Mad About the Duke Read Free

door.
    Why, it must have been a first for him. A day of firsts, Jack realized, glancing at the black-and-blue shiner ringing his eye.
    â€œSo you went to leave,” Jack prodded him.
    Parkerton nodded. “And then it all sort of happened.” Jack waited, and finally his brother continued. “ She came in. There was a bit of wind and herhair was loose.” Parkerton’s eyes sort of glazed over. “Such beautiful hair, Jack. And her cheeks were all flushed.”
    â€œBlonde hair?”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œDid the lady have blonde hair?”
    â€œYes, yes, of course.”
    Elinor. The second Lady Standon, Jack surmised.
    â€œAnd then there was some sort of a hullabaloo about puppies.”
    This is where Jack had gotten lost in the first telling.
    Some nonsense about a greyhound.
    â€œHer dog was having puppies, and she asked me to help.” Parkerton glanced up at Jack. “ Me . She asked me to help.”
    And why shouldn’t Parkerton sound so incredulous? Poor, unwitting Lady Standon probably hadn’t realized she was asking the Duke of Parkerton to be the midwife for her precious hound.
    â€œI blame you!” Parkerton said, wagging a finger at Jack.
    Now at least this was familiar. Jack had spent most of his adult life having Parkerton wag a finger at him and blame him for some mishap or misfortune.
    â€œIf I hadn’t been wearing your jacket for my interview with that Lucy creature, none of this would have happened.”
    â€œMy apologies,” Jack offered automatically.
    â€œNo, no, it was actually quite fascinating.”
    There was a boyish light to the duke’s eyes that Jack had never seen. Which was why he was still wagering that his eldest brother had fallen over the edge. “You actually helped deliver the pups?”
    â€œYes. All on my own.”
    Jack looked at his brother again. “You?”
    The duke nodded. “Yes, me. I’ll have you know I’ve done this before.”
    Now it was Jack’s turn to look askance as only a Tremont could. Really, Parkerton wanted him to believe that he’d been out in the stables whelping pups like a regular hand?
    Preposterous.
    â€œI have,” the duke said in a huff. “Well, I was naught but a lad the last time.”
    Now they were getting to the truth of the matter.
    â€œAnd I didn’t so much help as watch,” he admitted. “Yet it all came back when I knelt down in that closet.”
    This was where Jack’s head started to pound. Parkerton kneeling down in a closet to help a dog have pups.
    If his brother wasn’t utterly foxed, Jack was determined to go find the nearest bottle and have a stiff drink.
    Or two.
    â€œThe pups just kept coming out,” the duke said with an air of wonder.
    â€œThey have a way of doing that,” Jack said. “So after the puppies found their way into the world, what happened next?”
    â€œShe turned to me—”
    â€œLady Standon?”
    â€œYes, of course, Lady Standon,” Parkerton snapped. “It certainly wasn’t the dog.”
    Well, Jack hoped not. Though he might have found more comfort with the notion that his brother was conversing with greyhounds than what was coming next.
    â€œYes, yes, I realize that,” Jack said, nodding for him to continue.
    And he did so. “Then Lady Standon asked me if I did much business for Hollindrake.”
    The Duke of Hollindrake? Whatever did he have to do with all this?
    Jack shuddered. He was never going to get this all straight to repeat it to his wife tonight. And Lord love her, Miranda adored details.
    â€œSo she thought you were Hollindrake’s solicitor?” Jack asked.
    â€œWorse, she thought I was some cit, ” Parkerton declared. “Really, Jack, would it be such a hardship for you to get a decent tailor? This coat is barely presentable.” Parkerton held out his arm, encased in the sensible superfine black wool,