The Training of a Marquess Read Free

balls and musicals. He would not marry again. His brother, Robert, could produce the next Kensington heir because it was not going to be him.
    He scribbled a note to his secretary to regretfully decline all invitations until otherwise notified. A knock sounded on his study door. “Enter.”
    His butler stepped into the room. “My lord, you have a visitor.”
    “I am not at home, Stillwell.”
    “I’m sorry, my lord, but he is most insistent.” Stillwell handed Chase an embossed card. “Lord Bennet.”
    What the devil could the man possibly want with him? “Very well, you may show him in. If you see Harry, tell him to meet me in the stables at ten, please.”
    “I believe that is where he is now, your lordship.”
    “Of course, it is. If you ever catch him trying to move his bed there, notify me immediately.”
    “My lord, if Harry decides to relocate his bed, no one will know about it until after the deed is done.”
    Chase chuckled. “Right you are.” He waved a hand in the air. “Show Lord Bennet in.”
    The man who entered his study was small, bookish looking and held a satchel in his hand. He pushed his spectacles up on his nose. “My lord. Thank you for seeing me.”
    Chase nodded at a chair in front of his desk. “Have a seat and tell me what brings you here.”
    Lord Bennet sat and placed the satchel on his lap. “I am here on behalf of the House of Lords to deliver a writ of summons. Do you know Thomas Tremaine, the Marquess of Derebourne?”
    “I believe he is a very distant cousin, but I have never met the man. What does he have to do with me?”
    “As of eight months ago, my lord, quite a lot.”
    “What happened eight months ago?”
    “He died, my lord.”
    This conversation grew stranger by the moment. “I confess I’m perplexed. Perhaps you should start at the beginning.”
    “First I should tell you the pertinent result of his death. You, my lord, are the new Marquess of Derebourne.”
    Well, the devil. “I suppose that is something I should have been aware of, but I guess it just proves how distant a cousin he was.” Nor had he been out in Polite Society this past year, thus missing all the latest gossip. Actually, he hadn’t missed a bit of it.
    Lord Bennet handed Chase the summons. “You are his cousin, six times removed, and closest living male relative on your father’s side, thus making you his heir.”
    “Do you know how he died?” Chase asked.
    “Lord Derebourne took a fall from his horse and hit his head on a rock. His family home, Hillcrest Abbey, is located in Kent and is a profitable estate. He’s well known for his stables.”
    The marquess was said to breed some of the best stock in England. Chase gave an inward sigh of relief. It had taken years to repair his family’s fortunes after his father had taken them to near ruin. He had no desire to have the responsibility of another failing estate.
    “He had no other family?” When Lord Bennet squirmed Chase was sure he wasn’t going to like the answer.
    “His lordship was racing to the village to fetch the doctor for his two-week-old son. The child died the same night.”
    “What of Derebourne’s wife?”
    “She is in seclusion at Hillcrest Abbey.”
    Chase sighed. He didn’t need this. “Does the marchioness have family?”
    “No, my lord. She was an only child, and her parents were killed in a carriage accident after she married.”
    “So she has no place else to go?”
    “To my understanding, no.”
    Chase would like to go back to bed and start this day over. He would have to travel to Kent, and had no idea what to do with a grieving widow with no place to go. Profitable or not, he would give it all back without a second thought. The title meant more responsibility. He didn’t need a despondent widow on his hands and didn’t need the income from the Derebourne estates.
    Ten years ago, he would have welcomed it. He was one and twenty when his father was killed in a duel and he inherited the earldom.