To Marry a Marquess by Teresa McCarthy Read Free Book Online Page B

his wife died years ago. He has three sons. I met Anthony who's sixteen, and now away at school. I suspect the older two are just as handsome. Then there is the Dowager Duchess, the grandmother. Quite a nice lady, but you know, Victoria, I felt as though she could see straight through me, noting every one of my flaws, inside and out."
    Victoria blinked. Hopefully, her cousin was wrong.
    "But there is also the duke's granddaughter."
    "Granddaughter? Truly? How old is she?"
    "I will tell you how old, young lady." Phoebe stepped through the doors and took her seat at the head of the table. "The girl is four, and the child of the duke's eldest. The mother was killed in a tragic accident, leaving a grieving husband behind. Her carriage slipped off a cliff."
    The oxtail soup was served, and after a moment, Phoebe looked up. "They say he hardly smiles anymore."
    "Who?" Sarah asked. "The duke?"
    Phoebe shook her head. "No, his eldest son. Talk has it he resembles something of a pirate."
    Victoria choked, grabbing a glass of red wine to wash down her food. Pirate, indeed.
    She took another gulp of wine, recalling the only two pirates she had ever known, the mischievous one upstairs and the menacing one back at that inn.
    She flashed a tremulous grin in her aunt's direction. "A p-pirate? How utterly ridiculous." But as she spoke, she knew ridiculous was too tame a word. It was horrid.
    Phoebe frowned at Victoria's reaction. "I had no cause to upset you. How careless of me to mention the mother's accident."
    Victoria's parents had died in a carriage accident, but that had not been what upset her. She regained her composure and waved her hand in the air. "No. The soup. Went down the wrong way."
    Victoria caught Sarah's curious gaze. Her cousin would have to wait for answers because when the footman pulled the top off the platter of chicken, a green blob jumped into the air and struck the table with a thump. The footman leapt back in surprise and dumped the entire dish on top of Phoebe's head, tray and all.
    Phoebe shot straight out of her chair and screamed.
    The footman stammered an apology. "So very s-s-sorry, my lady. 'Tis only me working today, and well, I ain't been checking all the platters since ..."
    He wanted to say since the mischievous William returned home, Victoria thought with a smile, but the poor man's face turned three shades of red as he fought for a plausible explanation, helplessly dabbing at Phoebe's ruined gown.
    Victoria and Sarah sat covering their mouths with their hands, watching a huge frog hop down the lace tablecloth, teeter on the edge, then jump to the floor with a ferocious croak.
    Phoebe pushed the footman out of her way while she wiped a chicken leg off her gown. "WILLIAM!"
    A flash of white zoomed by the doors of the dining room.
    Victoria exchanged amused glances with Sarah. Phoebe pounded up the stairs, her voice echoing off the walls.
    "William! Do not think for one single minute that I did not see you down here, young man!"
     
    When Victoria slipped into bed that night, her mind whirled with thoughts of that pirate. He could not be the son of a duke. It was just not possible. She plumped her pillows into a soft mound, slamming her fists into the sides.
    She recalled the night she met Lord Nightham at the ball given by the dowager duchess. Could there have been a closer connection between Nightham and the duke? If so, then it seemed plausible that Nightham knew the duke's son—the pirate.
    Her stomach stirred with uneasiness as she pushed her feet further toward the foot of the bed. What if her pirate was indeed the duke's son?
    She flinched when something brushed across her feet. At the sound of a squeak, her eyes snapped open in horror. In the light of the moon, a white mouse scurried from beneath her covers, racing across the floor. She jumped from her bed and onto her vanity chair just as the hideous beast scampered back in her direction.
    "William!"
    Her door instantly swung open, and a small