The Grace of a Duke Read Online Free PDF Page B

housekeeper. He attempted to make his indignation apparent to her in the hopes she would leave. Instead, the older woman put a hand to her rather imposing hip and waved a finger toward his face. “What would your mother say?” she whispered in disgust before stepping away, bobbing a curtsy and then taking her leave, her skirts swishing about the legs of the furniture in her haste to leave.
    Joshua turned to watch the housekeeper hurry away. When his attention returned to Charlotte, he found her with a hand in front of her mouth, attempting to hide an embarrassed grin. “She winked at me!” Charlotte said suddenly, her eyes bright.
    The tense atmosphere that had grown between the two of them suddenly shattered as Joshua rolled his eyes and allowed his own grin. “She is a ... formidable woman,” he explained finally, finding it easy to keep from laughing when reminded of his mother. Indeed, what would Grace Wainwright say if she discovered her son denying his betrothal? “I think Mrs. Gates has been here since the house was built,” he added before he sighed loudly. “I apologize for my ... and her ... behavior,” he said, barely able to get the words out before Charlotte smiled that brilliant smile that took his breath away.
    “As do I, Your Grace,” Charlotte said, trying hard to school her features back to some semblance of seriousness. The housekeeper was obviously a long-time fixture of the estate; there could be no reason her familiar behavior would be tolerated otherwise. With there being no mother to chastise Joshua for his obviously angry outburst, Mrs. Gates had taken it upon herself to do so. And with her wink, she had obviously sided with Charlotte in the disagreement.
    The light in Charlotte’s eyes seemed to dim, though, as she realized the other reason for her visit. “I am very sorry for your loss, Your Grace,” she finally spoke, chastising herself that she hadn’t mentioned it earlier. “Please accept my condolences.”
    Joshua took a deep breath, the humor gone as quickly as it had come. “Thank you,” he replied with a nod. He wanted to scrub his face with his hand but forced himself to keep it on the arm of the chair. He might have mourned his family’s loss for six months, but the pain of their deaths was still fresh. “I think I miss my sister the most,” he said quietly. “I teased her mercilessly, but she would have had her coming out in a couple of years, and I was quite prepared to play the role of older, protective brother.”
    Charlotte took a sip from her tea cup. “That, I can imagine you doing,” she said quietly. “But I understand she was already betrothed. To an earl, wasn’t it?”
    Shifting in his chair, Joshua shook his head. “Henry Forster, Earl of Gisborn,” he announced, apparently none too pleased with the choice.
    Paling suddenly, Charlotte swallowed. She knew a Henry Forster from her youth, but he certainly wasn’t an earl . Nor was his father. A pleasant man, well dressed and obviously now educated, Mr. Forster had conversed with her at only a couple of society events in London. From the snippets she recalled, Charlotte thought his interests centered on farming and inventions. He was a gentleman, to be sure, but if he was a member of the aristocracy, he did not let on as he used no title when introducing himself. He had, in fact, insisted that she call him ‘Henry’, perhaps in the hopes that she would allow him to call her ‘Charlotte’. She had never given him permission to do so, but in her defense, she hadn’t had the chance since they were interrupted several times by others during the evening he made his request. As she thought about Mr. Forster, she realized she had never seen him at a society event during the past Season and wondered why.
    As for the Earl of Gisborn, her father had mentioned that name – threatened her with it, actually. “Isn’t he quite ... old?” she queried, thinking that perhaps Jennifer was better off having died