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“Then we will take in orphans,” he returned promptly. “Goodness knows, London is teaming with them, poor little mites. How many do you think we could foster?”

“Oh, at least twelve times twelve,” Evelyn said lightly.

“A gross of orphans?” Mayson burst out laughing, then started to cough. He reached for a clay bowl and spat into it. “Dr. Alton says he wants to see what comes up,” he commented. “I cannot think why.”

“I can,” Evelyn said, helping him set the bowl back out of the way. His sputum was still thick but not as green, she noticed, and there were no flecks of blood in it. “By looking at it, he can tell how your lungs are doing. Oh, Mayson, yesterday I feared I would lose you!” She pulled his hand to her, kissing the knuckles.

He turned it over so that he could cradle her cheek in his palm. “No. The only way you will lose me is if you want to be rid of me. “

“Oh, Mayson…” Evelyn started to say.

But her reply was lost as the Duke opened the door and glared at them. “Is this what you do when you are being paid to take care of my mother? The Duchess is ready for you now, Mrs. Swinton. Come along, now!”

Out in the hall, the Duke glared at her. “Quite a common little thing, are you not? You’ll not be a Duke’s mistress, but you will take up with a cook.”

“Mr. Rudge has offered me marriage, Your Grace.”

“Well! You could hardly expect me to do that. I promise my arrangements for you would be quite comfortable. You would never want.”

“I do not expect you to do anything at all, Your Grace. I am sure your arrangements would be generous. But I love Mr. Rudge, and he loves me.”

“While I go to a loveless marriage for duty’s sake. Have you no pity for me at all, Mrs. Swinton?”

“A great deal, Your Grace. I hold you in respect for your care of your mother, and it is plain that you do not hold Miss Notley in contempt. A lesser man might have cast her off in her illness.”

The Duke’s face softened, the thunderclouds of anger that Evelyn could visualize as swarming around his head perhaps thinning a little. “I will always hold Blanche in some degree of affection. We grew up together, almost like brother and sister. Shall I be like the Egyptians of old who were said to marry their own siblings?”

“There is no consanguinity between you. Should not those married to each other feel as close as brother and sister?”

The Duke slumped back against the wall. “I do not know. I feel so confused. You are confident, self-possessed, vibrant. Even with the changes in her dress and diet, Blanche is wan, listless. I am a man, Mrs. Swinton, with a man’s needs. Can you not take pity on me?”

Evelyn slipped past him, moving on toward the Duchess’ chambers. “I feel pity for you, Your Grace. But my duty is to the Duchess. Since you are in quite a mood now, I feel I should go to her. You quarreled?”

The Duke nodded. “We did. Over those two cooks, of all the foolish starts. Those were not under cooks. They were the primary cooks for my household. They can cook roasts of magnificence, and I love their steak and kidney pie.”

Evelyn clapped on hand over her mouth, to stifle a laugh.

“Did I say something funny, Mrs. Swinton?” The Duke put a little menace in his voice.

“Oh, dear. I am not laughing at your upset, Your Grace. But the Duchess detests steak and kidney pie. She and I had toasted bread, cheese, and apples roasted on her hearth that night.”

“Really?”

“Really, Your Grace. I think it would go a long way toward soothing your cooks if you went home and requested your favorite dish. There is no doubt that they are feeling slighted. But I should go to your mother, for if you are any barometer to go by, she is in a great taking.”

The Duke wilted further. “I suppose she is. Go to her, Mrs. Swinton. Make apologies for me if you will. However angry she makes me, I do love my mother.”

“That, Your Grace, I will gladly do,” Evelyn said, and quickly escaped into the Duchess’ chambers.

Chapter 42

The following morning, the Duchess was still fuming. “His best cooks. His best cooks! Mrs. Swinton, it is a wonder he has not turned into a wraith, floating on the wind.”

“It is a miracle, Your Grace. But when he spoke to me in the hall, he did tender his apologies.”

“Be as that may, Mrs. Swinton, he should have had better sense. All those heavy foods, and the complaints about their behavior with the rest of the staff. It is beyond bearing.”

“Perhaps gentlemen prefer different foods. Did you not say that your dear departed enjoyed a kidney pie now and then?”