Beyond the Bedchamber

The Wronged Rake Part 1

*

"It is too hot. Whose bloody bright idea was it to have a picnic?" Teddy complained as he wiped his brow with a kerchief.

"Your mother's." The Duke whispered as he tried to fan himself with a napkin. They exchanged a glance between them and chuckled tiredly. The other guests would be showing up on the morrow, so Lady Eliza planned a family outing. It just turned out that it was one of the hottest days they had experienced in weeks.

"I don't know what you are complaining about. At least you weren't stuck in the carriage with her on the way over. Mary kept kicking her seat and I thought it would take forever to get here." Glenda whined as she fanned herself with vigor. The three of them sat slightly apart from the others. Mary and her mother were still arguing over the carriage incident while their father shifted between watching them anxiously and trying to placate his wife.

"Why does he keep staring at us?" Teddy muttered.

"Your father is worried I am going to ravish your sister on the hillside." The Duke said sarcastically.

"Really? Are you?" Glenda grinned in his direction. Teddy sat up a little to hear the answer.

"No. Silly girl. I am far more likely to ravish Teddy." They both giggled and flopped over, making the Earl peer curiously in their direction.

"You are hilarious. The way my father spoke we thought you would be some depraved old man." The Duke joined their laughter with his own at that.

"I am." He finally confessed with a last chuckle.

"You are what?" Teddy asked. Gasping a little from laughing so hard.

"A depraved old man." He said, looking at him with a suddenly serious expression. Teddy blushed a little under the intensity of his gaze. He fidgeted with his kerchief and lowered his eyes.

"You are not so old, I think. Not yet thirty if my arithmetic is correct." He quietly muttered. The Duke heard him and grinned.

"Hmm. Then perhaps just depraved." He said darkly, lifting the boy's eyes to meet his once again. Glenda yawned, not quite feeling the tension that was building in the air.

"Well, what makes a man depraved exactly. I have never met a rake before. What do you do that is so bad?" She asked curiously.

"Let me think. I drink spirits." He replied first. She giggled.

"My father does that. What else?" She begged.

"I gamble with money." He drawled. She giggled again, this time Teddy cracked a smile too.

"Ple-e-ease. Even my mother does that. Come on. What else?" She bounced a little, wound up from the conversation like young misses can get.

"Ah. The worst. I prey on young people who don't know better than to steer clear of me." He said suggestively, with exaggerated raising of the eyebrows and a squinty glare. She broke out in peals of laughter at his antics. He could not hold the look for long as Teddy giggled with her at the ridiculous face he made.

"What is that? Are you a seducer of innocents after all then?" She finally gasped. He shrugged and looked in the direction of her parents.

"So they say." He replied a bit sadly. Teddy plucked at the grass for a minute before lunging to his feet.

"I cannot stand it a minute longer. I am riding back to the house. Will you join me, your grace?" He grabbed his riding crop and set his hat properly back on his head. The Duke lunged to his feet as well and bowed to Glenda before following her brother over to their horses. She caught her father breathing a sigh of relief as they left.