Georgina had been pregnant again herself at the time, and had given birth to just that, twin boys.

Yes, the Malorys at Christmas were a wonderful sight, Jason thought. His life only lacked one thing to make it perfection.

Chapter 2

AS THE HOUSEKEEPER, MOLLY USUALLY WASN’T present when the Malorys dined, but today she was supervising a new maid who was serving for the first time. By long practice, she managed to keep her eyes away from Jason’s handsome face, sitting at the head of the table. It wasn’t that she thought she might give herself away if she was caught staring at him, though she supposed that was a distinct possibility. Sometimes she simply couldn’t keep her feelings from showing, and she had a lot of feelings where Jason Malory was concerned.

No, she wasn’t so much worried that she might give herself away, it was that lately, he was revealing too much when he looked at her, and he didn’t seem to care anymore who might notice. And with the house rapidly filling up with his entire family, there were a lot more people around who just might notice.

Molly was beginning to suspect that he was doing it on purpose, that he was hoping they would be found out. Not that it would change her mind about anything, but he might think it would.

It wouldn’t, and she was going to have to assure him of that if he didn’t return to his usual show of indifference when others were around. They had always been so careful, never giving away by look, word, or deed what they meant to each other, at least when they weren’t alone. Until their son learned the truth, the only one who had ever come upon them in a moment of intimacy had been Jason’s niece Amy, when she’d caught them kissing. And that wouldn’t have happened if Jason hadn’t been foxed at the time.

Keeping their relationship a secret had always been important to her. She wasn’t gentry, after all, and she loved Jason too much to cause him embarrassment. Her lack of social status was also why she had convinced Jason that Derek should never know either, that she was his mother, though he hadn’t wanted to keep that from his son. Not that Jason had considered marrying her back then. But he’d been young and, like anyone else of his class, adhered to the fact that a lord did not marry his lowborn mistress.

He had instead married an earl’s daughter, just to give Derek and his niece Reggie a mother figure. Which had ended up a disastrous decision, since his wife, Frances, had been anything but maternal. A pale, thin woman, Frances hadn’t wanted to marry Jason in the first place, had been forced to it by her father. She’d deplored his touch, and their marriage had never even been consummated. She had lived most of it separated from him, and had finally insisted on a divorce, which she had ultimately used blackmail to obtain.