Dukes to the Left of Me, Princes to the Right

“Tell me. Now.” A moment before, in the middle of their kiss, he’d been so … sweet. But now he looked the sternest she’d ever seen him.

“Very well.” She couldn’t help a smug smile. “Dear Uncle Tradd—the man you used to refer to as Groop— appeared in my carriage one day and said that it didn’t seem right that you’d have to act as duke when he was the real Duke of Drummond. And he thought it would be a fair trade to give you the Viking treasure he’d found in return for your being his heir and taking care of the properties while he had all the fun in the Service.”

“Devil take it, what Viking treasure?”

Poppy bit her lip and hoped she would tell the story exactly as Uncle Tradd had.

“Well, when he was thirteen, he found a cache on the beach, buried beneath a rock. He confided in a footman he trusted, someone he’d apparently looked up to as a friend, and the footman kidnapped him to try to force the location out of him. When Tradd wouldn’t reveal it, the thug dumped him in the worst part of London, figuring he’d never make it back.”

“So that’s what happened.” Nicholas’s brow smoothed out as if the weight of the world had fallen off his shoulders. “Family mystery. Solved.” He paused. “I suppose we ought to be grateful the footman couldn’t bring himself to outright kill him.”

“Indeed,” Poppy said. “Tradd grew up as a thief to survive, which is how he got into the Service. He never went back to reclaim the treasure or his title. He said he was too busy trying to stay alive, and when he was old enough to make it out of London, too ashamed. He’d done all sorts of nasty things to avoid dying, and he was afraid to come home. But he told me where the treasure is. I dug it up—with Cook’s help—”

“Not Cook! She’s probably told everyone by now!”

Poppy waved a hand. “She swore she’d never tell.”

Nicholas rolled his eyes.

“At any rate,” Poppy went on, “the treasure is somewhere in this house. And let me tell you—it’s enough treasure to build ten more amazing, grand Seaward Halls. We’ll be so rich, we’ll be able to travel the world together, too.”

“Really?” His eyes sparkled.

“Yes,” she said with a grin, “and we’ll bring Frank up here to Seaward Hall to set up his own cooper shop!”

Nicholas blew out a breath. “Poppy, my love, where—is—the treasure?”

She laughed and ran a hand down his chest. “I won’t tell you. Not until you tell me what an IF is.”

“You must be joking.”

“No. I’m not.” She blinked once, slowly.

At first, his mouth drew into a thin line, and his eyes—oh, but they were the stormiest gray she’d ever seen them.

“I refuse to be intimidated,” she said. “I’m not afraid of you. I don’t care how many octopi you’ve wrestled.”

His mouth curled up. “I see what you’re up to,” he said warmly.

“You do?” He was making her breathless again.

“Yes, I do. You want me to want you more than I want that Viking treasure!”

She grinned. “I never thought of that, but perhaps you’re right.”

He nuzzled her neck and pulled her underneath him. “Well, I do, Lady Maxwell. In fact, don’t tell me where the treasure is.”

She lifted her head. “Oh, dear.”

He laughed aloud. “You can’t keep a secret, can you? It’s killing you!”

She felt a moment’s pique. “Yes, it is killing me, so I demand you tell me—what is an IF? So I can reveal the location of the treasure. Please.”

He kissed her mouth, a lovely, slow kiss, then pulled back. “An IF,” he said softly, “is your inevitable fate. I knew you were mine as soon as I saw you at the Grangerford ball, gazing up at me as if I were an ax murderer.”

She giggled. “And I knew you were my IF when you said in that highbrow manner, ‘I’ll be glad to take you where you want to go, Lady Poppy.’ ”

“Oh, really?” He kissed the tip of her nose.

“Do that now,” she whispered. “Take me where I want to go, Nicholas. Before I show you the treasure.”

“You are my treasure,” he said, wrapping her in his arms. “The rest can wait.”