He escorted her to the waiting coaches, feeling guilty for deserting his hostess. He should go back across the river with the Duchess of Hull and return later. But he’d been given leave to depart with Thalia’s family, and that was what he wished to do. Still, he should make the gesture. “Duchess.” Three heads turned his way, and they laughed as he flushed. “Her Grace of Hull.”

“I think we knew which one of us you meant,” she said. “The reactions were out of habit.”

“I do not like to abandon you.” That was the most he could say without causing Thalia to think he did not wish to stay with her.

The duchess fluttered her fingers. “Think nothing of it. The only ones who will be upset are some of the house party’s young ladies. However, it is clear to me that none of them interest you.”

That struck him. She was absolutely right. None of the ladies had caught his attention at all. Most were pretty, one was even an accredited beauty, all were dressed in the height of fashion, but none of them were Thalia. Thalia who had shyly flirted with him, if one could even call it that. Who was not impressed that he was a duke, but was overjoyed that he had placed strawberries on her plate, and had helped her select items to buy. He hoped she would forget about his loan to her.

He bowed. “Thank you.”

“It is my pleasure.” She stepped up into her coach. “Have a wonderful time.”

“I shall.” He knew without a doubt he would.

Kendal and Thalia were put in the coach with her mother and aunt. They made small talk about how fine the weather had been during the past week after the extreme cold in May.

“All the blossoms fell off the trees at Somerset,” Thalia said. “I cannot imagine the rest of Northern England fared much better.”

It was amazing that she cared so much about the effects of the cold. Many young ladies would not care. She would be even better informed once she was let out into the world, and it would be a sight to behold. Kendal wanted to be there. He wanted to be the one to show her what the rest of England and parts of the Continent held. “At least the south was not badly affected.”

“That is a good thing.” She pressed her lips together and gave her head a little shake. “Yet will the south be able to feed the entire country?”

It was a good question. He only wished he had an answer. “I don’t know. I will ensure that my tenants have what they need, and neighboring farms as well.”

Thalia’s smile lit a part of his heart he’d thought had died after he lost Lillian, making him want to remain with her as long as he could. He’d never felt like this about another lady. Certainly not his wife. “I knew you would be responsible and kind.”

Kendal wanted to take her hand and kiss each finger. It didn’t even matter that she was wearing gloves. But they were in a coach with her mother and aunt.

“I think it is commendable of you, Kendal,” her aunt said. “We shall behave in the same manner. It is reprehensible that others will not.” The duchess turned to Thalia’s mother, who seemed to say very little. “You will forgive me for saying so, but that is the only good I can see in Somerset. He will, at least, take care of his holdings, including his tenants. I should not say so to you, but it is my belief that the dukedom is the only thing he cares about.”

To Kendal’s surprise, Thalia jumped into the conversation. “You might very well be right, Aunt, but you are also correct that you should not criticize him to Mama.”

“Yes, my dear.” The duchess’s lips twisted ruefully. “I shall say no more.”

The talk turned to gossip about things that had occurred during the recent Season, and again Thalia surprised him with her knowledge about people he knew she had never met.

It was not until they had traveled the short distance to the Melbrough estate that he had a chance to ask her. “How do you know so much?”

“Mama receives letters from practically everyone, and I am allowed to read most of them.”

When she tucked her hand in the crook of his arm, the feeling that she belonged next to him made him want to carry her off.

“We can either go inside or take the side path and walk around the gardens,” she said.

Pandemonium reigned as the other coaches arrived and the rest of her family filled the front. “If you are allowed, I would love to see the gardens.”

“I shall ask.” She looked at the crowd of people and found who she was looking for. “Mama, may I show Kendal the gardens?”

“Yes.” Her mother nodded absently. “But stay within view of the house.”

It wasn’t until they had strolled around the corner of the building that he realized how large it was. “I was afraid I would add to an already crowded house, but I can see I was wrong.” Built in an “I” shape, the building was of a deep-sand-colored stone stretching four floors high, topped by attics and underpinned with cellars.

“Yes, there is plenty of room. I like that it does not have a wall surrounding the property.”

Kendal had to think about that for a moment. Very few great houses were walled in now. Only a few of the older castles, like . . . Somerset. He’d traveled by once with his guardian, but they had stopped only long enough to admire the centuries-old castle that had been maintained as if it would be needed to protect the family from a battle again, complete with a curtain wall, drawbridge and moat.

He felt the need to reassure her. “None of my properties have walls surrounding them.”

Thalia smiled brightly. “That is good to know.”

They reached old-fashioned, Tudor-style gardens with low boxwood hedges surrounding squares and triangles of flowers now overflowing with blooms. “This is wonderfully kept.”

“My aunt particularly likes the gardens here. She says it is her favorite of their holdings.”

They found a bench in clear view of the south side of the house. No doubt a maid or footman had been posted to watch them. Taking out a handkerchief, he swept it over the already clean wooden bench. “Tell me about your family.”

“There are quite a lot of us.” She grinned. “You already know my older sisters and Hawksworth, and I told you about Frank, the second-eldest, who is in America. Quartus married the Duchess of Wharton earlier this year. They should be here by tomorrow. Sextus is in Russia at our embassy. Quintus is in the army and Octavius is in the navy. I have seen him only a few times. He left when he was ten and rarely comes home. Septimius was to have been in the clergy, but is now a secretary to Lord Stanstead and would like to run for Parliament someday. Nonus is studying law. One of my brothers died before I was born. Then there are Decimus and William, the twins, who are at Eton. The youngest, Mary, is twelve.” Thalia plucked a daisy growing next to the bench. “What about your family?”

Kendal’s family was not nearly as large as hers. “I have two older sisters. After that, several children did not survive, and then I was born.” If he was serious about her, and he was, it was time to talk to her about what few people knew. “I was married shortly after I reached my majority.” He slid her a look, but she was merely waiting for him to continue. “I had been betrothed before I was in leading strings, and the marriage was supposed to have happened when I was twenty, but my guardian would not allow it.”

Her finger came up, covering her pink lips. “That is quite young for a gentleman.”

“Yes, but not unheard of.” He watched her slowly denude the daisy. “We were not well-suited. My father had arranged the match, and I did not think I could honorably disclaim it. After all, she had been raised to believe she would be the Duchess of Kendal. We did our duty”—as much as he wished it had been otherwise, that was all it was to both of them—“and she was soon with child. A little girl named Lillian.”

“That is a beautiful name.”

“It suited her. Unfortunately, she caught a fever and died.” He would have left it at that, but Thalia stared at him intently.

“My wife was prone to temper tantrums. One night, it was storming, but she decided to leave. I wasn’t there, and none of the servants knew why she insisted on leaving that night. The coachman refused to take her, but she convinced one of the younger grooms to drive the coach. She took Lillian with her.”

Kendal should have been there. If he had postponed his trip to another of his estates for one day, he would have been able to stop his wife. “The coach ended up in the river. The head groom and some of the others had followed her when they discovered the coach missing, but the groom who had been driving was dead, as was my wife. Only Lillian was alive.”

This was always the hardest part to think about. He’d never told the story to anyone else, but he wanted to tell Thalia. He had to take several breaths before he could continue. “I came home as soon as I received the message, but I could do nothing to save her.”

Thalia’s hand covered his. “Unless you believe yourself to be soothsayer, you are not at fault. You could not have known.”

He covered her fingers with his own. “That is what Berwick always tells me.”

She drew in a sharp breath, and paled so alarmingly Kendal thought she would faint. “Berwick-upon-Tweed?”

“Yes.” What was going on? “He was my guardian. Thalia, what is it?”

Closing her eyes, she shook her head, but two tears seeped from beneath her lashes. “My—my father is trying to arrange a match for me with him.”

Kendal felt as if he’d been punched in the gut. “No.”

“Yes.” She nodded. “It’s true.”

But it wasn’t possible. He’d just come from Berwick, who hadn’t mentioned another marriage. Something wasn’t right. “It might be what your father wishes, but I can almost guarantee you that Berwick does not.”

“I do not understand. Father said Berwick needed an heir.”