Page 16 of Corrupting his Duchess

“I wondered how long you’d keep hiding from me,” he drawled, uncrossing his arms and stepping into the room. “Seems I had to follow the music to find you.”

Anna’s fingers tightened around the edge of the piano. “Lord Vaun,” she said carefully, dipping a shallow curtsy. “I was wondering when you would eventually show up,”

His pinched face looked like it would crack if he dared smile. “I almost didn't. But then, I heard you might be…here.”

Anna quickly schooled her features, firmly looking into his piercing green eyes that looked nothing like that of his cousin,the Duke of Yeats Tall, on the thin side, his blond hair neatly parted, his green eyes sharp and cool, Matthew was the very image of calculated propriety. Not handsome in any devastating sense, but polished, practiced, and watchful, a man who always measured the situation before he spoke.

Matthew stepped closer, his hands clasped deliberately behind his back. “Practicing alone. At a party.”

Anna forced a smile, light but strained. “It’s quieter here.”

“Quieter, yes.” His gaze swept the empty room, sharp and assessing. “But hardly appropriate. I hear you’ve been absent from the gathering for some time.”

“I was hardly gone for so long and besides I needed a reprieve,” she said, glancing at the keys.

“A reprieve.” He tasted the word like it displeased him. “From your obligations?”

“From company,” she replied, her attempt at levity soft, fleeting.

But Matthew didn’t smile. His expression remained unreadable, his tone clipped. “You should not make a habit of vanishing, Lady Anna. People notice.”

Her fingers drifted along the ivory keys. “Let them notice.”

“That’s unwise.” He stepped closer, his shadow stretching over her. “You underestimate how swiftly whispers spread. “That’s unwise.” He stepped closer, his shadow stretching over her. “You underestimate how swiftly whispers spread. Especially when your father left behind more scandal than legacy.”

Anna’s fingers stilled. For a breath, she said nothing, her profile composed, but her gaze fixed on a point beyond Matthew, as if bracing against something cold.

“Must everything be politics, Lord Vaun?”

His brows lifted, coolly. “Everything is politics. Whether you acknowledge it or not.”

She exhaled, weary. “You’ve come to scold me, then?”

“I’ve come,” he said slowly, “because you’ve ignored my last three letters.”

“I’ve been busy.”

“Too busy to answer?” His voice sharpened slightly. “Too busy for courtesy?”

Her gaze met his, defiant despite the tightness in her chest. “Too busy for pretense.”

A faint flicker crossed his face, quickly suppressed. “You’re playing a dangerous game, Lady Ana. You know how this ends.”

“I don’t intend to play at all.”

Matthew’s lips pressed into a thin line, his tone cooling further. “Then you’ve left me no choice but to remind you, silence is not a shield. It’s an invitation.”

Anna’s lips pressed together, her gaze falling to the keys again. “And here I thought tonight might be free of such talk.”

Matthew straightened, smoothing an invisible crease in his cuff. “You’re too clever for that hope.” His eyes roved the quiet room one last time before settling on her.

He inclined his head stiffly. “Enjoy your reprieve, Lady Anna. But do not expect it to last.”

And with that, he turned, his steps precise and measured as he left the room.

She watched his retreating back for a beat, her posture still. Then, with a quiet breath, she lowered the lid of the pianoforte. So much for the notion of finding a moment’s peace.

“Anna!” Gretchen’s voice rose softly as Anna stepped into the corridor. “Where have you been hiding?”