Married By Midnight by Julianne MacLean

truth—not to plunge himself into another temporary, and no doubt dangerous affair. Besides, he wasn’t sure she would be agreeable to such a self-indulgent plan, and he certainly didn’t want to disrespect her after all she’d been through. He did his best to purge the idea from his mind.
     
     

Chapter Six
     
     
    Garrett was reading the Times and sipping coffee alone in the breakfast room a few days later when his mother entered and stopped just inside the door.
    “ Good morning,” he said as he folded the paper and set it aside on the white tablecloth. He noticed how lovely his mother looked in a sky-blue morning dress with white trimmings. She had celebrated her fiftieth birthday earlier that year, but was still as slim and attractive as she had been in her youth.
    “ I am sorry to disturb you,” she said, “but I thought you might like to meet Dr. Thomas. He has been treating your father since the spring. Perhaps you have some questions you would like to ask?”
    Garrett did in fact have a number questions regarding his father’s state of mind, for the duke was suddenly a proud and doting parent. Was it simply memory loss? Did he even remember that Garrett was illegitimate?
    He finished his coffee and stood. “As a matter of fact, I do have questions. Is he here now?”
    “ Yes, I asked him to wait in the library.”
    Garrett followed his mother out of the breakfast room and walked with her along the east wing corridor and down the red-carpeted stairs. The double doors to the library were closed, but his mother pulled them open and led the way in.
    “ Garrett, this is Dr. Thomas. He has been coming all the way from London twice a week since the spring to tend to the duke. Dr. Thomas, this is my son, Lord Garrett.”
    The doctor—a handsome older gentleman with gold-rimmed spectacles—bowed to him. “It is a pleasure to meet you, my lord. I understand you have been abroad and only recently returned?”
    “ Yes, that’s quite right,” Garrett replied, taking note of the fact that his mother was quietly backing out of the room and pulling the double doors closed behind her. “I’ve been living in Greece for a number of years.”
    “ But you have come home to marry your beloved. I had the honor of meeting Lady Anne a few minutes ago when I arrived. She is stunning. Congratulations to you both.”
    Garrett nodded at the compliment and invited the doctor to sit down in one of two wing-backed chairs that faced each other in front of the unlit fire.
    “ You have been seeing my father since the spring?” Garrett said.
    “ Yes. When your brother, Lord Hawthorne, returned from America and learned of your father’s condition and the odd circumstances of his will, he hoped a diagnosis of some mental incapacity might render the will null and void, but sadly he had been deemed perfectly sane at the time the will was drawn up, so there was no hope of negating it. Though I believe the lawyers are still looking into it.
    “ From what the duchess tells me,” he continued, “I understand you and your three brothers have done what you must to secure the fortune either way. You are the last one to marry and the requirements of the will shall be satisfied. Once that is settled it is more a simple matter of proper medical care...ensuring your father is comfortable and safe in the final years of his life.”
    Garrett crossed one leg over the other. “What is the life expectancy in such cases?”
    Dr. Thomas gave him a reassuring look. “It’s difficult to say. The good news is that your father is extremely healthy in every other way. His heart is strong and he is incredibly resilient. I don’t see any reason to be concerned that his days are numbered.”
    “ I see. That is good news.” Garrett glanced toward the bright windows and tapped a finger on the armrest.
    “ There is something else you wish to ask me?” Dr. Thomas said. "Please, Lord Garrett, rest assured that anything we discuss today will be kept