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even at his age to find anyone to rival him.
    Although she had sat down, Lord Lainden had not spoken.
    â€œWhat is worrying you, Uncle Edward?” asked Della quietly. “I cannot think why His Grace must bring all his problems to you.”
    Lord Lainden smiled.
    â€œHe expects me to solve them for him, my dear, as you are well aware. But this one actually concerns you .”
    Della looked astonished.
    â€œConcerns me! But why me – and about what?”
    There was a pause before Lord Lainden replied simply,
    â€œJason has come home.”

CHAPTER TWO
    Della stared at the uncle in sheer astonishment. “Jason has come home!” she exclaimed. “I do not believe it.”
    â€œIt is true and I thought you would be surprised.”
    â€œI am astonished. But why after all these years?”
    They were speaking about the Duke’s only son, the Earl of Rannock, who had lived abroad in France for the last five years.
    He had always been a raffish young man.
    When he grew older, although his father and everyone else begged him to settle down, he refused. He spent his time with the fastest and most questionable Society beauties when he was living in London.
    Then he journeyed to Paris and the stories of the parties he gave, and the women he gave them for, were the talk of his relatives and friends. The gossips of Mayfair naturally found him an irresistible subject of their conversation.
    Perhaps only Lord Lainden knew how deeply hurt the Duke was by the behaviour of his son and heir.
    He certainly tried in every possible way to make Jason see sense and behave more reasonably.
    Of course he suggested he should marry and have a family.
    If Jason did not do so, the title and the estate would pass to an obscure cousin on the Duke’s death and he was unmarried and nearly as old as the Duke.
    It seemed as if the Dukedom might be lost forever and there would be no future Earl of Rannock, which would be a tragedy as the Dukedom was extremely old and could be traced back to the Battle of Agincourt.
    To say that the Duke was proud of his antecedence was to put it mildly. To him it was almost sacred.
    He had spent a lifetime improving Wood Hall and the estate and he had collected every possible portrait he could find of his many ancestors.
    The Duke had many relatives, but there were none in the direct line except for Jason.
    Jason had been in trouble ever since he was born.
    He was a sour, sickly child who became almost uncontrollable as he grew stronger. He behaved so badly when he was sent to Eton that the Headmaster threatened to expel him.
    It was understandable that when Jason appeared in the Social world, women pursued him for his title and his money.
    However, he chose the most outrageous and notorious females to be his closest associates. In vain the Duke begged his more respectable friends to invite Jason to their parties, but he either refused them or behaved so badly when he did attend that they never asked him again.
    In some ways it was a relief when he moved out of England announcing that he found London boring and bought a house in Paris.
    It was impossible for people not to learn how he was behaving in France and for the Duke not to hear about it.
    Over and over again, as Della knew, the Duke had rushed to her uncle with a story of Jason’s latest outrageous behaviour. At times he seemed almost in tears.
    That Jason ran up enormous bills was immaterial, the only thing the Duke wanted was for him to marry some suitable young lady so that he could take over the running of the estate.
    Jason’s answer was very clear.
    He was not interested in country life or country pursuits.
    He rode and he drove in the Bois de Boulogne in Paris accompanied by the most fantastic Parisian cocottes , who he encouraged to be even more outlandish than he was.
    Della was a schoolgirl when her parents were living in London and the Duke’s relatives would whisper about Jason when she was present. Yet