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never really had one…or at least a close-knit family. “What else would you like me to tell you?”
    “Oh, I don’t know. I have just enjoyed hearing about how other families live. Did you go to Eton?”
    “Actually, yes.”
    “I’d heard that most sons of nobility go there.”
    “Most do.”
    “What did you do after you were out of school?”
    She placed her hand on top of his. Warmth spread through him and he adjusted his hand to entwine their fingers.
    “I joined the army. After a few years, I made the rank of Scout Officer. I have done everything imaginable from the Battlefield Artillery Officer, to infantry, to Calvary Scouts, and even a spy. Whatever was needed, I filled the shoes and did what was asked. I would have stayed in the army if I hadn’t been wounded.”
    “Exactly how were you wounded?”
    “My unit was on a scouting mission searching for the enemy camp. One of the men stumbled over a log.” Calvin shook his head as the scene played in his mind. “An enemy sentry heard the commotion and opened fire. I was hit three times in the leg. My men got me back to camp, and the bullets were removed, but the surgeon didn’t want to take any chances the bullets would cause an infection and then it would spread through my leg, so his alternative was to remove it. My brother—who was my sergeant during that time, commanded the surgeon to leave my leg alone. Thankfully, the wounds stayed free of infection and I was left with only a limp.”
    “Your brother definitely saved your life. Even if the surgeon would have removed your leg, that didn’t guarantee the infection wouldn’t have spread.”
    He nodded. “You are correct. I didn’t realize you knew things like that.”
    “Because my mother helped from time to time at the hospital, I heard many horror stories.”
    He patted her hand. “I commend you for wanting to learn more.”
    “I love learning new things.” She shrugged one shoulder. “Why do you think I’m allowing you to teach me how to become a lady?”
    “Not because I’m paying for your brother’s medical care?”
    She chuckled. “Well, besides that.”
    He turned to face her better on the edge of the bed, and took both of her hands in his. “Tell me, are you enjoying yourself at all? I know you didn’t want to come, but I hope you have had some delight out of this trip so far.”
    “I’ll confess , it hasn’t been as awful as I thought it would be. However,” she paused, frowning, “I still fear the moment my grandfather looks at me, he will reject me. He’d hurt my mother, and I have a sinking feeling that he will not be very kind to me, either.”
    “My lovely, Dorothy,” he said as he rubbed his thumbs across her knuckles in a gentle caress. “I know your grandfather well. He is a very stingy bugger when he wants to be and ornery to boot. But when he hired me to find you, as well as offered to purchase new clothes and accessories for you, I knew it was because he really wanted to meet you.”
    She looked at him with a critical stare. “Is he dying?”
    “This, I don’t know. I have just been told his health is declining.”
    She released an uneasy breath. “I still worry that once he sees me, he will be disappointed.”
    The saddened tone of her voice tugged at Calvin’s heartstrings. He reached up and cupped her face. “If seeing you disappoints him, then he is not the man I know…and if he rejects you, I shall know the old duke doesn’t have a lick of sense.”
    A soft smile bracketed her face. Closing her eyes, she cuddled her face against his palms. “You are such a kindhearted man.” When she looked at him again, her gaze was dark with desire. “And so wonderful,” she added in a whisper.
    His heart nearly jumped out of his chest. The way she gazed at him with so much admiration had him feeling like the man he never thought he’d feel again.
    Although she wanted to take things slow with him and get to know him, he knew he must kiss her now…or go