Mr. Hunt, I Presume (Playful Brides, #10.5)(12)

Mindlessly smoothing his hand over his horse’s mane, he briefly considered Lucy’s former attempts at matchmaking him with Miss Langley. Miss Langley had been a sweet young woman with a lovely disposition, but she, like all the other women Lucy had paraded before him, didn’t have the sky blue eyes or silky blond hair of the young woman who’d haunted his dreams since he was a lad of sixteen.

He shook his head. Hopefully, Lucy wouldn’t attempt to matchmake him with the new governess. No doubt the poor woman had no idea what she was getting herself into by taking a position with the Duchess of Claringdon. The Matchmaker of Claringdon should be Lucy’s title, he thought with a wry smile.

She was a handful, his sister-in-law. She loved to ask Collin why he wasn’t married yet. Why wasn’t he? He’d told himself all these years it was because he was married to his work. It would be unfair, unkind even, to take a wife and leave her at home, day and night, alone, or possibly only with the children while he worked so many long hours.

But there was more to it than that, and he knew it.

The image of Erienne’s face leaped to his memory. He always thought about her when his reflections turned to marriage. She’d been the only woman he’d even contemplated wedding, the only woman he’d ever wanted to marry, and he’d been forced to let her go. He’d tried to push it from his mind over the years, tried to ignore it, but times like this, bloody times like this when he didn’t have his work to distract him, the memories crept back into his mind.

It didn’t matter. Erienne was far from here. She was married to a viscount in Shropsbury, just as she should be. She probably had half a score of children by now. Was she happy? Did she ever think of him? Damn it. Of course not. A married woman wouldn’t think of him, shouldn’t think of him. It was ludicrous to even contemplate it.

The thunder of hooves caught his attention, and he turned to see Derek riding up behind him.

“There you are,” his brother called as he pulled his horse up short next to Collin. “I didn’t realize you’d ridden out this far.”

“What else have I got to do?” Collin replied with a laugh.

“I’ll take you around the entire perimeter sometime if you’d like, but we’d better get back to the house now. Lucy and the children want to see you.”

“Of course.” Collin nodded and gathered the reins in his gloved hand.

They both turned and began a canter back toward the house.

“Seems I forgot to tell Lucy you were coming,” Derek said, his eyes fixed straight ahead on the path.

Collin lifted his brows. “Lucy’s not upset, is she?”

“Only that she didn’t have all week to look forward to your visit.”

“Ah, well, I suppose I’ll just pretend it was a surprise visit, then.”

“Yes, well…” Derek’s voice trailed off.

A sudden, odd tightness gripped Collin’s stomach. “What? What is it?”

“Seems my forgetting to tell Lucy caused a problem elsewhere.” Derek still hadn’t met his gaze, a sure sign of some kind of guilt.

Collin’s brows drew down. “What? How’s that?”

Derek slowed his horse. Collin did the same.

“You know how certain things tend to…happen when Lucy is involved?” Derek asked.

Collin poked out his cheek with his tongue. “She is usually up to something, isn’t she?”

“You could say that,” Derek replied.

“What is it?” Collin asked, apprehension replacing his suspicion. Something was wrong. He could feel it.

At last, Derek met his eyes. “I have something I must tell you, Collin. Something I’m afraid you’re not going to like.”





Chapter Eight





“Collin? Hunt? Is here? In this house? Right now?” The words left Erienne’s mouth in a staccato rhythm. She knew she sounded like a mad woman for the way she’d uttered them, but she couldn’t help herself. The implication of what Lucy had just told her slowly sank into her brain, while panic rose in her throat.

“Dear, you must believe me when I tell you I did not plan for this to happen.” Lucy bit her lip and glanced to the side. “Not this soon, at any rate.”

Erienne braced a hand against her bedchamber wall, her knees gone weak and watery. When Lucy returned from her talk with her husband, she’d asked Anna to watch the children a bit longer and then motioned for Erienne to follow her out of the nursery.

They’d walked back down the corridor to Erienne’s bedchamber, and once they’d reached it, Lucy had opened the door and motioned her inside. Erienne thought the duchess’s behavior slightly odd, but it hadn’t been until Lucy turned to her with a worried look on her face that Erienne had become truly concerned. She’d seen many expressions on the duchess’s face since she’d met her, but worry was never one of them.

“What is it?” Erienne asked, her heart beating faster.

Lucy bit her lip and wrung her hands, two other things Erienne had never seen the duchess do.

“Derek just…” Lucy cleared her throat, “informed me of something important you should know.”

“Important? How?” But cold dread had already begun to creep along Erienne’s spine. Even before Lucy said the words, Erienne had guessed them.