hodges to send up a tray of food and then ran up the stairs. He entered her room and found her asleep in their bed. She looked untroubled.

He sat on the edge of the bed and took her hand.

She stirred and opened her eyes. “Hugh,” she said softly.

“How do you feel?”

“Better. Tired still.”

“There should be food here in a few minutes. Are you hungry?”

“Starving. I missed tea.”

“It’s nearly dinner time, but don’t feel like you have to get dressed to come down. I’d rather you rested.”

“I suppose Doctor Berkley told you the news.”

“That you are to have a baby? Yes, he did.” Hugh placed a careful hand on her belly.

“Are you happy?”

“Yes. Surprised. I wouldn’t have expected it so soon. But very happy. And you?”

“Yes.” She smiled. “I’ve wanted a child for so long, Hugh. I didn’t know how much until the doctor told me we would have one.”

Hugh leaned down and kissed her gently. “I was so worried about you.”

“I imagined you would be. I feel terrible for giving you such a fright.”

“No. It’s all right. It was my cousin who acted badly. Owen said you were quite brave before I barged into the room.”

“Whose idea was it for Beresford to lie about how little I mean to you?”

Hugh smiled and smoothed Adele’s hair away from her face.

“Owen’s. Beresford has a reputation for being a terrible gossip, so we thought he’d be the most likely to be believed if he said I didn’t care about you.

You know that was a lie, don’t you? I love you, Adele.

I would have been lost if something happened to you. ”

“I did know it was a lie.”

“The idea was to distract Collingswood so that Owen could sneak in the back door and get you out of there. I would have come in myself, but I was too distraught with worry for you, and Lark told me I’d make a hash of it. If Owen failed, Lark brought a Bow Street runner to arrest Collingswood.”

Adele nodded. “I love you, too, Hugh. I’m sorry for making you worry. And it was Collingswood who hit you over the head.”

“I know. All is well now, my duchess. We know now who was putting us in danger, and that danger has been removed. So now we will have a beautiful baby, and we will love him or her with all our hearts, and we will live happily ever after.”

Adele laughed. “It can’t possibly be that easy.”

“Probably not. But a man can hope. Cinderella and the Prince lived happily ever after, did they not?”

Adele sat up a little straighter and spotted the paper-wrapped parcel he’d brought up with him. “What have you brought for me?”

“Oh, this.” He picked up the parcel. “This came while the doctor was seeing you. I think it was from one of the shops you visited earlier today.”

“Oh!” She took the package and peeled off the paper. Inside was a jewelry box. “I bought this for you, actually.”

“Oh?”

“I wanted to give you a present. You’ve been so good to me, Hugh, and you’ve been stressed out lately, and I wanted to do something nice.”

He accepted the box from her and opened it. Inside were two emerald cufflinks.

“They go with my necklace, don’t you think?” Adele said.

He was touched that she had thought to find something like this for him. They might yet live happily ever after. He kissed her, hard and fast, and said, “Thank you, my love. These are spectacular. They shall look nice with a few of my shirts. I will think of you every time I wear them.”

“You’re welcome.”

Servants appeared with Adele’s dinner then. Hugh sat with her as she ate—he tried to feed her, but she waved him off and told him she could do it herself. As she finished her soup, she said, “I didn’t realize you and Lord Beresford were such good friends.”

“We aren’t, but he’s Lark’s friend. Apparently he was at Lark’s house when I sent my secretary to fetch Lark. I needed someone with a level head, you see.”

“Is that how you came to have a whole troop of men come in to rescue me?”

“I was a mess, Adele. I couldn’t think straight. Lark thought I would be a liability if I went by myself.”

“Thank the Lord for your friends.”

“Yes.” Hugh was indeed grateful. Lark had been right about Hugh being unable to do anything but make a larger mess. He was glad Lark had taken charge and that Beresford had been so convincing and that Owen had kept Adele safe and that Fletcher had caught her when she’d fainted.

Adele ate some chicken and said, “Are Lark and Beresford lovers?”

Hugh was surprised by that question, but Adele had asked it calmly, without recrimination. “Yes,” he said. “I confronted Lark about it about a month ago and he confirmed it. What made you ask?”

“You’ve suggested a few times that you suspected Lark may have, er, romantic interests in other men. That seems very odd to me, but as long as they’re happy and not hurting anyone, I can’t find fault with it.”

“You are more enlightened than the Crown. They will both be hanged if discovered.”

“I promise to keep quiet next time I dine with the Prince Regent.” Adele raised an eyebrow. “Although don’t you think there is something romantic about that? Two people who love each other enough to stay together even though their lives are in danger?”

“I suppose, although I’d really rather both stayed among the living. And you joke, but we may well have to dine with Prinny one of these days. He is my cousin, after all, if a distant one.”

Adele leaned back against her pillows and laughed softly. “This is not the sort of life I ever imagined for myself.”

“I hope this is better.”

She smiled. “Beyond my wildest dreams.”