Free The Hunt Club Chronicles Bundle by Heather Boyd Page B

his way, but the children didn’t leave their desks. Puzzled, Nathan turned to the tutor and he hurried to untie them from their chairs.
    Nathan’s blood boiled, but he hesitated to react in front of the children. They didn’t need to see this altercation.
    When they were free, they ran into his arms and hugged him tight. Pushing aside his rage, he returned each embrace and then set them aside. “Children, who might this person be?”
    The children didn’t get a chance to reply because the man approached and held out his hand. Nathan looked at it, but didn’t take it. “I am Mr. Plumpton, Your Grace. Nephew to your valet.”
    Ah, that explained the vague sense of familiarity about his features. “Children, there is a present waiting for you in my study. James, please be sure to share the cause of my delay when you get there. I’ll join you all as soon as I can.”
    James straightened, scowled at the tutor and whisked his younger siblings out the door.
    “Now then, Mr. Plumpton we need to discuss your employment and continuing good health.” Nathan closed the door and shut away the rest of the house.
     
    ~ * ~
     
    Light footsteps rushed into the study and then the happy squeals of his employer’s children assaulted Henry’s ears. They didn’t give him time to rise from the chair. Cecily burrowed her way past her elder brothers and crawled into Henry’s lap. James the elder slapped his shoulder a few times, but the middle boy latched around his neck like a barnacle and wouldn’t let go.
    “Hello children. Pierce, I do need to breathe.”
    “Come on, Pierce, let him go,” James said, tugging on his brother.
    The younger boy stepped back, but his eyes were huge. He was afraid. Henry checked the doorway for their father, but the space was empty.
    “I’m glad you’re back, Henry. It’s been dreadfully, frightfully dull without you here,” Cecily whispered against his collar. Well, against her father’s collar. Henry was still wearing the borrowed suit of clothes.
    “Well, I am here now but I have much to do. Hadn’t you better get back to the nursery? Mr. Bridgewater will be missing you.”
    “Mr. Bridgewater is gone . Mama dismissed him,” Cecily whispered, clinging tighter to his chest. Henry glanced among the children, but each face agreed.
    He had often wondered if Bridgewater had been comfortable here at Grantley Park . Donning the guise of a subservient was foreign to Terrance Bridgewater. But this was where they’d agreed to build new lives after the nightmare of the Hunt Club. But Henry wished his friend had been given the chance to say goodbye before he’d departed the estate.
    Not knowing what to say, Henry patted Cecily’s back and glanced about. Any minute now he expected the duchess to sweep into the room, or at least Nathan to return. But given the way the duchess had thrown herself at her husband, he would no doubt be delayed. The thought gnawed at his insides.
    Lifting Cecily, he dropped her to her feet and circled the large desk. There was a wealth of business awaiting his attention. “Either way, you had better return.”
    “Oh, no, Henry, Papa sent us here to entertain you. He wished to speak to the new tutor.”
    As relief made him giddy, Henry tried not to sway into the table. At least Nathan had visited his children before succumbing to his wife’s blatant demands for attention and that consideration was sweet music to his soul. To cover his jubilation, Henry picked up the mail, shuffling the invitations that had stacked up: a ball, a dinner, a shooting party, all events that would take Nathan away and exclude Henry.
    Shaking off his sudden black mood, he resolved to make the most of his time with Nathan. Be it in bed or out, every second was worth experiencing.
    “I see the children found their present.” Nate strode across the room, eyes fixed somewhat lower than they should be.
    Shuddering as Nate’s obvious desire aroused him, Henry bent to pick up an envelope to hide