Whirlwind Affair

invitation to stay in your home.'

He took her hand and bowed over it. 'The pleasure is ours, Mrs. Brown. Indeed, the anticipation of your arrival has kept Elizabeth's spirits at an all-time high. She is most anxious to see you.' His gaze flew to the doorway. 'Did I just hear a cry? Was that Elizabeth?'

Caroline shot Robert a meaningful look. 'Austin, calm yourself. There was no cry. The babe won't arrive for hours yet.'

He paled and raked his hands through his badly disheveled hair.

'Come on, old man,' Robert said, clapping a hand on his brother's shoulder. 'Let us repair to the billiards room and allow the ladies to get better acquainted. Before you rip out all your hair and Elizabeth is forced to live with a bald man.'

'Thank you, Robert, but I'm not in the mood for billiards.'

Robert turned to Lord Eddington. 'Since Austin is obviously terrified of losing to my vastly superior skill, might I interest you in a game, Miles?'

There was no missing Lord Eddington's relief. 'Certainly. I was hoping for a game earlier, but Austin declined. He clearly also fears my skill at the billiards table.'

An inelegant snort escaped Robert. 'You have no skill at the billiards table.'

Lord Eddington spread his hands and shrugged. 'Yet Austin fears losing to me.'

The duke bounced an annoyed glance between Lord Eddington and Robert. 'Don't imagine for even one second that I don't know what you two are doing. And it is not going to work. I’ve no desire to play games at a time like this.'

'Certainly not,' Robert agreed. 'But all this hair-yanking and hand-wringing and pacing about is clearly distressing Mother and Caroline. And that Axminster you're trampling into a threadbare state is, I believe, a favorite of both your wife and mother.'

'I rather like it as well,' Lord Eddington added helpfully.

'You see? It's unanimous,' Robert declared. 'And just think of how much happier Elizabeth will be when we send up a report that you are frolicking in the billiards room rather than destroying her favorite rug.'

The frigid glare the duke shot him could have frozen the air between them. Allie watched Robert and his brother stare at each other for a long moment, and some silent communication seemed to pass between them.

Finally the duke heaved a lengthy sigh. 'Very well. I'll go to the billiards room. But don't think you'll have me in there all afternoon.' He jabbed a finger at Lord Eddington. 'Afraid to lose to you? I could beat you with my eyes closed.'

'And I could beat you with my eyes closed,' Robert challenged his brother with a smug smile.

The duke swiveled his gaze to Robert and raised his brows. 'You cannot possibly believe that.'

'Oh, but I do. In fact, I'd be willing to put a fiver on it. Of course, if you're afraid-'

'It is going to be a great pleasure to relieve you of your five-pound note,' the duke said with a grim smile. 'In fact, I’d be happy to relieve you of more than that. Shall we say twenty?'

Robert frowned and stroked his chin. 'Can you afford to lose that much? You are about to add another mouth to feed, you know.'

'I believe the coffers can handle the sum should the need arise, which it won't. The question is, can you afford it?'

'Yes, however, I won't need to.'

'One of us is incorrect,' the duke said.

'Indeed. And you know that I am never wrong,' Robert replied. He nonchalantly buffed his nails against his lapel. 'Actually, I think my 'always-rightness' is one of my most appealing qualities, second only to my-'

'Inflated pompousness?' the duke broke in.

'Nooo,' Robert said in a tone one might use with a small child. 'Second only to my extraordinary-and dare I claim unbeatable?-skills with a cue stick.'

'You do indeed beg to be beaten with a cue stick,' the duke said. 'I'll await you in the billiards room.' He all but stomped from the room.

Caroline, her husband, and her mother all expelled sighs of relief. 'Thank you, darling,' the dowager duchess said. 'He's been pacing about like a caged bear with a thorn in its paw ever since Elizabeth experienced her first pain. He's driving us all quite mad.' Reaching up, she patted Robert's cheek. 'A game is just what he needs to distract him. And I'll be certain to replace your twenty pounds.'

Robert raised his brows. 'Such a lack of faith, Mother. What makes you think I'll lose the wager?'

'I realize you're a good player, darling, but so is Austin. To best him with your eyes closed? Surely you don't think you can.'

'We shall see.' His gaze rested on Allie's. 'You know I always play to win.'

*********

Allie spent a few minutes exchanging pleasantries with Caroline and her mother, then asked to be excused. 'I'd like to freshen up, if you don't mind.'

'Of course you would,' Caroline said, looping her arm through Allie's. ' Elizabeth has put you in the ivory guest chamber. I'll take you up now.'

'I'll stay here,' the dowager duchess said with a regal smile, 'and enjoy the quiet and lack of pacing.'

As soon as they turned into the corridor, Caroline leaned close and confided, 'Poor Austin. He has been simply beside himself. Of course the rest of us are just as anxious, but Austin is simply incapable of masking his anxiety.'

'There's no problem-?'

'Oh, no. Elizabeth is doing beautifully. The midwife sends down word every quarter hour. If she did not, Austin would simply steam up the stairs and burst into the birthing room. It is the way of men. Miles was precisely the same way when our daughter was born. Mother tells me our father was the same, and Claudine says William suffered more than she did. And I'm certain Robert, for all his jovial calmness, will be a candidate for Bedlam when his turn for impending fatherhood arrives.'

A jittery feeling edged through Allie's stomach at the thought of Robert being a father. Having a wife. Jittery? her inner voice taunted. You idiot. That is jealousy.

' 'Tis a good thing it is women who have babies,' Caroline said as they climbed the wide staircase. 'Heavens, if the task were left up to men, humanity would cease to exist. At the very first labor pain, pfft!' She snapped her fingers. 'They would promptly kill themselves.'

A chuckle tickled Allie's throat, but she was engaged in trying not to tumble down the wide staircase as she gawked at the splendor surrounding her. 'This is the most magnificent house I've ever seen.' A tremendous crystal chandelier, which held what appeared to be hundreds of candles, sent rainbow prisms of light bouncing off the cream silk-covered walls. Everywhere she looked, her eye lit on something lovely-artwork, porcelain vases filled with fragrant cut flowers, marble statues. Caroline led her around a corner. They passed by a huge gilt-framed mirror where she caught a glimpse of her dumbfounded expression.

' Elizabeth wrote to me about Bradford Hall,' she said, 'but her words did not do this justice. It is strange to think of her living in such luxurious surroundings. I am very happy for her good fortune in meeting your brother. She loves him very much.'

'And Austin utterly adores her,' Caroline said. 'Quite unfashionable, you know, for a man in his position to make a love match, but it really was love at first sight.' She heaved out a dreamy-sounding sigh. 'It was so romantic. And such a whirlwind courtship. But of course that is not surprising, as such breathless courtships are a family tradition.' They paused in front of a door, which Caroline opened. 'This will be your bedchamber.'

Allie crossed the threshold and gasped. The room was simply stunning. Done entirely in ivory, soft green, and gold, it looked as if it belonged to a princess. A thick green and gold Persian rug covered the floor. A cheery fire burned in the marble fireplace, and shafts of sunlight streamed in through the French windows, which were flanked