The Duke and I (Saints and Sinners 1)

That brought a smile to Jessica’s lips. “It was Giddy’s idea to bore them to death,” she confessed.

“Good old Whitfield,” he murmured, and then smiled as his staff poured out the front doors to welcome them home.

“Welcome home, Lord Stapleton, Lady Stapleton, Lady Jessica,” their butler exclaimed as he hurried down the front steps, his coat tails flapping in his haste to greet them.

“Hello, Brown.” It was clear his staff were eager to greet the new Duchess of Stapleton because all eyes were on her now. When Gillian had left the estate, she’d still been a companion, with only four souls aware of Nicolas’ intentions to marry her. They had wed in London, two weeks after their arrival in the capital—a small gathering where Nicolas had barely acknowledged anyone. None of his children, beside Jessica, had been informed or invited. He hadn’t wanted to overwhelm Gillian since she had no family to invite then and his own children might have raised a fuss over him marrying a woman recently employed in his household.

He was so in love with Gillian and the possibilities of their life together, he had hardly paid attention to his second wedding service.

He was told he’d become quite rude, too.

Because of his distraction, Gillian had had to win over his closest friends in London on her own merit. She was warm to them, even laughed at their ribbing of him being leg shackled again. They’d hosted two intimate dinners for friends in London before their return. But he could tell Gillian was a little lonely for her own friends, her lost family too, which was why he’d brought them back home under the pretense of dealing with an emergency on the estate.

Nicolas beamed as Gillian exchanged a kind word with the butler and housekeeper, moving smoothly into her new role of duchess with aplomb. She had been popular with everyone at Stapleton, and it appeared nothing had changed with her elevation. He was so proud of her he could burst.

“Should you like to look over the day’s menus soon, your grace?” the housekeeper asked Gillian.

“In perhaps an hour, in the morning room.” She touched her head with a small laugh. “I’m afraid I’m still rocking from the carriage just a bit too much to concentrate.”

“Me too,” Jessica quipped, before she kissed Gillian’s and Nicolas’ cheeks. “I want the peace of my room for the afternoon and the new book on propagation that Giddy sent me.”

“Very good.” The housekeeper stepped back with a smile

while Gillian spoke to the remaining staff. They all seemed happy to see Gillian, happy about their marriage, and he was well pleased with her reception.

“Make it two hours, Mrs. Brown,” he suggested with a grin, placing his hand on the small of Gillian’s back and steering her indoors. Nicolas considered them newlyweds still, and he desperately wanted to be alone with his wife in the place they’d fallen in love.

He put his arm around her shoulders as they ascended to the first floor, and then he hugged her to his side tightly. “We’ll be here only a few days, my love.”

She glanced his way. “Will you tell me now what the emergency is?”

“We have visitors expected tomorrow,” he told her.

“Visitors?” Her brow rose. “Why be so secretive about that?”

“Well, I wasn’t sure they could come until a few days ago, and I didn’t want to disappoint you if they refused to come when I wanted them to.”

“Who are they?”

Nicolas took her hands in his. “Your younger brother and his wife are coming to visit you.”

Her breath caught and her eyes widened. “I never told you I had a brother.”

“But you told Jessica, and she mentioned to me that you hadn’t seen your brother since your first marriage began. Mr. and Mrs. Lincoln Garland live not far from here, actually. I had my man track them down and sent a carriage to collect them. I thought they could stay with us for a little while before we go back to London and Mr. Garland to his work.”

Gillian threw herself into his arms and hugged him tightly. “Thank you. I always wondered what had happened to Lincoln.”

Nicolas drew back and grinned. “Mr. Garland is a solicitor. Quite important, I understand. He married a woman from a prominent legal family and has two small boys now.”

“I have nephews?”

“We have nephews,” he corrected her. If she had to cope with his unruly adult children and grandchildren, then it was only fair that he should accept responsibility for hers too. There was much he could do for his wife’s brother, not that she would ever ask him for anything to help them. “I’m looking forward to meeting them. I’m keen to hear what Garland has to say about your childhood. I can’t believe you were always as perfect as you are now.”

“Oh, no. He’s going to spoil the illusion I’ve so deviously woven,” Gillian bemoaned, but laughed heartily. “You are the most wonderful husband, Nicolas.”

The most wonderful thing about his marriage to Gillian was that being serious had become entirely optional. Now there was no reason to behave, they teased each other a lot.

“I know,” Nicolas whispered before giving her a lingering kiss, a prelude to how they might spend the next few uninterrupted hours.