"Ah, that explains the name. I wondered about it."

He smiled. "Harlan's marriage to her caused some raised eyebrows-not what it would do now with the war with Napoleon going on, but at the time it certainly caused a stir."

"Is she still alive?"

"Oh, yes. Aunt Sofia resides at Stonegate and gives the place some respectability. Lord knows that without her there Charles and Raoul could very well turn it into a brothel."

"They do not sound very nice."

Julian made a face. "They're pleasant enough and as with my uncle, there was a time that I considered them in the same light that I do Marcus. In my youth, I spent as much time at Stonegate with my cousins as they did here. Marcus was part of the group-we all grew up together." His voice thickened. "John was the eldest of us by five years, with me next in age. John and I were extremely close, and when his son, Daniel, was born, John asked me to be his guardian should something happen to him. It was an odd request and we were, I think, both drunk at the time, but I agreed, never thinking I would actually find myself in that position."

When he remained silent for several minutes, his expression bleak, Nell prodded, "Something happened to John?"

"When Daniel was twelve years old, John was murdered," he said baldly.

"Murdered!" she exclaimed. "How horrible!"

"It was the worst tragedy that had ever happened in our family, even worse than the loss of my aunt or my mother-we were all devastated. John was..." He stopped, steadied his voice and then went on. "I can't explain the anguish we felt at the time. I often think that it was the loss of his eldest son that sent Harlan down his own path to destruction. He drank even more heavily than usual-he'd always been a heavy drinker-and he gambled..." Julian sighed. "He'd played ducks and drakes with his money all the time, but in a matter of months he'd gambled away most of a tidy fortune. Already furious that John had named me guardian of his grandson and heir, once he found himself in dun territory he resented my father and myself all the more."

"But none of it was your fault," Nell said hotly. "You didn't murder John or appoint yourself guardian, and you certainly didn't gamble away his fortune."

Julian gave a twisted smile. "You're wrong. Harlan blamed my father and me for all his ills-and his poison corrupted Charles and Raoul. They were very loyal to their father and if Harlan resented and blamed us, so did they. Their attitude was not logical or reasonable and perhaps, if Harlan had lived longer, the breech might have eventually been healed." Heavily, Julian added, "Uncle Harlan died hardly a year after John...broke his neck while drunk by falling down the stairs at Stonegate."

Sympathy in her gaze, Nell said, "A terrible, sad tragedy, but again, not your fault-or your father's. Surely, Charles and Raoul cannot blame you for what happened. It wasn't your fault."

"That may be, but they are convinced that if my father had not selfishly-Raoul's word-refused to pay off all of Harlan's debts, that he would not have been drinking so much and wouldn't have fallen down the stairs." Julian shrugged. "Charles particularly resented my guardianship of his nephew. He felt slighted, and I believe was deeply hurt, that John bypassed him and left Daniel in my hands." He smiled ruefully. "And no one can hold a grudge like Charles."

"Well! They are fools the pair of them, and your uncle, too," Nell said firmly. She frowned. "And Daniel, your ward? What of him?"

Julian took a deep breath and told her of Daniel's suicide and the events surrounding it.

"Tynedale!" she spat, sitting bolt upright in her chair. "I cannot believe the infamy of that man." Her hands clenched into fists in her lap. "We must do something about him. First your cousin Daniel, and then his abduction of me. Oh, but his heart is black. I'd like nothing better than to run him through."

"I tried, but all I managed was to mark his pretty face," Julian said dryly.

Nell looked at him admiringly. "That was you? You gave him that scar?" At Julian's nod, she added warmly, "Oh, but that was well done of you, my lord!" A thoughtful expression crossed her face. "It is too bad that you could not have killed him."

Julian laughed. "My sentiments exactly." His face grew grim. "Because I had failed to kill him in our duel, I had planned to ruin him financially-hence my, er, collecting of his vowels."

She tapped a finger against her lips. "It is a very complicated situation and I see why you cannot use those vowels against him." She looked searchingly at him. "Are you so positive that Charles and Raoul would really take his side against you? Might not their sense of family unite them behind you?"

Julian shrugged. "It is difficult to tell. The relationship between us has grown, uh, uncomfortable during these past several years. We are not openly at daggers drawing with each other; we can still be in the same room with one another without coming to blows, but their resentment is deep and bitter."

"And Charles is your heir?"

"Yes...until, and if, we have a son."

Nell stared fixedly at her lap, the idea of a child, hers and Julian's, had not previously occurred to her. Remembering their passionate nights together made her heart race. Why, she could be pregnant at this very moment!

Terrified and elated at the same time by the thought of carrying Julian's child, Nell could think of nothing to say. For probably one of the first times in her life she was speechless. A child! Hers and Julian's. A warm glow spread through her body. To hold their child in her arms...She could think of nothing more wonderful.

Julian watched her face, wondering what she was thinking. Catherine had been adamantly against children, but it was a topic he and Nell had never touched upon. Would she, like his first wife, hate being pregnant with his child? A slight chill entered his heart. Surely he would not be unlucky enough to have a second wife who detested the idea of carrying his child? He did not want to believe it of Nell but, he reminded himself, for all the present easy intimacy that existed between them, they didn't know each very well-and she had not wanted to marry him...

A tap on the door broke into his thoughts and, at his command, Dibble entered the room. "My lord, the physician is here."

"Ah, show him to her ladyship's rooms. She will join him there."

The door shut behind Dibble. Sending Julian a speaking look, Nell stood up. "I told you that I didn't need to see a physician."

"And I told you that I thought you should see him," Julian replied equably.

"And if I refuse?" she asked, a speculative glint in her eyes.

He stood up. "I shouldn't like to," Julian said softly, "but if you refuse, then I shall be forced to carry you up the stairs myself and deposit you in your rooms."

She eyed his tall form and a delicious little shudder went through her at the idea of him sweeping her up in his arms and carrying her upstairs against her will. She considered forcing the issue, but in the end, she decided that this wasn't the battle in which to exert her rights.

"Bully," she said.

"But only for your own good," he replied with a crooked smile. "Come now, I will escort you to your rooms and introduce you to Dr. Coleman."

They walked up the stairs together and entered her sitting room. A tall man, his back to them, was standing staring out the long windows. Hearing the door open, he turned and smiled.

Nell's heart nearly stood still as she stared at the handsome man before her. She might as well have been facing her husband! She glanced up at Julian, then back at the other man. No, on second thought, they did not quite look exactly the same, but they shared enough features in common to make her wonder.

Julian made the introductions and then after a few moments of polite conversation, discreetly left the room.

"Shall we adjourn to your dressing room, my lady?" Dr. Coleman asked with a smile. "I promise you that the examination will not take long."

He really did remind her of Julian, and that smile...She smiled back at him. "This really isn't necessary," she said. "It was only an upset stomach, from buttered lobster. I am the perfect picture of health."

"Yes, I'm sure that's true, but to keep his lordship happy, I think we shall at least"-a twinkle leaped into his very green eyes-"make an effort for it to 'appear' that I have made a thorough examination."

A gurgle of laughter escaped her. She liked this man. At ease with him, she led him to her dressing room. "Do you live nearby?" she asked as they entered the room.

He nodded, setting down the small black leather bag he carried. "Yes, not more than a couple of miles down the road at Rose Cottage."

"Oh, I remember the place. It is charming with all those rose-covered arbors around it."

"Thank you. It is a very comfortable home and the scent of the roses in the summertime is most delightful."

She would have liked to question him more, but he motioned her to sit down and said, "Well now. I shall, I'm afraid, have to ask you some questions and take your pulse in order to be able to look his lordship in the eye. Do you mind?"

She didn't. Keeping up a gentle flow of chatter, he quickly completed his task. His manner was such that it wasn't until they were walking across her sitting room that she realized she'd had a very thorough examination and that he had asked several searching questions about her health.

At the door, she smiled at him and said, "You are a very clever man, Dr. Coleman-hoodwinking me into allowing you to do precisely as my husband asked."

Bag in hand, he smiled down at her. "You have found me out. But please do not think too harshly of me. Lord Wyndham is a good patron. I would not wish to offend him." That twinkle leaped into his eyes again. "And it was not such an ordeal, now, was it?"

Nell laughed. "No, indeed, it was not. If I really have need of a physician in the future, I will rest easy, knowing that I am in your good hands."

"You are in fine health, my lady. Excellent, in fact, and I doubt that you shall need my services anytime soon but I thank you for the kind words."

In the magnificent entry hall, Nell watched as Dibble escorted him to her husband's study. She considered joining them-after all, it was her health they would be discussing-but decided it wasn't that important. She already knew she was healthy-even Dr. Coleman had said so.

Curious about Dr. Coleman's striking resemblance to Julian, Nell wandered around the green saloon, waiting impatiently for the doctor to depart. She intended to ask Julian some pointed questions about the very handsome Dr. Coleman.

Several minutes later, she rang for Dibble and upon learning that the physician had left, made a beeline for Julian's study. She found him seated behind his desk, several account books and papers scattered before him.

"I suppose," he said smiling, "that you've come to gloat. Coleman said that you are in perfect health and that if all his patients were like you that he'd soon be a poor man."

"I told you so," Nell replied, taking a seat next to the desk. "Perhaps, next time, you'll listen to me."

His eyes warm, he asked, "Was it so very bad?"

"No, his manner is most disarming and with me hardly being aware of it, he made a very thorough examination." She eyed her husband. "I liked him."

"I thought that you would. He is very popular with all his patients."

There was no easy way around it and so Nell blurted out, "He looks very like you...You could almost be twins..."

"You haven't met Cousin Charles yet," Julian said dryly. "There is a strong family resemblance between all the Westons, but Charles and I could very well be twins."

"That's interesting, but unless I've misunderstood something, Dr. Coleman isn't a member of the Weston family. Or is he another cousin?" she asked sweetly.

Julian hesitated. There was no reason for her not to know, and Lord knew she'd find out soon enough from someone else. And she was now a member of the family. He sighed. She might as well know some of the skeletons and he should be the one to tell her. "More of an uncle," he admitted reluctantly, "on the wrong side of the blanket."

Nell's eyes widened. "He's illegitimate?" she asked in shocked accents.

He nodded. "Remember, I did mention about the Old Earl? I'm afraid that you're going to notice several inhabitants of the area who bear a striking resemblance to the family. Coleman is one of several, uh, illegitimate children, to be laid at my grandfather's feet. Fortunately, he's one of the more respectable ones."

"Isn't it rather awkward?"

Julian shrugged. "It's never been a secret in the family. I grew up knowing that I had several, ah, aunts and uncles roaming about the area. Grandfather acknowledged them and settled money on their families." Julian grimaced. "And considered his filial duties at an end."

She stared at him a long time and Julian wondered if she thought less of him for his grandfather's debauchery. He supposed he could have tried to hide his grandfather's various by-blows from her, but that would have been, he admitted grimly, an exercise in futility-their parentage was stamped on their faces.

"Well," she finally said, "you have a much more interesting family than I do."

Julian laughed, giddiness erupting through him. Would there ever come a time that she didn't make him laugh? That she didn't surprise him? Lord, he hoped not.

The creak of wooden wheels and the jingle of a harness carried into the room and they exchanged looks. "Were you expecting company?" Nell asked, rising to her feet.

"None."

A great commotion could be heard coming from the entry hall and upon stepping from the study, they discovered the area full of trunks and baggage, and Dibble giving orders to the various footmen and maids, which added to the chaos.

A figure attired in a sable-trimmed pelisse and wearing a saucy scarlet hat festooned with ostrich feathers stood in the center of the madness. Spying Julian and Nell standing at the edge of the hall, the figure gave a squeak and threw herself into Julian's startled embrace. "Oh, Julian," she cried, "I know I said I would not be here for weeks yet, but I could not stay away a moment longer. I had to come home. London is just too, too dreadful without you."

It appeared that Lady Diana, the dowager countess, had arrived.

Chapter 10.

Following on the heels of her mother, her pretty face framed by a chinchilla-lined hood, Elizabeth said, "We are very sorry to arrive like this without notice, but mother really was pining for the country." She smiled shyly at Nell. "I hope you do not mind? And that we have not caused you any great inconvenience?"

"Well, of course we haven't," Lady Diana said crossly. "I should think that we can return to our home anytime we want without it causing a problem." She raised melting eyes to Julian. "Isn't that right, Julian? You'd never deny your stepmama a roof over her head, would you?"

Looking like a man facing a charge of a pride of starving lions, Julian glanced wildly about for escape.

Torn between amusement and vexation at Diana's antics, Nell stepped in. "Of course he wouldn't! I'm sure that, the Dower House aside, with as many properties as my husband owns that he would always be able to find a suitable home for you." Walking over to Diana, she delicately wrested the other woman's arms from around Julian's neck. Putting her arm through Diana's, she smiled warmly at her and said, "In the meantime, we are more than delighted to have you and Elizabeth stay with us."

Lady Diana and Elizabeth's outer clothing were deposed of and a moment later, Nell was determinedly guiding a lagging Diana across the elegant entry hall. "It will be so pleasant to have company. And after that long journey, I'm sure that you are longing to rest and refresh yourself," Nell said brightly as she led, dragged her stepmama-in-law away. "We had already begun to prepare in anticipation of your arrival, so that I'm sure with very little effort the staff will have your rooms waiting for you in no time at all." She glanced over her shoulder at Dibble. "Isn't that right, Dibble?"

Admiring her command of the situation, Dibble bowed and murmured, "Absolutely, my lady."

"Excellent! But first will you have tea and some biscuits served in the green saloon?"

Dibble bowed again. "I shall see to it immediately."

Nell beamed at Diana. "You see? Everything is taken care of. Now, if you and Elizabeth will come with me, we shall retire to the green saloon where you can tell me all about your journey."

Left standing in the entry hall surrounded by a mountain of trunks and valises, Julian watched the trio walk away. A smile lurked at the corners of his mouth as his eyes rested on Nell's slender form. By Jupiter! That had been a near thing! If Nell hadn't come to his rescue, he'd probably still be standing here looking like a wide-eyed hare pursued by hounds.

Feeling almost sanguine about having his wife and his stepmother under the same roof, he set off for his study. In any battle of wills between the two women, he rather thought he'd put his money on Nell. Recalling the masterful way Nell had cut the ground from underneath his stepmother, he grinned. Poor Diana! She had been bowled over before she knew what hit her.

Lady Diana and Elizabeth integrated into the household at Wyndham Manor without major incident. It helped that Nell kept her head about her and that Lady Diana, while silly and at times vexing, had no malice in her. There were a few tussles, but in the main, the addition of Lady Diana and Elizabeth proved to be a pleasant occurrence.

As the days passed winter increased its grip on the countryside and though they did not suffer the severe ice and snow that racked other less salubrious parts of England, there were many days that the weather made it impossible as well as impractical to be abroad. With Nell happily enmeshed in Lady Diana's planned renovation of the Dower House Julian was able to lock himself away in his study with his man of business and farm manager and concentrate on estate matters, of which there were a multitude. Most were routine, easily delegated and planned for spring when the weather broke-the marling of some fields felt to be deficient in lime, discussion of rotation of crops for better yields and some overdue improvements to certain of his tenants' houses. But the meeting with his gamekeeper was troublesome.

"What do you mean 'unusual depredations'?" Julian demanded.

Appropriately named, John Hunter, the Wyndham gamekeeper, bore the stamp of the Old Earl on his harsh features and Julian had often wondered how his father had felt about having a half brother in service to him. He knew he felt dashed odd ordering about a man who was technically his uncle...another on the wrong side of the blanket.

John Hunter was a massively built man with a mane of shaggy black hair and with the family's piercing green eyes set beneath heavy black brows. He usually carried a stout staff in one hand and had no compunction about thrashing anyone caught trespassing on the earl's lands. With his height and size and that punishing staff held ever ready, he was a formidable figure. Just the sight of him tramping through the woods was known to strike terror in the hearts of any poacher foolhardy enough to step one foot on the earl's lands. Older than Julian by twenty-five years, he'd been gamekeeper at Wyndham Manor for almost as long as Julian could remember and his reputation for dealing swiftly and mercilessly with poachers was legendary and widespread in the neighborhood.

At Julian's question, John drew himself up and said with doleful satisfaction, "It's as I've warned you time and again, my lord. Your hand has been too light and now you are paying the price-your lordship's game is being slaughtered at will."

"Oh, come now, it can't be that bad. And you know I don't begrudge the occasional deer or leveret taken by poachers."

"Indeed, I do," said John regretfully, his expression making it clear what he thought of that sort of folly. "But this is not that sort of thing. In the north woods recently I've been finding places of the most wanton butchery." He shook his head in disgust. "I tell you, my lord, this is not some hungry poacher seeking to feed his family, this is a devil! A monster! The animals look...as if they've been torn apart and then discarded and left to rot."