Page 84 of Stolen and Seduced By the Duke

No one was going to insult her family while she sat quietly and listened.

Apparently, being a duchess came with responsibilities Margaret had never anticipated.

Defending the people she cared for was becoming one of them.

But was there any truth in the gossip? Was Hugh’s mother some other woman and not Augusta?

* * *

Over the following week, Ravenfield House acquired a rhythm Pierce had never expected to hear within its walls. Hugh's cries no longer seemed to echo through every corridor, and the nursery had become less a place of distress and more a place of warmth, sunlight, and Margaret's soft voice.

One morning, Pierce entered the nursery to find Margaret sitting beside Hugh on the carpet while the child attempted to place a wooden horse into a small wooden cart. Hugh succeeded only in knocking the horse over and immediately looked towards Margaret as though expecting some terrible consequence.

Margaret smiled and picked it up. "There we are, darling. Nothing dreadful has happened. Your horse has merely decided he prefers walking."

Hugh reached for it again, and Margaret glanced at Pierce as he approached. "Come and sit with us."

Pierce looked at the carpet as though she had invited him into a battlefield. "On the floor?"

"You survived marriage to me," Margaret replied, raising one eyebrow. "I am certain you can survive a carpet."

He lowered himself beside them with as much dignity as a duke could manage while sitting cross-legged beside a one-year-old.

Hugh stared at him suspiciously, then looked towards Margaret.

"He still thinks I am frightening," Pierce murmured.

"He thinks you are unfamiliar," Margaret corrected, gently guiding Hugh's hand towards the wooden horse. "There is a difference."

Pierce watched his son. "What should I do?"

"Talk to him," she said.

“I do talk to him.”

“You interrogate him and panic when he cries."

Pierce frowned. "There is a distinction?"

"A considerable one." Margaret smiled as Hugh pushed the horse into Pierce's boot. "Try telling him something that does not require an answer."

Pierce looked down at his son and cleared his throat. "The Duchess would say I am hopeless at this."

Margaret's expression softened. "I would never say that."

"You have said worse."

"Only because you deserve it."

Hugh giggled, and Pierce stared at him. The sound struck him with such force that he nearly forgot Margaret was there.

"Did you hear that?" he asked quietly.

Margaret smiled. "He likes us talking to each other."

Pierce swallowed and reached out, allowing Hugh to grasp his finger. "Maybe," he murmured, "he is simply beginning to understand that I am not entirely useless."

"You are making progress," Margaret assured him.