One Night with Prince Charming (Aristocratic Grooms #2)(42)
Author: Anna DePalo

Pia swallowed and looked up.

Belinda and Tamara were looking at her with worried but expectant expressions.

Pia bit her lip and punted. “Mr. Darcy is waiting for me at home.”

Belinda relaxed a little, obviously taking her comment as a reassuring sign. “Good girl. Learn who the good guys are.”

If only, Pia thought, she wasn’t still so tempted by a certain wicked duke that her stubborn heart kept insisting was her Prince Charming.

Fourteen

Hawk looked up from his desk, and then automatically rose. “What a surprise to see you on this side of the Atlantic, Mother.”

It seemed as if everyone was destined to pay a visit to his office these days. Everyone, that was, except Pia.

Undoubtedly, his mother must have told his secretary not to bother announcing her arrival after obviously having taken her coat and handbag.

The dowager duchess gave him a fixed look. “I thought it would be nice if we had lunch.”

Hawk’s lips twisted. His mother had shown up unannounced—a clear sign that something important was weighing on her.

“What is this I hear about you and Lucy’s wedding planner, Pia Lumley?” his mother asked, not disappointing by going straight to the point. “Some dreadful woman has been writing—”

“Mrs. Hollings.”

His mother stopped abruptly. “Pardon?”

“The Pink Pages of Mrs. Jane Hollings. It’s a column that appears in the Earl of Melton’s newspapers. Specifically, The New York Intelligencer.”

“I don’t know why Melton hasn’t put a stop to it then,” the dowager duchess huffed. “He’s a friend of yours, isn’t he?”

“Sawyer believes in freedom of the press,” Hawk responded dryly, coming around his desk.

“Nonsense. This terrible woman is assailing your reputation. Something must be done.”

“And what, precisely, is it you suggest I do, Mother?” Hawk queried.

The dowager duchess raised her brows and gathered herself into her full hauteur. “Quite obviously, it must be made apparent to all parties that you have no interest in Ms. Lumley.”

“Don’t I?”

“Certainly not. This Mrs. Hollings is suggesting that you are having the near equivalent of a liaison with the household help. The Duke of Hawkshire does not dally with those in his employ like…like—”

“Have a seat, Mother,” Hawk said, pulling back a chair without breaking stride. “Would you like something to drink?”

He could use something strong and therapeutic himself.

“You are being rather obstinate, James. A simple denial will do.”

“And what should I deny?”

The dowager duchess shot him a peremptory look as she sat down. “That you and Ms. Lumley are—”

“—liaising?”

His mother nodded.

“Ah, but you see, I cannot do that.”

His mother stilled, and then closed her eyes briefly, as if in resignation. “Goodness. It’s not just the resurrected image of you as a playboy that I need to contend with. It’s the reality.”

“Quite right.”

He deserved every condemnation, Hawk thought. He’d dallied with Pia and hurt her. Again.

His mother fixed him with a stern look. “Well, you must put a stop to this at once. My grandfather was a renowned philanderer who left a mess in his wake—”

“You mean offspring born on the wrong side of the blanket?”

The dowager duchess straightened her spine. “We do not speak of it in this family. Kindly curb your blunt speaking. It isn’t charming.”

Hawk felt his lips quirk. “But, Mother, you like Great-Aunt Ethel.”

“Precisely, and that is why we do not refer to the family peccadilloes. However, I still would not have the past repeat itself.”

He arched a brow. “Then maybe it would be best if you did not press this matter of an engagement to Michelene. Perhaps the old earl’s wandering eye could be traced to an unhappy arranged marriage.”

“I had no idea I was pressing anything upon you, James,” the dowager duchess huffed.

His mother had a disingenuous ability to parse the truth, but Hawk let the matter go. At the moment, there was a more important discussion to be had—perhaps one that was long overdue.

“Mother,” he said with forced gentleness, “Michelene may be a lingering tie to William, but William is gone.”

He’d done a lot of thinking since his return from Silderly Park, and especially after Sawyer’s visit. One thing he’d realized was that he had to stop any expectations with respect to Michelene for good. He didn’t love her—no matter how suitable she was—and he never would.

His mother looked at him for a moment—uncharacteristically without a ready response. And then, disconcertingly, her eyes became moist.

Hawk shifted. “I know this is difficult for you.”

“William considered Michelene for his wife because she was a natural choice,” the dowager duchess observed finally. “He was doing what was expected of him. He knew his responsibilities.”

“Precisely, and I therefore wonder how enamored William really was of Michelene,” Hawk replied. “There were times when I thought William enjoyed boating and flying so much because they were the rare moments when he could feel free. In any case, William was groomed for his responsibilities as duke from birth, and I wasn’t.”

His mother looked pained, but then gathered and composed herself. “Very well, but what do we know about this woman Pia Lumley?” she argued. “Where is she from? She will have no understanding of our ways and what will be expected of her as the Duchess of Hawkshire.”

In the way that mattered most, Pia was well-equipped to fill the role of duchess, Hawk disagreed silently. She knew how to please him.

“She’s from Pennsylvania,” he said aloud. “She knows how to entertain because she’s a well-regarded wedding coordinator to New York society—a respectable proving ground for women who marry well, you’ll agree.”

In Pia’s defense, he cited the things that he knew would matter to his mother.

The dowager duchess said nothing, so Hawk pressed on.

“She knows how to ride and fish as well as any woman of my acquaintance,” he said. “She is sweet and intelligent, and charmingly devoid of guile or pretense. A breath of fresh air.”

“Well,” his mother replied finally, “with all those sterling qualities, James, why ever would she have anything to do with you?”