All Chapters of The Duke And His Four Wards : Chapter 71 - Chapter 80

   Henry scanned the room again, searching through the sea of people for Maribella. But the pink domino was nowhere in sight. He was as thoroughly disgruntled as only someone of a generally placid nature could become. Maribella had flirted outrageously with an unknown man. Admittedly him, but she had not known that. Here he had been worrying himself into a state over her getting herself stuck in a loveless marriage for no reason and underneath she was just a heartless flirt. A jade. Where the hell was she?    A small hand in his arm made him jump. But, contrary to the conviction of his senses, it was not Maribella but a lady in a brown domino with a brown mask fixed firmly in place. “Ello, kind sir. You seem strangely lonely.”    Henry blinked. The lady’s accent was h

   Francis Cambridge paused, his hand on the handle of his bedroom door. It was past seven in the morning. He had sat up all night since returning from the ball, with his brother's brandy decanter to keep him company, going over his relationship with Emma Fleming. And still he could find only one solution. He shook his head and opened the door. The sounds of a commotion in the hall drifted up the stairwell. He heard his brother's voice, uplifted in a series of orders to Rickshaw, and then to Gibson. The tone of his voice was one he had rarely heard from Felix. It brought him instantly alert. Sleep forgotten, he strode back to the stairs.    In the library, Felix was pacing back and forth before the hearth, a savage look on his face. Daniel Hammington stood silently by the window, his face showing the effects of the past weeks, overlaid by the stress of the moment. Felix paused to glance at the clock on the mantelshelf. "Seven-thirty," he mutt

   From the library door, Felix strolled forward to take the had. Margaret held out to him. Her eyes widened as she took in the pistols he still held in his other hand. “Thank God I’m in time!” she said, in such heartfelt accents that Felix frowned.    “It’s all right. We’ve found out which road they took. Byron and I were about to set out after them. Don’t worry, we’ll bring her back.”    Far from reassuring her as he had intended, his matter-of-fact tone seemed to set her more on edge. Margaret clasped both her small hands on his arm. “No! You don’t understand.”    Felix’s frown deepened. He decided she was right. He could not fathom

   Felix crossed to where she sat and drew her to her feet and into his arms. His lips found hers in a reassuring kiss. Then, he held her, her head on his shoulder, and laughed wearily. “Sweetheart, if I thought your sisters would be in my hands for much longer, I’d have Bailey around here this morning to instruct him to break that guardianship clause.”    “I’m sorry,” mumbled Margaret, her hands engrossed in smoothing the folds of his cravat. “I did come as soon as I found out.”    “I know you did,” acknowledged Felix. “And I’m very thankful you did, what’s more! Can you imagine how Henry and I would looked if we had succeeded in overtaking Finley’s carriage and demanded he return the lady to us? God!&

   Their relief had been quite real. Despite his reputation, their acquaintance with the Duke of Twyford had left his younger wards with the definite impression that he would not condone any breach of conduct and was perfectly capable of implementing sufficiently draconian measures in response to any transgression. In years past, they would have ignored the potential threat and relied on Margaret to make all right in the event of any trouble. But, given that the man in question was Felix Cambridge, June was sure how successful Margaret would be in turning him up sweet. Reassured that their guardian was not intending to descend, in ire, upon them, Emma and Maribella after hugging Margaret and avowing their deepest thanks for her endeavours on their behalf, had left the room. Sophia suspected they would both be found in some particular nook, puzzling out the uncomfortable feeling in their hearts.