All I Want for Christmas Is a Duke Read Online Free PDF

take a cane to his back. She had stepped before the old duke many times in Martin’s defense, not being able to understand why Martin only ever swallowed it. As if he deserved it. Trying to change the subject, she offered, “Your aunt speaks very highly of you.”
    “Hopefully not too highly, or I am set to disappoint.” He continued to hold her gaze.
    This was clearly no longer an adorable boy but a breathtaking man. She tried to keep her features deceptively composed, even though those smoky eyes made her want to melt like ice on hot coal. “Might I inquire as to why you are calling on me here on the street as opposed to my home?”
    He lowered his chin. “You were never at home when I called. Not even at night. My aunt was getting worried. As was I. So I…” He shrugged. “I volunteered to hunt you down. One of your neighbors was kind enough to inform me of your whereabouts.”
    “Oh. I apologize. I lead a very busy life, teaching music to as many as four children a day, all of who live in different parts of London. I come home very late sometimes.” She eyed him. “Does Mrs. Granger need me? Is she not feeling well?”
    He adjusted his coat. “No. She is well enough, thank you and thank God.”
    She waited for him to say something more, only he didn’t. “I see. And so you are here because…?”
    He wouldn’t look at her. Nor did he answer.
    She stared. “Your Grace?”
    He snapped his gaze back toward her. “Call me Martin. Like you used to.” He shifted from boot to boot and glanced toward the display before glancing back toward her. “Do you come here often?”
    Sensing he wanted to converse outside of the reasons that had brought him, she obliged, “No. I only came here tonight to shop for your aunt.”
    “Ah.” He lingered.
    She couldn’t help but feel disappointed in the lack of genuine conversation. They used to be so close. They used to be such good friends. It was so sad to know they were now nothing more than strangers. She had often wondered what had become of him. “Are you well?”
    He nodded. “Yes. Very.”
    Again, she waited for him to take the conversation in hand, but he didn’t.
    The wind whipped through them, pelting flakes of cold snow at her cold face and making her squint against it.
    His brows came together. “I shouldn’t keep you standing in the snow.”
    She crossed her arms in an effort to keep warm, while trying to understand why he hadn’t appeared in Mrs. Granger’s life until recently. “Where have you been all these years? As a nephew? Do you have any idea how lonely that poor woman is? After she lost her husband four years ago, she ceased leaving her flat.”
    Well-tamped emotion wavered across those features. “I didn’t know about her until two months ago.”
    “And why is that?”
    His mouth tightened. “No one in my family had ever spoken of her. Nor was there any evidence of her existence until I found a portrait hidden in the attic of a young woman I didn’t recognize. After digging through some church registrars, it turned out to be my grandfather’s youngest sister. She was ostracized for marrying her father’s valet, Mr. Granger. I was fortunate to have acquired an address.”
    Jane felt like she was listening to her own story. Only, instead of taking off to marry a valet, she took off to the opera. “How fortuitous.”
    Martin nodded, sending gathering snow from his hat wisping into the wind. “It turned my gut knowing she was still alive and that no one in the family had ever reached out to her. Old as she was. So I did.”
    “I’m glad you did. She desperately needs a family. She has no one. Do you plan on relocating her into better circumstance?” she prodded. “She deserves better. Especially given her age.”
    He nodded. “I know. But nothing I say seems to make a difference. She digs her cane into the floor every time the subject comes up and I hardly want to take an old woman by force.” His expressive face changed and became