Dukes By the Dozen полностью

Again, Helena’s words came to him. You adore your children and take every sort of care for them.

She’d told him her husband had only known his father from afar. Ash’s father had been a bit less stand-offish, but when Ash had been young, the custom had been to keep the children quiet and out of the way as much as possible. Ash’s father had been plenty busy running the estate and sitting in the House of Lords—as Ash was now—but Ash had vowed that when he had children, he’d not be a stranger to them.

Ash had ordered a few cricket bats and balls to be left on the green, and now he slid off his frock coat and spent a pleasant time showing his daughters how to bat the easy balls Guy tossed them, and teaching Lewis how to refine his pitch.

Lily enjoyed the game, though Evie was more content watching the others. Evie read much, and as her sister and brother ran about, she whisked a book from her pocket and buried herself in its pages. Ash did not admonish her—he for one, thought women should be well-read and learned. The gentlemen Helena described who were put off by it were idiots.

As they rested on the grass, Lewis had to pull out the be-damned letter describing Ash’s perfect match. Ash had sworn the letter had been thrown away or burned—Edwards had taken it at his request—but here it was in Lewis’s pocket.

“We have been thinking, Papa,” Lewis said in his serious Marquess of Wilsdon manner. “About whom you should marry.”

Ash sat up abruptly but tamped down his impatience, not wanting to snap at his son. “I believe I have said we should forget all about the matter.”

Lewis nodded. “I was in error when I proposed that Mrs. Courtland should help find a wife for you. Evie, Lily, and I have discussed it, and we have concluded that your perfect match is Mrs. Courtland herself.”

Ash went still. All three children watched him anxiously, Evie with a worried expression, Lily in hope, Lewis remaining solemn. Ash expected to hear Guy laugh, but his friend was strangely silent.

“Lewis,” Ash said warningly. “No.”

Lewis took on the stubborn look Ash often saw in his own reflection. “You told me that when I faced down opposition in the House of Lords, I should be ‘clear, concise, and unafraid’. And so I put it to you.” He lifted the paper, his fingers shaking a bit. “She must be tall—Mrs. Courtland is only a few inches shorter than you. I saw you kiss her in the garden, and she did not have to stand on her tiptoes at all. She must not be too thin or too wide. Mrs. Courtland is right in between, as you would have discovered when you put your arms around her. She must like children—she does like us, even when we are unruly and late for supper. She does know how to sew—when you were sick, she sat with Aunt Florence and mended your shirt.”

Ash could not stop himself touching the sleeve of his shirt—he’d torn it while helping fix the thatch. He imagined Helena’s eyes on her competent stiches as she and Aunt Florence gossiped and sewed.

“She must not adhere to timetables, and must teach you to leave off them,” Lewis continued relentlessly. “I have heard Mrs. Courtland argue with you about your timetables, and I believe she will persuade you to leave off them. You ought to propose to her very soon, perhaps marry her by Christmas. That way, you can start the Season with a wife.”

Lewis folded the paper, his face holding dogged resolution. Evie peered at Ash more fearfully, Lily lifting her chin. Guy, lounging on his side, said nothing at all, tactful for once.

Ash’s jaw was so stiff he could barely move it to reply. “I believe I told you to leave it alone, Lewis. Now give me that letter and go to the nursery. Take your sisters with you. Return to your studies, and we will speak no more of this.”

On the rare times Lewis angered his father, he’d duck his head and say a quick, “Sorry, sir,” and all was forgiven.

This time, he kept his gaze on Ash, with a strength Ash had seen budding in him for some time. “When you were ill, sir, you stayed far from us for our own good,” Lewis said. “I am insisting on this for the same reason.”

Ash shook his head before Lewis finished. “Not the same thing at all. You do not interfere with another man’s personal business, or his life, or choose his path to happiness, no matter how well-meaning you might be.”

Lewis pushed out his lips, rendering him a sullen little boy instead of the well-reasoned man he strove to be. “You interfere with our lives all the time. We want a mum and someone to look after you. Why must you be so unyielding?”

“Unyielding,” Lily echoed in a whisper.

Ash climbed to his feet. “That is enough. Go.” He pointed to the house