A Duke of Her Own(112)

Popper reappeared, waving a vial of smelling salts. The duke twisted the cork, putting the bitter smell directly under the puppy's nose. "Ew!" Tobias said, turning his head away.

In so doing, he missed the moment when Oyster opened his eyes and looked blearily around. But he didn't miss Oyster's weak lick. "He—He—He—"

"He's alive," his father said in his measured way. But Eleanor knew to look past the magnificent ruby velvet coat, past the thick eyelashes. The Duke of Villiers was watching his boy bury his face in Oyster's fur, and she saw love in his eyes.

"Tobias," Eleanor said softly, "Oyster is yours now."

Tobias raised his head. "What?"

"I'm giving you Oyster." She smiled at him. "He loves you, and you love him." "But he loves you best!"

"I don't take him looking for rats." She ran her fingers through Oyster's short hair. The puppy suddenly trembled all over, as if a stiff wind had ruffled through his fur. "He's pretty bored with me.

And when I thought he was dead—well, I think he's going to live to a good old age now. But just in case, I want him to do all the ratting he can."

"You don't have to," Tobias said. "We could share him. Maybe he could sleep with me sometimes. I know you like him in your bedchamber at night."

"I'm afraid that wouldn't really work."

Oyster tumbled off her lap. He seemed a bit wobbly, but gave himself a vigorous shake.

"He'll love living in the nursery with you. You have to let all the other children play with him, though."

Tobias nodded. Oyster put his paws onto Tobias's knees, and he hoisted the dog into his lap.

"He would really be your dog, even if the other children can play with him," Eleanor said, watching Oyster lick Tobias's teary face.

"But you'll be right there," he burst out. "Won't she?" He looked at his father. "Won't she? You said you were going to choose between them, and now you have to admit that the one out there is cracked. That Lisette, she's a bleeding nightmare!"

"I would be honored," Leopold said, looking up and meeting her eyes.



Eleanor's throat ached. She'd seen his eyes rest on her arm, encircling Tobias. And he finally understood what Lisette was like.

But she wanted more. She wanted someone who loved her for herself. Who didn't think she was good enough to bed but not good enough to mother—and who changed his mind only when she proved herself maternal enough. She wanted to be married for herself.

"Come on," Tobias said, sounding as if he were pleading with Oyster again. "You'll marry him, won't you? He's not so bad. That way, Oyster can stay with both of us."

She shook her head, taking a deep breath. "I can't, Tobias."

"Please!" The word sounded wrung from his chest.

"It will be all right," she said, oddly touched. "I promise you can keep Oyster."

"But I—I like you," he said, the words dropping into the silent room. "An' the girls do too. You'll see, we'll be good. You'll like Violet. She's not real pretty, like Lucinda and Phyllinda, but she's—she's nice. And—"

"I can't," she said, standing up. "I just can't, Tobias. I'm sorry."

Leopold made a sharp movement, but said nothing.

Oyster jumped down and started frolicking around her ankles. Obviously his little brain had completely forgotten what had just happened to him. "Stay, Oyster," she said. Wonder of wonders, he actually sat down and wagged his tail. "Good dog."

It seemed a very long way to the door, but that was probably because of the silence behind her.





Chapter Thirty


Knole House, country residence of the Duke of Gilner

June 23, 1784

"I can't fight with you," Leopold said flatly. The sun was barely over the horizon and the air was surprisingly chilly.

"I didn't give you a choice," Astley said. He was pacing out the wet grass, his rapier unsheathed and ready.

"I'm a father."

"You should have thought of that before you debauched Eleanor. Before you made her fall in love with you and then chose a raving lunatic over her." "I might well kill you. I rarely lose."

Astley started pacing in the other direction, measuring the ground. "Ada's dead. Death doesn't frighten me."

"I thought you were in love with Eleanor."



Astley's face crumpled for a moment. "I am. But I loved Ada too. Eleanor was right about that. It's all so complicated..." He shook himself and kept pacing. "If I kill you, I'll have to leave the country.

But the children—"

"Cart them away with you. You can't tell me that anyone will care if you leave, let alone them. You?