A/N: AU where homosexuality is an accepted practise, therefore the actions and reactions of the cast shall reflect on only personal feelings and not actual societal reflections of the times
The Duke of Thornton was coming to town, well-known rake extraordinaire and libertine. So the townsfolk hid their maids and daughters behind closed doors and careful chaperones... Unfortunately, they didn't realise they should have been hiding their footmen and boys!
"My dear Duke! How wonderful of you to join us. It has been entirely too long since we last saw you in the neighbourhood." Bows and curtseys from all the staff and hosts' family members who were lined up in the front entry hall waiting for him to remove his hat.
"Indeed, it has. When I received your invitation I simply had to drop everything and come here to see you all. I must know everything that has been going on. Tell me, my friend, how is life treating you?" He removed his outerwear and handed it over to a waiting servant with the briefest of glances.
"Good, good. Shall we go into the parlour to talk? This way." The Earl of Marlborne traipsed down the hall and led him into a warm, sunny room with bright blue walls. The family followed warily, taking seats on the various gold upholstered couches that lined the smallish room.
"Reintroduce me to your family, Marlborne. I swear I hardly recognise them." He waited as his friend hesitated a moment, exchanging glances with his wife.
"Yes, of course. My wife Eliza, I am sure you remember." He nodded and turned to the four young people who sat nervously on the couch, not meeting his eyes. "These are my girls, Glenda and Mary. My boys Theodore and Edward."
"Goodness. How old are they now?" He sat next to his friend leisurely after each had waved or nodded at the sound of their name to show him who was who.
"I'm the eldest at seventeen. Glenda is two years younger than I, Mary three years younger, and Edward is the baby at twelve years old." Theodore piped up bravely. The Duke looked over with a kind smile which evoked a return smile from the boy.
"Yes, Teddy is going to be joining us at the party. I think he is old enough now to be part of the adult festivities." His mother beamed with pride and Teddy blushed under the praise like a good child.
"Indeed. That is wonderful. I am so happy that your family is well. I forget how much older you are than I, until times such as this." The Duke chuckles with the Earl.
"I was a friend of your father's. I don't know why it would surprise you so." The Earl replies.
"Yes but... a son grown! It does not seem so long ago that I held him as a babe in my arms. How old was I?" The Earl thought a moment before responding.
"You were about Edward's age I think. It was hard to tell though, since you were so prone to trouble so early in your years. My Edward is much shyer than you ever were." The Duke laughed. He got up and The Earl followed suit.
"Well, my friend. We must speak more later. For now, I must get some rest after my journey. A pleasure seeing you all again. Lady Eliza." He bowed all around, gave her hand a quick squeeze and sauntered out of the room. Silence descended on the remaining occupants.
"Are you mad? What on earth possessed you to invite him for our celebrations?" Eliza hissed at her husband, stomping over to her girls and wrapping her arms protectively around her eldest, Glenda.
"He is my best friend's son. I always invite him. It just so happens that he actually said yes this time. What do you want me to do? Say he has to leave? I can't do that. You know I can't. I owe too much to both his father and now him. So keep your mouth shut and keep an eye on our girls. I have already warned the housekeeper not to send any maids up to his room. It should be fine." The Earl wrung his hands and left the room. The two boys shrugged and asked their mother to be excused to go riding.
*
"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.
"You may call me Douglas, if I may call you Teddy?" The Duke asked as they wandered from the hill. The boy looked over in surprise. He nodded and smiled as a small flush of pleasure overwhelmed him. He felt honoured to be thought of as the duke's friend.
*****
"Did you see the look on her husband's face when she handed him the dog? I thought he was going to hurl in our entry. I would not have been able to stop from laughing if he had." Teddy giggled madly as they wandered down the orchard path.
"Well thank goodness he did not. For if you had started laughing, I am certain I would not have been able to stop myself." The Duke drawled.
"At least we would have gotten into trouble together then." Teddy grinned in his direction and began walking backwards a-ways to keep eye contact. The Duke smiled sinisterly and lunged at him with a sparkle in his eye. Teddy yelped as he tripped in his excitement to turn around. The Duke caught him by the arm and helped him regain his balance.
"Careful. If you scrape yourself your mother will never forgive me." He said quietly, holding the boy close for a few seconds longer than necessary. Teddy panted unsteadily, noticing the gesture in confusion just as he let go and turned away. He watched the older gentleman pace through some bushes to a small frog pond hidden on the other side. Teddy followed a little more slowly. He watched as the Duke took off his jacket, rolled up his sleeves, removed his boots and stockings, and rolled up his trousers so he could step into the cool water.
"Douglas? What are you doing?" He squatted next to the pond and watched. The Duke looked over his shoulder and grinned.
"What does it look like? I am catching a frog." He looked focused and waded further along the bank. Teddy looked askance at him, but he didn't notice the younger man's raised brow.
"You are going to get soaked." He said in warning. His gaze lingered on the strong tanned arms and legs revealed before him. The Duke was more muscular than his clothing let on. He wondered how the man managed to stay fit with all his carousing, according to his father at least. He was startled when the Duke lunged forward suddenly, splashing everywhere. He laughed at his own reaction as much as the jubilant gaze of the triumphant hunter.
"I got him!" He said proudly, holding out his hands as he waded over to show the boy his catch. Teddy leaned forward, hearing the croaks from between his hands as he slowly opened them enough to reveal a small frog perched in his palm. Its eyes blinked up at them and it hobbled a jump in an attempt to escape, making them both laugh. The Duke put his hands low down to the water and let it go. They both watched it swim away from them quickly.
"Well now. I warned you that you were going to soak yourself." His voice drifted off when he saw how close the half-dressed man was leaning towards his face. Teddy's blue eyes met a pair that rivaled the bright green hue of the frog he had just released into the pond. They stared with a strange look behind them, making him blink at the intensity.
"Are you going to help me get out, or what?" The Duke's voice was low and sexy as he reached a hand out to the boy. Teddy cautiously reached out to grasp it. He should have braced for the tug, but he was lost in those green eyes staring into his and instead... fell forward into the water, boots and all.
"Bloody hell!" He yelped as he crashed into the Duke's chest, surprising the both of them. There was a great splash as they both fell into the water. Two gentlemen surfaced with a gasp at the cold water and sudden soaking. They crawled to the bank and out. The Duke's boots and stockings had been too close to the edge and were now soaked as well. They sat staring at each other before bursting out into laughter at their misfortune.
"I am so sorry. I thought you were braced for me." The Duke finally said. Teddy shook his head, more at himself than the other man's words.
"I was... distracted." He mumbled, not looking at the Duke. Douglas leaned forward and grasped his chin lightly, forcing the boy to look at him. Teddy gulped, his innocent confusion more than could be borne. Douglas slowly moved his face a breath away, feeling the warmth of the boy's panting against his mouth. Teddy's eyes drifted to the mouth that was so close to his own, then shut as it descended on his.
The kiss was brief, but powerful. Douglas pulled back reluctantly, almost sure he was going to be decked. When Teddy just sat there, eyes closed and dumbfounded, he took the opportunity to stroke the boy's cheek tenderly. Teddy's eyes popped open and Douglas moved in for another taste. This time angling his head for better access to the sweet, plump lips in front of him. This time, licking the bottom lip to beg entrance inside. This time scraping his teeth along as he dipped his wet tongue into Teddy's mouth to taste his shallow gasps.
Teddy was swept away. He had never even kissed a serving girl this way. This man was more skilled than he or the serving staff combined. He made Teddy's head swim and his hands grasp the wet material of Douglas' shirt, desperate to hold on. He sent tingles through Teddy's body as he fisted low in the hair on Teddy's neck to hold him firmly in place. He swirled and licked his way around Teddy's mouth until he felt dizzy from it. A low moan was wrung from him as Douglas pulled back to let him have air.
He blushed under the tender caresses of his kisser as he caught his breath. The Duke flopped back in the grass, heaving a sigh. Teddy watched him, laying out on his side next to him so he could keep an eye. Douglas was struggling internally, finally turning his head to stare back. The boy was sizing him up, no longer dazed from the mouth battle but still a little confused about the situation.
"Seems you are rather depraved after all." Teddy finally said with a grin. The Duke smiled back rather wickedly.
"Hmm, yes it seems so. Do you mind?" He turned towards the boy, propping himself up in much the same manner, head on hand. Teddy's eyes went distant a moment, thinking back on what had just occurred.
"I... I don't think so. It's a bit confusing, but I cannot find it in me to mind it terribly." He was frank and open, a shy smile gracing his reddened lips. He plucked at the grass with one hand.
"Ah, Teddy. Perhaps I can clear things up for you. I am afraid I like you. Besides being vastly amusing, I am quite enraptured with your beauty and wit. Whatever shall I do?" He crawled forward to lean what turned out to be a firm, muscular chest against Teddy's wiry one. Now on his back, he gazed up trustingly at the man poised above him in the dappled sunlight of a coming sunset. The Duke cursed his sweet, naïve lover for tempting him with such wide blue eyes and soft looks. He stroked a hand through the damp locks of Teddy's hair, admiring the way the sun set strands to look like fire in the light.
"Are you going to seduce me?" He asked from underneath him, echoing the grin that was shot at him without understanding what it was for. The Duke mused to himself that he thought that was what he was already doing, which was oblivious to Teddy.
"Perhaps I shall. But not today, today we must find a way to sneak past the guests and dry ourselves before we catch cold." He pulled back, willing to go slow enough that his new love might keep up.
"Yes, mother shall be furious if we cause a scene in front of the guests. I can show you the back way in, through the serving quarters. I have lifted many a fresh honey bun from the kitchens when I was sent to bed." They chuckled and began gathering their things up to carry back with them. Arms full of boots now empty of water, jackets and stockings still damp from being wrung out, they trekked across the lawns instead of following the paths set out for the guests.
A couple grooms caught them and waved cheerily as they went about their work. Teddy was obviously well liked by all the staff. Proved by the gentle scolding he received from the cook as they tried to tiptoe through the kitchen, the tittering of the maids that clustered in groups to gossip as they passed, and the raised brow of the butler as they snuck up the back stair. They chuckled to themselves that while his parents might be oblivious to their antics, the whole estate would know about it by lights out.
"I must go this way." Teddy pointed down the right hall with his boots. Then gestured to the left. "That way is your room. Go down to the end and up the little set of stairs, it will take you out into the guest wing hall. Your room should be just across from the stairwell door." The Duke nodded. Then he moved in close, that their torsos grazed and each could feel the heat of the other.
"Thank you." He whispered. He bent down to steal one last brief kiss before heading off to his chambers to change.