The Duke's Dilemma by Fenella J Miller Read Free Book Online

it.
    When his lawyers eventually tacked him down to
inform him he was in direct line to inherit a dukedom and three estates he had
been dumbfounded. What did he need with all that responsibility?
    Since his return from France with the Duke of
Wellington he had bought himself a smart house in Brook Street and was quite
content to spend his days drinking and gambling with his friends, or staying at
house parties all over the country. He was invited because he was a hero of
Waterloo; Major Sinclair had been mentioned in dispatches and had a string of
impressive medals to pin to his regimentals to prove it.
    His lawyer was following the trail of another
distant branch of the family, cousins of Aunt Agatha’s. He hadn’t given up hope
someone else might yet be found and he would be able to relinquish this
unwanted grandeur and all the bother that went with it. His despondent thoughts
were interrupted by a shout from Tom.
    ‘Over here, your grace, we’ve found something.’

 

 
 
 
 
    Chapter Five

 
    Your grace, look at this.’
    He looked and his eyes narrowed. The path at this
point was overgrown with hawthorn bushes and hanging from a patch of vicious
thorns was a strip of red material. Ralph realized it was from the jacket of a
soldier. This was something tangible, not like the campsite; for a while he’d
been unnerved and beginning to suspect he was dealing with the supernatural.
    ‘God’s teeth! A group of ex-soldiers
masquerading as serving members? This band of renegades must have convinced my
aunt to accompany them.’ Whoever was behind this had money and brains – this
was not the work of an amateur.
    ‘Shall I follow the trail, your grace? I’m not
sure where it goes; I’ve visited here several times but I’ve never been to this
part before’
    ‘Do that. I’m convinced they can’t have taken
them far; it would be nigh on impossible to keep their passage secret. Travel
carefully, keep your heads down and if you see anything suspicious observe but
don’t get embroiled in something you can’t handle on your own.’
    The men returned with him to retrieve their
horses and he watched them mount and head off in single file through the gap.
The coast lay in that direction and with luck they would be back in an hour or
so. Robin joined him by the empty fire-pit and Ralph sensed his disquiet;
perhaps it would be wise to leave before his man noticed the lack of human
footprints.
    ‘I’ve seen enough here, it’s time I returned. I
still have to make my peace with my cousin.’
    *
    Hester, feeling considerably better, was able
to eat a slice of dry toast and drink a dish of weak tea without any unpleasant
after-effects. Birdie had gone downstairs to see if she could find writing
materials in the study. If they were to be staying here for more than a night
or two they both needed to replenish their wardrobes.
    Although she had several changes of clothes in
the closet for some reason she no longer wished to appear in dowdy gowns when
she had a wardrobe full of outfits at Draycot Manor
that showed her at her best. She glanced down smiling ruefully at the generous
bosom the good Lord had seen fit to bestow on her. If only the rest of her
frame matched this excess of femininity. Unfortunately apart from her breasts
she was slender almost to the point of thinness. Her waist was tiny and so were
her hips and she had no roundness at the rear at all.
    She grinned, thanking God at least from the
front no one could mistake for a boy. She leant across to pick up the glass of
boiled water from the side-table by her bed wincing as her hair, trapped behind
her shoulders, tugged her scalp. The sudden pain made her angry again. She hated
being an invalid and lolling around in bed was not something she enjoyed. She
wanted to be up about and solving the mystery of Aunt Agatha’s disappearance.
    She heard the door opening in the sitting room
adjacent to her bedchamber and assuming it was Birdie called out