The Mischievous Bride by Teresa McCarthy Page A

her brows, waiting.
    “Lady friend?” Clayton put in. “Tell us about this lady friend, Uncle Marcus.”
    “A purple hat lady friend?” Stephen asked with a smirk.
    Even the duke chuckled. “Purple feather too?”
    Everyone, including Marcus, seemed surprise by the duke’s amused outburst.
    “Probably a purple face too,” Milli muttered to herself, looking at her plate.
    Gabby turned to Milli. “Oh, no, her face wasn’t purple. It was very white with red circles on her cheeks.”
    Emily’s fork clattered against her plate. “Marcus?” she squeaked.
    Marcus laughed. “Devil take it, it was Miss Canton. She had a cold—”
    “Mama! Uncle Marcus said bad words again! Are you going to make him sit in the corner?” Gabby threw two little fists to her hips and shook her head Marcus’s way.
    Milli put a hand across her mouth to hide her smile.
    Marcus looked around the table and groaned. “Jupiter! I did not say a bad word!”
    Clayton snickered. “Must say, same thing happened to me years ago. Haven’t said a bad word in front of you know who for ages. Paid my dues, I can tell you that.”
    Gabby started crying. “Uncle . . . Marcus . . . is yelling at . . . m-me.”
    Emily gave Marcus a scowl that could burn coal.
    Marcus’s lips thinned. He rose from his chair and came around the table, handing Gabby his handkerchief. “Perhaps I did say a bad word or two.”
    The little girl sniffed, peeking up at him. “Y-you d-did.”
    “How about I take you shopping today and we forget all about the bad words?”
    Gabby nodded, blowing her nose. “But no more bad words.” She handed the wet cloth back to Marcus who looked at the thing as if it had worms.
    “Very well, no more bad words.” He pocketed the handkerchief and knelt beside the child, kissing her cheek.
    From across the table, Milli’s heart tumbled. He was not stuffy at all.
    Gabby kissed him back. “If you say bad words,” she whispered loud enough for everyone else to hear, “You can get in big trouble with Mama. I said a bad word once and had to stay in the nursery all day.”
    Marcus kept a straight face. “No?”
    Gabby nodded. “And then, I had to tell Papa I was sorry. And he said I should never say bad words, even though I hear them from other people. Like you.”
    The others tried to contain their laughter with coughs and clearing of throats.
    “Come here, you little poppet.” Marcus swiped her from her seat and threw her up in the air, catching her.
    She giggled, grabbing his neck and wrapping her legs around him. “You won’t say any more bad words, Uncle Marcus, will you?”
    “No, and I think if you are ready in an hour we can go shopping and buy two purple bonnets.”
    “Oooooh, two? But my little brother won’t like purple. I think we should buy him blue! He’s a boy, and he will be the Earl of Stonebridge one day just like my papa.”
    “Blue it is.” Marcus laughed with everyone else but the duke.
    Out of the corner of her eye, Milli could see Roderick’s hand halt as he was about to raise his fork. The duke’s features were etched in stone. Blue was for the boy he might have lost, Milli thought with a frown. And then, there were the two babies before that.
    The duke’s chair scraped against the floor. “If you will excuse us ladies. I need to speak to Clayton, Stephen, and Marcus for a few minutes.”
    The words were more of a command. All the brothers stood, following the duke into his library.
    As the men entered the hall, Milli rose from her seat to follow. She tapped Marcus on the shoulder. He turned, his brows raised in surprise.
    Milli wasn’t going to hold a grudge now. It had been a terrible night, and she had to put things into perspective. Jane came first.
    “Yes?” he said, his face not showing any emotion.
    “Keep the duke busy for a while, would you, please?”
    “What?”
    “Keep him busy. Lizzie doesn’t need him in Jane’s room all day.”
    Marcus glanced at the duke and scowled. “He