Page 34 of Once Upon a Devilish Duke

He sighed. “Do not worry about Marianne, if that is what is playing on your mind.”

“I do not worry about her. She has her own mind, and whatever she decides with regard to Lord Dunstan is her affair.”

“Well said. Good to know we are of the same mind.”

“Are we?”

“You seem surprised to find that I want what is best for my sister.”

“You have a strange way of expressing it. You put your sister in an uncomfortable position, twice, with Lord Dunstan.”

“So I did. I am a terrible person. I would not borrow any more books from a man like me.” The smile that formed on his lips was infuriating. Worse, it did not reach his eyes.

“Perhaps I should not,” she said, crossing her arms over her chest. They were still at the carriage door, and Marianne and the dowager finally realized they were not behind them.

“Warrington?”

“Be there in a moment.” He bowed and indicated the direction of the steps with his arm. “After you.”

Rose turned and walked up the steps as gracefully as she could, considering the fury consuming her.

Once inside, they made for their usual position by the terrace doors. Dance cards were accepted and lemonade obtained. The dowager chatted to those around them while Rose and Marianne accepted dances. From afar, Rose could see her brother prowling the perimeter before disappearing into another room. Hopefully, he would stay in there all night. She was surprised to see him here at all. Unless he was looking for a wife himself. Cecil would not find one in the card room in any case. Perhaps he was just making sure she knew he was there. Secretly keeping tabs on her.

Rose danced a quadrille and then a country dance before returning to the side of the ballroom. The dowager was still there chatting away, but Marianne and the duke were absent.

Rose, thirsty from dancing, made her way to the refreshment table.

Marianne clutched the rail of the terrace as if it were the only thing keeping her standing, and perhaps it was. Lord Dunstan had asked for a private audience with her on the terrace, and the duke had agreed to it. She should have known that Edward would orchestrate such a meeting.

“I beg just a few moments to explain myself and to apologize to you, properly,” Dunstan began.

She turned his way, still holding on to the rail. “How could you explain your actions? They were reprehensible.”

He looked her right in the eyes and said, “I know it seems that way. You now know that I was working and part of my mission was to become friendly with Lucinda, to see if she knew anything about the secret her father had stolen.”

This did not excuse what he did. “I also know that she was nearly killed.”

“Yes,” he said, but his tone was sad.

“Was that part of your mission too?”

He glared at her. “Absolutely not. It was never meant to be more than a few dances. I reported that I did not think she knew anything, but Stafford was insistent. When she showed me the miniatures of her parents and I thought that maybe the secret could have been contained within them…”

“And was there?” She knew the answer, but she wanted to hear from him that what he had done was wrong.

“You know there was nothing.”

“Then why did you go ahead with painting the portrait?”

“It was my way of apologizing, and I had offered to do it. I could not tell Lord Anthony directly or he would have killed me. So, I tried to put a hint in the painting, but he did not see the painting until after it was too late.”

“This is all very pretty, but what has it to do with me?”

He pried her hands off the rail and held them. “Everything. From the moment I saw you, I knew you were the type of woman I could love. Every moment I spent with you was agony because I wanted to spend my time with you, but I had to play the doting beau to Lucinda. I should have stopped it. I should have told Stafford no, but he threatened to kill me and my younger brother, and Stafford did not make idle threats.”

“Anthony said as much about Stafford. But you never told us you have a brother. Or that you were being threatened.”

“Yes, he is at Eton.” He rubbed the top of her hand with his thumb absently. She tried to read his face. To gauge if he were lying.