The Wyndham Legacy (Legacy 1)
The Duchess said calmly, “Marcus is your cousin too. He is the earl of Chase. Your father and his father were brothers. You will give him your respect, Ursula, and you will look to him as the head of the Wyndham family, which he is.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“I suppose you can begin with that respect business now. It is Ursula, isn’t it?”
The Duchess didn’t move. Then, very slowly, she turned to see Marcus leaning at his ease against the oak tree. How long had he been standing there, listening and watching? She stared at him silently.
“Yes, my lord.”
“You may call me Marcus, since we’re cousins.”
“Yes, Marcus.”
“No fond hello for your husband?” He strode to her, stared down at her bent head a moment, then lifted her limp hand and kissed her fingers.
13
MARCUS FROWNED AT the sound of that damned valet of his humming. Then Spears broke into song, his deep rich baritone echoing in the huge bedchamber as he neatly folded Marcus’s socks.
“She’s more rude than the Regent,
She’s more boring than a stoat.
She’s as lewd as her brother,
She’s as crude as a goat.
“Ah, yes, crudeness, rudeness, and lewdness,
Three great qualities.
The Grand Duchess Catherine—
She royally claims all three.”
&nb
sp; He couldn’t help it, he smiled now. He’d heard how Czar Alexander had choked, spitting up his wine on his royal white gold-buttoned tunic when he chanced to hear some citizens beneath the bow street window of White’s, singing at the top of their lungs, the words stark and clear as they’d strolled up St. James Street. He’d roared with rage, claimed he would slay the bastards, but was restrained by the unflappable Henry, the majordomo of White’s for longer than Marcus could remember, and by the Duke of Wellington himself.
“Ah, my lord, you have seen the Duchess?”
“Yes, but just for a moment. She was in the garden with the bevy of young girls.”
“Is she well?”
“Why shouldn’t she be? Wait a minute, Spears, have you learned something I should know through that damned spy network of yours?”
“No, my lord, it is just that when I last saw her, she wasn’t happy. You hadn’t been even passingly civil to her.”
“She didn’t deserve civility, passing or otherwise. As for you, you traitorous sod, you should have been fired.”
“I appreciate your lordship’s restraint.” As he spoke, Spears gently laid six freshly ironed cravats flat in a drawer.
“Are you mocking me, Spears?”
Spears straightened. “I, my lord? Mock you? Certainly not, my lord. The very thought deeply offends.”
Marcus grunted, saying, “When I saw her, I didn’t at first gain her attention. You see, she was exhorting Ursula to give me full respect for I was the head of the Wyndham family.”