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When she brought her hand up to clear her throat again, he rushed towards her.

“Alright, alright, you can stay. But only for a moment. And I am having someone take you home. You shouldn’t be out this late at night by yourself.”

Jenny huffed out a laugh as she took a seat in his study. “That’s rich coming from you. All the times I came here, I came on my own.”

David sat down in a chair opposite her and shook his head. “Other than the first night, no you have not.”

She gave him a questioning look.

“I sent one of my men out each time to follow you here and to follow you back home.”

Jenny was gobsmacked. “You what? How? Who? How did I not see them?”

David leaned back in his chair, stretching his long legs out in front of him. “I employ very good men who know how to trail people.”

“Why do you have men in your service who know how to do that?”

David shrugged. “I’m full of many surprises, kitten.”

Kitten.

His nickname for her settled over her and warmed her from the inside.

She sank into her chair, taking in the man across from her. “Yes, that you are.”

“If you’ve come to try and change my mind, it won’t wo—” David started to say, but she cut him off.

“The Duke of Dovegrove paid me a visit after our walk this morning,” she said matter-of-factly.

“He—what? Who?”

Jenny picked at a button on her coat. “Harry Featherstone. The Duke of Dovegrove? He was waiting for me when we got back from our walk.”

“He was there?” David’s voice was thin and suspicious.

Jenny nodded. “Yes. I went inside, and Frances was there waiting for me to usher me into the drawing room.”

David sat up. “What did he want?”

Jenny shot him an incredulous look. “I don’t know, Your Grace, to ask me about the weather?”

David huffed out a breath. “Don’t play coy with me, Jenny. Did you invite him? Has he called on you before?”

He was angry. Not outwardly seething, but his hands were balled into fists in his lap, and his foot began to tap on the floor.

“No. I was just as shocked as you are. I have never met the man, but he seems pleasant enough. He said he would call on me again. Frannie feels that this will lead to a proposal.”

David cracked his knuckles. “And what do you think?”

Jenny chewed on her bottom lip. “I agree. I wouldn’t be surprised if I was engaged by the end of the week.”

A muscle in David’s jaw ticked. His body was taught with tension. Realization dawned on Jenny, rendering her speechless.

He is jealous.

How has she never seen it before? She always thought of him as closed off, aloof, but if she were paying attention, she could see that his thoughts and feelings were on display just as much as hers. She just needed to know what she was looking for.

Armed with this new knowledge, she decided to poke the bear.