Hunting the Hero (The Wild Randalls 4)

“His Grace should not care for that.”

Oliver grinned impishly. “The boy is four. It is beyond his understanding at present.”

“If he lives to reach his majority.”

Oliver stopped dead in the middle of the street. “Did Leopold not tell you? The boy thrives. There is no chance of peril, save for his own stupidity. I trust Leopold and the family at large can instill some sense into the boy as he ages.”

“If the duchess allows it.”

“My wife will not only allow it but encourage it.” Leopold squeezed her shoulders. “When you meet her you will see the truth and cease your mistrust.”

“You married the Duchess of Romsey? I’ll leave you to suffer the intrigues alone.” She scowled at him. “How could you stoop so low? Surely there’s someone nicer that caught your eye.”

“Mercy was not cast from the same mold as previous duchesses. She is very different.”

Rosemary folded her arms across her chest. She didn’t believe that for a second. “I’m sure you’ll be very happy together.”

Leopold raised a finger. “We will all be very happy together.”

Rosemary immediately understood his meaning and shook her head to end the discussion. “I will never go back.”

“Yes, you will. I am the head of the family and until you marry your place is with us.”

Rosemary pushed past him and started toward the inn. “My place is anywhere I choose. I’m of age and relish my independence.”

She smiled at Mrs. Lamb as she stepped through the inn’s front door. “Would you be willing to feed these gentlemen? They’ve traveled some distance and have a long journey ahead.”

Mrs. Lamb glanced past her and then nodded. When Rosemary turned, Grayling was poised at the door, an odd expression on his face. Tobias loitered in his shadow. She shook off the nagging sensation her brother wanted a private word and made sure her elder brothers were made comfortable.

She took a place at the head of the table. Grayling sat at the far end. Tobias did not join them at all. She looked for him, but her younger brother was nowhere to be found.

As soon as Mrs. Lamb departed, Leopold resumed the discussion. “I left our wives behind with assurances you would come home with us. Will you make me a liar?”

“Hardly my doing when I wasn’t consulted. I’ve no intention of setting one foot upon the estate.” She spread her hands wide. “I do wish everyone the best.”

“Rosemary,” Leopold groaned. “I’ve no wish to fight with you. Not today. Not when we’ve finally discovered you and where our parents rest. Tobias, especially, will want assurances. His memory of the abduction still haunts him, I think. Are you not the least curious about what happened to us all?”

“No.”

They couldn’t have had a harder life than she’d lived. They hadn’t had to sell their body to ease the ache of their empty belly. They couldn’t have wondered whether they would survive the night as she had more times than she could count. “I’m sure you’re all safe and well at Romsey.”

“They chained him,” Leopold growled in a low voice. “Beat his flesh until he was scarred. It’s a miracle he survived to come home to us.”

Rosemary stared at her brothers. “Surely you jest?”

“Take the trouble to ask him for proof yourself rather than turn tail and run. It is Tobias’s story to tell, not mine. I’ve seen the damage done with my own eyes. He can barely tolerate to sit inside a carriage, but as soon as he heard of your location, he forced himself to come and see for himself if you were the woman Grayling had employed.” Leopold’s mouth pursed in disapproval. “We’ve all suffered punishment of some sort at the duke’s command. You’ve become a hard, unfeeling woman, Rosemary Randall, if you think you’re the only one who’s suffered. Mama, God rest her soul, would be ashamed of you for not caring.”

“I’m sure she already is.” It was better that they couldn’t see what she’d become. Her parents had been keen to see her marry well. To be a lady at all times. Rosemary was not that. It pained her that her little brother had been injured. She glanced at Oliver discreetly. He seemed no different than before, but she had to wonder what punishment had been meted out to him and Leopold. Were they like her, scarred deeply beneath the surface and afraid to show how much?

Constantine stood. “Excuse me a moment.”

Rosemary watched him go with a heavy heart. He didn’t appear to be taking the news of her true identity very well.

When he was gone from sight, Leopold was quick to question her. “When did you meet him?”

If she told him the truth, would he leave her in peace and forget this nonsense about returning to Romsey? “He wasn’t the first.”

Her brother glanced down at the table. When his gaze lifted, his expression was bleak. “We’ll remain until you change your mind.”