Moonlight and the Duke (Cherish and the Duke #2)

Chapter Three

C onnor’s children cheered when they awoke the following morning to learn Eden was to stay over for the entire week. “Oh, Papa! How did you ever convince her?” Priscilla was a frothy bubble of cheer as she scampered onto his lap to give him a hug.

He ought to have corrected her behavior, for a proper young lady should be taking her seat at the breakfast table instead of leaping onto her father’s lap and kissing him all over his face.

But it was just the five of them for now, so what did it matter?

In truth, he liked that breakfast was always a bit chaotic, and adored the informality of having his children with him. Unfortunately, the upcoming week would turn his routine upside down. The children would have to take their breakfast in the upstairs classroom in order to keep them out of the way of London’s ton elite. He was not enamored of this change in routine, but neither could he have his little heathens disrupting everyone’s meals.

He wrapped his arms around his daughter and grinned over her head at Eden, who was smiling back at him as she sipped her tea. His mother had not come down yet, since Sir Nero’s lecture and the supper celebration afterward had gone well into the evening. For this reason, he and Eden were the only adults present at the breakfast table.

He rather liked looking over at Eden’s smiling countenance. Her hair looked amazing in the morning sunlight, a rich red that resembled dark silk as the sun’s rays struck it. She had on her spectacles, but there was no hiding the beauty of her hazel eyes that he swore had a sparkle to them.

Her gown was another of those unfashionable outfits designed for durability—and perhaps for camouflage when she was out in the wild, since it was a deep forest green that would blend perfectly with the surrounding shrubs and woodlands. Yesterday’s gown had been a drab shade of gray that blended with the nearby coastal cliffs.

Priscilla scooted off his lap and then ran over to Eden and clambered onto her lap. Eden accepted her as though it was the most natural thing to do.

Yes, this was what he liked so much about Eden. She had a natural kindness along with a strong dose of patience, no doubt developed over years of coping with her combative parents. He liked that Connor and Alex were also politer than they would have ordinarily been were she not here. Indeed, they quite surprised him by how considerate they were toward her.

It was odd to see his heathen sons behaving like gentlemen around her.

“Eden, would you care for a scone?” Alex asked, rising to fetch one for himself from one of the silver salvers on the sideboard.

“I would love one. Thank you, Alex.”

“My pleasure,” he said, placing the scone on her plate.

Connor stifled a grin. Who was this stranger? Had he accidentally walked into the wrong house?

His eldest was also attentive to Eden. “What should we pack for our morning hike, Eden? I can help Priscilla and Alex gather their supplies. Priscilla, if your pouch is too heavy, I’ll carry it for you.”

“That is very considerate of you,” Eden replied. “I have kept the list of supplies to a minimum. But we must pack some of these delicious scones along with lemonade to drink. We won’t venture too far today because your father must return in time to greet his guests. So, a short morning hike, then a picnic on the beach. Maybe we’ll remain on the beach and collect seashells if the weather is not too stifling. There ought to be a cooling breeze off the water.”

“Can I take off my shoes and dip my feet in the water?” Priscilla asked.

Eden nodded. “Oh, yes. It is a requirement. One must dig one’s toes in the warm sand and then dip them in the cool water. But you must remember always to wear your sunhat in order to protect your skin.”

Priscilla pouted. “I don’t like hats.”

“You don’t? But you look so pretty in them.” Eden pretended to study Priscilla’s features. “I have the perfect hat for you. It is identical to mine. We shall look like twins. I hope you don’t mind, or else we—”

“I don’t mind.” Priscilla’s eyes lit up and she cast Eden the biggest smile Connor had ever seen on his little girl. Now content, she took her own seat and finished her breakfast.

Connor was not sure what had just happened. All this fuss over a hat? And now his daughter was thrilled she was going to look like a miniature version of Eden? All she would lack were the spectacles.

Well, he wasn’t going to question it. His children were happy.

They all ran upstairs to prepare for their hike, and met downstairs fifteen minutes later. Eden and the children were equipped with their small pouches containing pencils, pads, and binoculars, while he carried a larger pouch filled with food that Mrs. Ward, his longtime cook, had stuffed to the brim.

Well, his boys were at that growing stage and ate like rabid wolves. Within the hour, there would be nothing left in the sack but crumbs.

The sun shone on their faces as they stepped outdoors to begin their hike. Connor allowed Eden to take the lead, since she was the nature expert. Besides, his children were never going to listen to him. Why should they? He was merely their father and a powerful duke, while Eden was fun and filled them with excitement as they set out on their adventure.

He quietly studied his children, his heart filling with pleasure as he saw they were smiling from ear to ear.

And behaving! If Eden said to turn right, they turned right. If Eden said to stop, they stopped. If Eden put a finger to her mouth and whispered for them to be quiet while they studied a family of geese, they immediately quieted.

“Watch where you step,” he reminded his children, because geese were notorious for leaving trails of droppings wherever they waddled.

“Hush, Papa!” they all urgently whispered.

“Eden told us to be quiet,” Alex admonished him.

“Oh, they’ve flown away,” Connor’s namesake grumbled, frowning at him. “See what you’ve done?”

Priscilla, whose big eyes looked enormous under her hat, also berated him. “Papa, did you not hear Eden tell us to be quiet?”

Eden could not suppress her chuckle. “Do not be so hard on your father. He is new to these adventures. We’ll encounter these geese again now that they have settled here for the summer. As your papa said, they leave their droppings everywhere. We’ll have only to follow their trail to find them again. I am fairly certain we will come upon them here every morning.”

“Unless Papa chases them away again,” Priscilla muttered.

“Blessed saints,” Connor said with a laughing groan, and held out his arms in surrender. “My apologies to all. What next, Eden?” In truth, it was refreshing to feel like the goat when everyone else who ever came around him acted as though he were a sun god.

“We’ll head over to Finch’s Meadow,” Eden said. “The morning mist should have lifted by now, and the deer ought to be feeding. We might even spot rabbits or a fox on the open ground.”

One would think they were about to discover dragons, faeries, and sea monsters. Connor looked on in amazement, for his children were enraptured.

Fragile streaks of mist lingered amid a copse of trees they had to walk through on their way to the meadow. Connor took Priscilla’s hand as those wispy tendrils floated around them, and he was concerned his little sweetheart would be scared. It did not help that his boys were making ghostly sounds and telling poor Priscilla that trolls were going to jump out of the trees and eat her.

“No one is going to eat you,” Connor assured his daughter, at the same time frowning at his boys. “I’ll chase them all away.”

“Thank you, Papa,” Priscilla said, burrowing closer to him.

Eden smiled at him to acknowledge his protective gesture, and then paused a moment to point out several nests hidden amid the tree branches. “Does anyone know which birds built these?”

Connor remained silent as his children gleefully tossed out guesses.

“Dove!” Priscilla called out.

“Good guess. You are very close,” Eden said.

“Cirl bunting!” Alex cried.

Eden shook her head. “Those are only common in South Devon.”

“Ouzel!” said the younger Connor.

Eden shook her head again. “Close, but those birds will more likely be found in Dartmoor.”

“Wren!” Priscilla tried again.

Connor listened as his children continued spouting names of birds, including several he had never heard of before. What amazed him was their knowing as much as they did. Had Eden been teaching them? It certainly hadn’t been any of their wretched governesses.

Pied wagtail. Curlew. Snipe. Merlin. Bullfinch.

“Robin!” Alex finally blurted after several failed guesses.

Eden clapped her hands. “That is correct! Excellent, Alex.” She then briefly commented on the pale blue eggs lying broken on the ground. “The wind might have blown them out of the robin’s nest, or a goshawk might have swooped down and taken a few. Nature is beautiful, but it can also be vicious. That is why we must always be careful and use common sense wherever we are.”

As they passed onto the roadway, Eden pointed to a riot of flowers growing amid crevices in the stone fences along the way. They stopped to observe the bumblebees and butterflies that came to rest upon those flowers. “There is an organization to nature,” Eden said, pointing to the bees and butterflies. “Every time they alight on a flower, the pollen sticks to their feet and wings. This is how flower seedlings are spread. Same for trees. Take the mighty oak, for example. A squirrel might carry off its seeds—the acorns we often find on the ground—and bury them elsewhere.”

“The bees are drinking from the flowers,” Priscilla remarked.

Eden nodded. “They sip nectar from the flowers. The nectar sustains them, and they turn that nourishment into honey when they return to their hive.”

“There’s the beehive,” Priscilla pointed out.

Connor’s boys immediately picked up stones and were about to hurl them at the beehive dangling from one of the tall oak trees in Finch’s Meadow when Connor growled a warning. “Alex! Connor! What in blazes do you think you are doing?”

Eden calmly took the stones out of their hands. “The hive is their home and their source of life. How would you feel if someone destroyed your home and chased you down to hurt you?”

“I would feel sad,” Priscilla said, taking hold of Connor’s hand once again. “It would be terrible, wouldn’t it, Papa? We shouldn’t hurt the baby bees.”

“Yes, love. I think this is what Eden is trying to teach us, that all living things have a place in nature. We are all much alike. A papa deer will look after his children just as I always look after you.”

“But he is with them all the time,” Alex remarked, “and you are not.”

That wounded Connor. “I try to be, Alex. But the Lynton holdings are vast, and I need to travel oftentimes to make certain all is running smoothly. Also, I have parliamentary duties that I cannot shirk. I know we live far from London. But as you get older, I will be able to take you with me and show you the sights.”

“Why not now, Papa?” Priscilla asked, her voice sweet and plaintive.

He knelt to her level. “Because you are still too young to attend the balls, soirees, and other entertainments offered.”

“Eden didn’t like them,” his eldest remarked when Priscilla began to pout. “So I don’t think we are missing out on much, Priscilla.”

“Why didn’t you like London?” Alex asked her.

She shook her head. “It is a lovely city, and there is plenty to see and do there. But it was the endless round of parties and being put on display that I did not like very much.”

“Like the house party we are about to have?” Priscilla stared up at her.

Eden nodded. “A house party can be just as cutthroat as any London ball. I am not very good at dancing. And I am not a good flirt. Most young ladies and bachelors are there because they want to find someone to marry, so everyone is always putting on a show.”

“Like a peacock showing his tail feathers to attract a female?” young Connor asked.

Eden nodded again. “Yes, exactly that.”

“Don’t you want to marry?” Priscilla asked.

The questions seemed to be getting quite personal, but Eden did not appear to mind that Connor’s children were interrogating her. She took their questions quite seriously and pursed her lips as she gave each one thought before responding. “Back then, I did not want to find a husband for myself.”

“What about now?” Alex asked.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. It feels like a great effort to find the right gentleman now. I am very independent and have grown used to having things the way I like them. The man would have to be someone very special for me not to mind all I would have to sacrifice when entering into our marriage. I would only ever marry for love. He would have to love me, too.”

“My papa could love you. And we would love you, too,” Priscilla said earnestly.

Eden hugged her. “As I love you. I have always said I have the best neighbors. But I think your father’s choice is his own to make. I’m sure that if he chooses to take a wife, she will be someone quite special whom you are all going to adore.”

Priscilla appeared determined to pursue her questions, but a stag chose just that moment to leap into the meadow and distracted her. Then several does came to forage among the underbrush, and the conversation was forgotten as the children turned their attention to the family of deer.

Eden took out her notebook and pencil in order to sketch the stag. The children all had their binoculars out and were scouting the meadow scrub and brambles for all the animals they could find. Connor helped them by taking on the role of note keeper, making a list of all the hares, deer, foxes, chipmunks, and birds they spotted.

His heart melted over their innocent excitement. He loved being a part of this moment.

Eden glanced over and smiled at him.

This was all because of her.

He smiled back, wishing there was some way to properly thank her for bringing this about. She had done it effortlessly. And wisely, too. How did she know his children would enjoy this adventure so much? Perhaps she was taking them on all the things she wished she had done as a child with her father.

Gad, what rotten parents she had.

He returned his attention to his children once the deer ran back into the copse to find shade as the sun climbed in the sky. The meadow was in full sun now, for the last of the mist had burned off even from the little stream that ran through it.

“All right, time to head to the beach,” Eden announced.

Everyone packed up their binoculars and other supplies and started off toward the beach. This time, Priscilla held on to Eden’s hand as they marched at the head of their family queue.

Connor watched them as he took up a position at the rear of their line, smiling as a gust of wind caught Eden and Priscilla’s identical straw hats. They each stuck a hand to their head to keep the floppy hats from flying off, even though the hats had ribbon ties on them to keep them secure. But the combination of flimsy ribbons and broad brims were no match for the force of that gust.

Eden immediately helped to right Priscilla’s hat, and then fixed her own. The two held hands again as they proceeded on their way.

When had Mary ever done this with Priscilla? He could not recall a single time his wife had ever gone exploring with their children. His mother, even in her vaunted position as dowager duchess, might have done it were she a little younger. But she saved most of her running around for shopping excursions along Lynton’s high street.

When the beach came into view, he and his boys ran ahead. The day had grown hot and they needed to cool off. Of course, they could not shed all their clothes, so they merely dumped their pouches, took off their hats, boots, and jackets, and then raced into the water, diving in wearing their shirts and trousers.

His housekeeper, Mrs. Dayton, was going to box his ears. But surely she could get salt water out of their clothes with a thorough washing. Of course, he would have to sneak back into the house through the servants’ entrance, for his mother would also box his ears if he showed up sopping wet to greet their guests. But there was still time before the first of them arrived, wasn’t there?

He glanced over to the shore and saw Eden and Priscilla gather their discarded garments and place them in an orderly pile near the shaded beach stairs. Eden then helped Priscilla off with her half boots and afterward took off her own. They did not jump in, but frolicked at the edge of the water, raising their skirts as the waves broke at their feet.

Some waves came in stronger than others.

Connor tried not to gape as Eden raised her skirt to her thighs when a particularly strong swell surprised her and Priscilla. They shrieked with glee and darted back onto the sand, but not before he had caught a glimpse of Eden’s legs.

Was that his heart exploding in his chest?

He had seen feminine legs before. But Eden’s were surprisingly fine.

“Papa, look out!” his boys cried as a wave crashed atop him and carried him back to shore. The waves were not all that strong, but he had been too busy ogling Eden to pay attention, and it had knocked him over.

Eden and Priscilla hurried to his side as he washed up like a piece of driftwood upon the sand. “Are you all right?” Eden asked, kneeling beside him.

He sat up, laughing and sputtering as he brushed his hair off his face and raked it back with his fingers. His shirt was now pasted to his chest, but there was nothing to be done about that. Nor could he take it off without shocking Eden. That they were even at the beach together would be considered scandalous by London ton rules. Fortunately, the rules were not nearly so strict out here. “Yes, fine. The wave caught me while I wasn’t looking.”

“Papa, you have to pay attention or you might have drowned,” Priscilla admonished him.

He tried not to laugh as the little sprite wagged her finger at him. “No, love. I’m too big and strong to drown. But let this be a lesson to you and your brothers,” he said as the boys scampered out of the water to join them. “The forces of nature are powerful, especially water. Always be cautious, and never go swimming immediately after a storm, even if the sun is shining and the water appears calm. There will often be dangerous currents that can pull you under. Not even I am strong enough to swim out of those.”

“You went down like a skittle,” Alex remarked, mimicking the motion of a ball rolling toward a pin and knocking it into oblivion. “Pow! It crushed you.”

“Thank you for that observation,” Connor said dryly.

Now thoroughly drenched and having taken sea water up his nostrils, he decided it was time for all of them to move into the shade of the beach stairs. So they did. The children looked on while he set out the tablecloth and then peered into the pouch that Eden had opened. “Fruit, cheese, bread, and scones,” he called out as he rustled through the contents. “Priscilla and Eden, you choose first.”

Quite predictably, his boys then pounced on the remainder, grabbing food by the fistfuls and devouring it like the ravenous little beasts they were. “Gad, were you never taught manners?” Connor laughingly remarked, knowing it had been his duty to raise his boys properly.

They ate like savages, but all in all, he liked the way they were turning out. Should boys not be allowed out in the wild on occasion? That they had behaved like gentlemen around Eden for most of the morning proved they were coming along just fine as young men.

Eden handed one of her scones to him because his boys had not considered that he might want something to eat. They probably assumed he, as lead wolf of their pack, would fall upon the food just as they had done, and grab whatever he wanted for himself.

Eden had tucked her spectacles in her pocket, no doubt taking them off so they would not get damaged by the sun, water, and wayward elbows because they were all seated so closely together.

He tried not to get caught staring, but he had a hard time taking his gaze off her.

Eden was beautiful.

Why did she always hide behind those owlish spectacles? No wonder young men had lined up outside her townhouse during her debut London Season. Her mother probably hid those spectacles from her so she could not wear them while in company.

Without them, Eden could not hide the beauty of her face.

“Here, Papa. You can have my cheese,” Priscilla said, sticking some revolting clumps of something soft in his hand.

“Thank you.” She had given the cheese to him upon deciding she did not like it. But who was he to complain about his little sweetheart? Those clumps did not look appetizing at all. He would probably end up with a dose of food poisoning if he ate it.

He let the clumps fall in the sand as soon as Priscilla turned her head away, and quietly buried them deep, where they might be lost for all time or washed away in a winter storm.

Eden cast him a conspiratorial grin when she realized what he had done. He winked at her and grinned back. The children now moved on to build a sandcastle.

When had he spent a gentler, more enjoyable day?

But it quickly came to an end as Brewster called down to him from the top of the beach steps. “Your Grace, I have been sent to fetch you. The first guests have arrived.”

Connor felt a bitter disappointment. He sighed as he rose to gather his boots and garments. “Eden, thank you for a lovely outing. I cannot recall ever having a more pleasant morning. Alas, duty now calls.”

She nodded. “I know. We enjoyed having you with us. I’m sure Duchess Evelyn is eager to have you join her in greeting your guests.”

“Too eager,” he grumbled. “Bordering on the obsessive.”

“Poor you,” she teased.

“Make sure you join us for tea this afternoon. In fact, come back with me now, if you like. The children had a perfect adventure and should be fairly restrained if we all walk back together now.”

“No, they are having too much fun to be pulled away. They still have a sandcastle to build and seashells to collect. We’ll return in an hour or two. I’ll be there for teatime.”

“All right, if you say so.” He glanced down at himself, soaked to the skin and probably looking quite a disheveled fright after being shoved down by that wave. “What do you think, Eden?” he asked, holding out his arms. “Will those peahens flutter around me?”

She rolled her eyes and tossed a seashell at him. “Go! And stop bragging about your prowess.”

He reached over and tweaked her nose. “It is all a complete waste of time. I am not going to marry again.”

But as he spoke the words, an odd feeling came over him.

He could not credit it and refused to credit it because… No, it was too far-fetched.

Eden?