Page 32 of A Virgin to Tempt the Duke

“His Grace has asked for his breakfast in the study this morning,” Simmons said, appearing beside the sideboard as she made her plate at the buffet. “He sends his apologies.”

“Of course,” Anna said as she took her seat.

Simmons silently poured her tea, gave a small bow, and withdrew without another word. Anna looked at the window.The rain from last night had cleared. The view was clear and still, the east lawn pale in the November light.

He is avoiding me,she thought as she bit down on a piece of toast, letting the pieces crunch in her mouth.Imagine that, a duke avoiding me?

She was not surprised nor particularly upset about it, or at least she was trying not to be. There was some logic to it. What had very nearly happened in the study last night was something that should not happen again, and avoiding her was a good way to ensure it.

She drank her tea and watched Percy strolling about the lawn.

Rachel appeared a few minutes later, pulling off her gloves from her morning ride. She paused in the doorway, took in the single place setting with a quick and comprehensive glance, and sat down across from Anna without commenting.

Another footman materialized to pour her tea. Rachel accepted it and looked at the sideboard.

“I’ll take some of that,” she said, as she went toward the cold bacon and helped herself at the breakfast buffet. “He is in his study,” Rachel said, not quite a question.

“So Simmons informed me this morning.”

Rachel made a small sound. It was not quite hmm and not quite ah. It communicated, nevertheless, a great deal. She reached for the bread and applied herself to buttering it with more attention than the task required.

“Are you all right?” She asked as she sat down.

“Perfectly so,” Anna said. “I slept very well.”

This was not true. She had slept perhaps three hours and had spent the other two staring at the ceiling. But Rachel did not need to know that, and in any case, Anna had decided on the walk downstairs that the correct approach to this morning was composure. Rachel looked at her over the rim of her teacup.

“Good,” Rachel said, and did not press.

They sat at the table in the calm quiet of the morning. A coal shifted in the fireplace.

Outside, somewhere in the park, a wood pigeon called once and was answered. Anna refilled her own tea and looked at the empty chair at the head of the table and then looked firmly at the window instead.

It is going to be a long day.

The letter arrived mid-afternoon. Frederick had been at his desk since before dawn, which was not unusual, and had worked through three estate accounts, a tenant dispute in the south quarter, and a letter from Barnes that required a careful reply.

He had done all of this with methodical and deliberate attention. He had not thought about Anna, or at least when he had, he pushed the thoughts away as quickly as they came.

He was re-reading Barnes’s previous letter when the new one arrived on the afternoon tray. Barnes’s seal, sent express. He broke it and began to read.

The matter proceeds well. However, it is my considered advice that Lady Birchall’s physical presence in London will be required to advance the petition. A formal deposition before a commissioner of oaths is the necessary next step, and that process cannot be completed by correspondence alone. I should also note that having her readily available during the filing period, to respond to any counterarguments from the opposing party, will significantly reduce complications and further delay. I estimate her presence may be required across two to three meetings, and recommend we proceed as soon as practicable.

Frederick put the letter down. He read it again, which did not change the contents. He stood and went to the window. Thegrounds were still and cold in the late afternoon light, the oak bare now.

He stood there for a moment.

London.

He thought about Birchall, whose main residence was in London. Whose solicitors were in London. Whose web of connections and influence was in London. He thought about what it would mean for Anna to be visible in that city, however briefly, while the petition was still in progress, before the annulment was secured, before she had any legal protection. Before the outcome was certain.

His hands tightened into fists at his sides as he began to pace.

He thought about Edgeware, too, and what the man might do if he discovered his cousin was within reach. He leaned over his desk then and pressed his hands flat against it, thinking. Then, he picked up the letter and folded it and put it in the drawer, and sat very still for a long moment.

The clock ticked. The fire went on. Percy, who had come in sometime in the past hour and arranged himself on the corner chair, regarded him from across the room with his serene amber eyes that felt too perceptive.

“Not a word from you,” he said.