Ruin Me Please (7 page)

Hurriedly scribbling his reply, Parker sanded and sealed the missive. 
He grinned widely
once again
.
“Dobbins, old man, we are to have
one of
the finest m
e
n in all of England visit us
this summer
.
  Take this quickly to the messenger.”

“Yes,
my lord
, right away
,
”
Dobbins replied shutting the door softly behind him
.

Parker
stood and
poured himself some brandy
pondering
the events of the last few years.  A lot ha
d
changed. 
They e
volv
ed
from rambunctious boys to men with great responsibi
l
ities.  Each
one
had to
shoulder responsibilities that
they
had
not necessarily
been
ready to bear
. 

Declan was one of the only friends that knew of his own heartache.  He
had not
even told his siblings, he
glanc
ed
at Peyton. 
He
did
not
want to burden them with his own
mistakes
.  He was
supposed to
be their rock and he
did not
want
them
to
be
troubled
w
ith the whole ugly business. 
He
watched the
slowly swirl
ing
liquid in his crystal tumbler
a
t his
reminisc
ing
.
 

Parker
laughed quietly,
blessed with a large
and
boisterous family, the Prodigious Per
e
grines
his father had called them
.  He
took a sip of his brandy
shaking his head
. 

Poppy was the worst of the bunch.  She definitely kept h
im on his toes, mettlesome to a fault.
  She definitely kept him busy. 
How dull he would be
without her to clean up a
f
ter. 

Poppy
and Piper both turned out to be
diamond
s, the best of the crop even after three years
.
Poppy’s
only fl
aw, if you
could call
it such
, was
the smattering of freckles on her small nose.  She ha
d
an adorable dimple that appeared
on her left cheek when
ever
she grace
d
you with one of her brilliant smiles
,
w
hich she did most regularly.  Unfortunately or fortunately, d
e
pending on how you look
ed
at it.
Due to the indulgences bestowed on her by the comfort
a
ble ease of her life, she sometimes thought a little too highly of herself and h
er abilities.  He had to watch over her
more than he did Peyton and that was sa
y
ing a lot.
 
He thanked God every day she
was not
a boy
, because that would have been more than he could handle.

“Parker
!”  The
door flung
wide
open. 

“
Well speak of the devil
,
”
Parker murmured
.

Peyton sputtered on a laugh a
lmost spitting out his last sip of brandy. 

“Are you talking
to yourself again
,
Parker?”  Poppy
chuckled.  “We will be dragging you off to Bedlam soon.” 

“No I am not talking to myself
.
”
H
e a
ngl
ed
his head towards Peyton
.
“
A
s you can see I
am far from alone
.” 

Peyton peeked from around the side o
f his chair and grinned, giving Poppy a jaunty s
a
lute
.

“Who was at the door?”  She asked
just as
nosily
as Peyton had before her,
leaning over her brother’s desk in an attempt to view the letter still open on the top
.  She was ten
a
cious.  When she wrapped her mind around
something,
you couldn’t
stop her. 

“I received a message
from an
old
friend
,
Declan Trenowyth
.
”
H
e
lifted
the letter
and handed to her to read
.

“L
ovely
.
”  Poppy beamed. 
“How very fortuitous
since we are having a house party.”

“
He
was
replying to my invitation.”

“Oh.
” she grinned, giving him a sideways glance.

His innocent gaze met hers. 
“You’ve
never met him
,
but I believe that I have mentioned a few of our tamer escapades
.” 
He shook
his head with a nostalgic smile. 

“
H
e
is
actually going to visit? 

“I’ve just sent off
a reply
.”

“
I don’t remember meeting
Declan Trenowyth
.”  She threw a glance at Parker.
 
“
Why was he not in London for the season?  Where is his home?” 
Poppy
peppered him with
question after que
s
tion
.

He laughed and held
up his hands to stay the rush of questions
.
“
I had no idea he was even back out in society.  He
has
n’t
been in London for the past few years
.” 

“
Have you met,
Peyton?
” 

“I’ve met him a time or two.”

Turning back to Parker, s
he gave her elder-brother a wicked smile and a saucy wink
, whispering,
“
Is he a notorious rake like you
,
Parker?” 

“Yes
,” Peyton
tossed out
from behind his paper.

Parker turned a glare at his brother
.
“So much has happened
.
”
  H
e exhaled raggedly
.
“
S
adly
he
lost his father and his brother in a very short period of time.
”

“Oh, how terrible
.
”
Poppy turned
serious for a moment.  “
I truly
am
sorry to h
ear about his loss
.
”
  She said in a soft voice.

“
I think it would do him a world of good to join us.  He lives in Berkshire w
hich is only a few hours ride from here
.”
  Her brother said reasonably.  “I think being trapped in a house full of Peregrine’s for a fortnight will definitely keep his mind occupied.”

“
I hope
Mr. Trenowyth d
ecides to join us
.
”
Poppy smiled. 

“He is the Duke of Hawksley now
,
”
Parker brought to her attention.  “He inherited the dukedom when his brother died last year.” 

“
He is
unmarried?”  Poppy tried to keep the interest out of her voice, but found it diff
i
cult. 
A duke!
 

“Poppy.
”  Peyton snorted.

“He is unmarried.”  Parker
flashed
a wary glance
her way,
his eyes narrowed and his brow furrowed. 

“
Then
how can we refuse him a holiday at Rosebriar.  He will be a most
welcome
add
i
tion to our gathering
.
 
Wait until Piper hears of this. 
We will have several unmarried ladies
visi
t
ing
,
how exciting.
”
Poppy stated
with a grin
.
Her puckered
brow concerned Parker
even more
.  “Although I
find it hard not to dwell on the
misfortunes that
he
en
dured to earn the title of duke
.” 

Parker’s
eyes filled with sorrow.  “
His family was simply marvelous.
I wish you could have met them
, Poppy
.
 
I know he misses them terribly.” 

“Well
,
of course he
does
,
t
he poor dear.  My mission has now become to aid the new
d
uke in having a most spectacular summer
,” Poppy
declared.

“
You are such a delight
,
Poppy, a
lways thinking of others.  I knew I could count on you
.
”

“
I
wonder who he will prefer
, Chloe or Freya?  Do
es he like empty-headed chits?”  Po
p
py clapped her hand over her mouth stifling her giggle.  “Dear me, I’m n
ot saying that Chloe and Freya are empty-headed chits
.
”
  She giggled
again
as she paced
back and
forth;
tapping her chin
.
She turned inquiring eyes to Parker
.
  “Or
he might
actually
prefer bluestockings
.
  Pe
r
haps he is more inclined to ladies of scientific pursuits
.
”
S
he laughed gaily
feeling a spark of eage
r
ness
.  “
Perhaps
Piper
or
even
Agnes
, for that matter. 

“Poppy,” Parker admonished.  “
You are disturbing our guests and they haven’t even a
r
rived yet.
”

“I’m only trying to be helpful.  I cannot leave poor Agnes out s
ince
she
will be joining
us
as well.  She is certainly
a bluestocking
.
” 
She clapped
her hands enthusiastically, “
Ooh…this is going to be so
entertaining
.
” 

Peyton
coughed from
behind his paper. 

“What schemes are you hatching, dearest?”  Parker’s eyes narrowed.

“What makes you think I am scheming?”  Poppy’s eyes sparkled
as hope slashed through her
. 

“All I ask is that you do not get yourself into too much trouble.” 
He raised h
is hand in surrender.  “Can you please
make a concerted effort
to contain your hoydenish ways while our guests are around?” 

“
Of course
,
Parker
.
”  She beamed at him.
 
“
I will be an absolute angel.  I would never want t
o do anything to cause you discomfiture
,
”
Poppy stated
as she stood
on her tiptoes to kiss him on his cheek.