Page 52 of Stolen and Seduced By the Duke

"So I have been told."

She sighed and looked towards Hugh's crib. Her expression softened immediately. "I simply want to meet him properly while he is awake."

Pierce's amusement faded. That, at least, he understood. He had expected resistance, but not because she did not care about Hugh. If anything, Margaret seemed determined to do right by the boy, and that fact had begun to trouble him in ways he had not anticipated.

"You will," he said more quietly. "Tomorrow morning."

She looked back at him. "You promise?"

"I do."

Margaret nodded, though she still appeared dissatisfied. "Very well. But if Hugh throws his breakfast at me tomorrow, I shall consider it a sign that he agrees with me."

Pierce raised a brow. "Then I shall have to teach him better judgement."

Margaret smiled. "Good luck with that, Your Grace."

She turned to leave, and Pierce watched her go for longer than he intended.

His household had been orderly before Margaret arrived.

He was beginning to suspect that order was about to become considerably more difficult to maintain.

CHAPTER 13

Margaret had been in Ravenfield House for less than a day, and already she had discovered that the Duke of Ravenfield possessed an extraordinary talent for irritating her. It was not merely his insistence upon rules, schedules, servants, instructions; it was the manner in which he delivered each decree as though he were the king.

She ought to have been furious with him, and she was, mostly. Unfortunately, her memory had chosen that particular afternoon to remind her of the kiss they had shared, and every time she thought of his mouth against hers, her indignation became considerably more difficult to maintain.

She was still scolding herself for remembering it when a baby's cry echoed through the corridor. Margaret stopped outside the nursery and frowned. The sound came again, louder this time, and her heart softened despite herself. She opened the door and found the nanny pacing beside Hugh's cot, looking thoroughly exhausted as the little boy wailed in protest.

"You look as though you require rescuing more than he does," Margaret observed gently, closing the door behind her, and the nanny gave a weary little laugh as she admitted that Hugh had been restless all afternoon.

"Margaret crossed the room and held out her hands. "Why do you not take a proper rest? I shall stay with him for a little while," she said, and the nanny immediately looked uncertain.

"His Grace gave strict instructions that you were not to be alone with him," she replied carefully.

Margaret's brows rose. "His Grace gives strict instructions about breathing, I believe, but fortunately I have managed that without supervision thus far," she said dryly, earning another reluctant smile from the woman. "Go and have your tea. I shall call if I need you."

After a moment's hesitation, the nanny curtsied and left, and Margaret turned towards the child with a determination that felt suspiciously like rebellion.

Hugh stopped crying long enough to look at her. Margaret's heart gave a strange little twist when she saw his eyes, for one was green and the other blue, exactly like his father's. Yet there was none of Pierce's intimidating confidence in them; instead, Hugh looked frightened and uncertain, as though the world had already given him more reasons to distrust it than any child should possess.

"Oh, you poor little darling," Margaret whispered as she approached the cot, her voice softening. "You have your father's eyes, but I hope you have your own sweetness, because I cannot imagine managing two Pierces in one household."

Hugh made a small sound that was almost a whimper, and Margaret smiled as she lifted him carefully into her arms.

"There now, I have you," she murmured, settling him against her shoulder. "I am Margaret. Well, technically I am your new mother, but that sounds terribly forced, does it not?"

She carried him towards the tall nursery window, where warm afternoon sunlight streamed across the carpet, and began humming softly beneath her breath before turning the tune into a quiet song.

"There we are. Sunshine first, tears later. We shall establish that rule immediately, and unlike your father, I shall be flexible about the regulations."

Hugh's crying gradually diminished. Margaret looked down and smiled when he finally rested his cheek against her shoulder.

"That is better," she whispered, gently rocking him. "You see? We understand one another already. I shall teach you everything important, such as how to charm your father into giving you sweets and how to look innocent when you have committed a crime."

Hugh blinked at her solemnly, and Margaret laughed beneath her breath. "Precisely. You are an excellent listener."