The duke ushered him back through the front door and past a footman before turning into the library again. “In private, you may address me as Nicolas.”
“I couldn’t do that,” he whispered, still stunned.
“Marry Fanny, and I might even answer to Papa.” Jeremy was forced down into another chair and the duke sat beside him. “So, you will stay at Stapleton as my guest, yes? For as long as it takes for Fanny to come to her senses and admit she made a ghastly mistake. By all means, make her suffer a bit if it makes you happy. Money brings rewards all too easily for those in our circles.
“And remind me, I must take you out shooting and riding. Given the future I wish for you, it would be best to take the time now to judge if you are adept at either sport or decide if lessons will be needed. Fanny will need you by her side at a great many society gatherings in the coming years. House parties and the season. Not to mention family celebrations. I will also send my valet to you each morning. He worked as a tutor in Leeds before we met. He will be of great help in improving your literacy.”
Jeremy squinted at the duke. “He was a stray of yours, wasn’t he?”
Stapleton threw his arms wide. “Fanny had to acquire her bad habits from someone.”
Jeremy chewed his lip. “What if she isn’t pleased to see me?”
“Son, leave my daughter be at first. Make her wonder and miss what she had. I’ve had years more experience in getting Fanny to do things she doesn’t want to do than you.” The duke rubbed his hands together. “But this is not just about her. Have you ever held a pistol?”
Jeremy shook his head. The duke was an odd fellow. But what was the harm in staying a few days more if there was a promise of receiving instruction? It wasn’t as if Jeremy had anywhere pressing to be. If Fanny really didn’t believe they had any future together, the duke could still help him learn to read and write, and that could only be to his advantage. He wasn’t too proud to accept help. A tutor was an expense Jeremy would never be able to afford. And the other skills might come in handy one day, too.
Jeremy stood and strolled to a glass-faced cabinet that held a range of pistols and studied them. “I’ve never shot anything,” he admitted. “I’ve been shot at, though.”
The duke joined him and unlocked a cabinet to pass Jeremy a small pistol to look at. “We aim at the birds here, not at each other. Occasionally poachers. Tomorrow at dawn, we will see what sort of marksman you might become.”
“I’ll do my best.”
The duke grinned. “I expect nothing less of you.”
He glanced up at the duke. “I hope you don’t live to regret this.”
“My only regret would have been if Fanny had successfully driven you away.”
“She still could,” Jeremy warned. “I’m not exactly the man of her dreams, am I?”
The duke chuckled softly. “Son, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.”
Chapter 15
Fanny did not like babies. Or rather, she did, but they often made her feel inadequate. She sat in the morning room beside Jessica and Rebecca, who were gushing over the Hawthorne’s youngest babe who’d come to stay with the duchess as if the child was their own. It was an awkward place to be when she’d never be likely to have offspring herself.
“Were the Hawthorne women well when you last spoke to them?” Fanny asked, trying to draw her sister Jessica’s attention away from the gurgling child.
“Destroyed and trying not to show it,” Jessica murmured. “It is so hard to see their long faces and know there is nothing I can do to cheer them.”
“Give them time. You have done your best, I’m sure,” Fanny promised, declining to take the child from Rebecca when she tried to pass the wriggling infant to her.
Rebecca huffed and sat the babe back on her lap. “How can you not want to hold such a scrumptious morsel?”
“He is a babe, not food.” Fanny forced a smile. Rebecca had become decidedly keen on children. Not surprising since she was increasing herself now too. “Clarice would never forgive me if I dropped him.”
“You never dropped Jessica,” she noted.
Fanny cast a quick glance at her sister and smiled. “That anyone saw,” she teased.
Jessica gaped. “Did you?”
Fanny chuckled. “I was only pulling your leg, little one. It was Samuel who dropped you. Thankfully, you bounced very neatly on the mattress and came to no harm.”
“Pay her no mind. He never dropped you. None of us did anything of the sort.” Rebecca promised Jessica. “Father would have murdered us f
or being careless.”