“It’s good to see you up and about again,” Lord Kenward said. “How are you feeling?”
“Quite well,” Thomas said, which was true, considering the fact that he had been stabbed the night before last. “I want to thank you again for all your assistance, Lord Kenward. I know that without your help, I would probably have lost my life.”
“Certainly without Madeleine’s assistance you wouldn’t be standing there,” Lord Kenward said.
“I’ve thought about that quite a bit since you told me what happened,” Thomas agreed. “I had hoped I would see her this morning. I’d like to thank her for her aid.”
Lord Keenward nodded. “I can certainly pass that message along to her,” he said. “But unfortunately, it won’t be possible for you to see her.”
“It won’t? Why not?”
“She isn’t in the house. She rises early, has her breakfast before I’m up myself most days, and goes out into the grounds. At this hour, I have no idea where she might be, and it would be all but impossible to find her.”
“Would you mind if I had a look around? I really would like to thank her in person.”
“Be my guest,” Lord Keenward said. “You wouldn’t like something to eat first?”
“Thank you for all your generosity, but I’m not very hungry,” Thomas said. “And I’d really better be on my way. I’ll just have a look around your grounds before I meet the carriage that will take me home.”
“Very well,” Lord Keenward said. “I wish you a speedy recovery, then, and I’m glad we were able to help you through this.”
Thomas went outside.
He knew at once that it was hopeless. The grounds were too extensive, and there was no sign of another living soul. Still, he stood for a moment, listening for the sound of a barking dog, wondering if he could again follow that noise to find what he was looking for.
There was no such sound.
Oh well. At least Lord Keenward will tell her I’m thankful for her help.
He went to the front of the manor. The carriage was ready and waiting for him. He climbed in and allowed it to carry him away, regretting that he hadn’t had the chance to thank Lady Madeleine himself.
He knew already that he would never forget what she had done for him.
CHAPTERONE
FOUR YEARS LATER
“You’re going to have to marry sooner or later, you know,” Henrietta Hatcher, Dowager Duchess of Westcourt, told her son.
Thomas sighed and looked out the window of the carriage. It had been three years since his father’s death, three years since he’d become Duke of Westcourt himself, and it seemed to him that his mother had spent every moment of those years trying to persuade him to marry.
“You know I’m not interested,” he told her for what felt like the thousandth time.
“But you must,” she insisted. “You’re the Duke of Westcourt, Thomas.”
“I know I am.”
“Then you know your responsibilities,” she told him. “You know it’s your duty to produce an heir to the Dukedom. You can’t simply refuse that duty.”
“I want a child even less than I want a wife,” Thomas said. “And no amount of pressure from you will make me change my mind about that, Mother. Personally, after what you and I went through, I can’t see how you could imagine it would be a good idea to bring a child into this world.”
“If you’re talking about your father—”
“I don’twantto be talking about him.” All these years later, Thomas still bore the scar from the assault that had taken place that night. He blamed his father for what had happened. It had quickly been revealed that the man who had attacked Thomas had indeed been someone his father had owed money to—he had almost died for his father’s debts.
“Your father did the best he could with what he had, Thomas,” his mother said reprovingly.
Thomas couldn’t even look at her. He loved his mother, but… “The best he could with what he had? He almost got me killed, Mother, and it could have been you.”
