Page 19 of Defying the Duke
When Dinah arrived home, she went straight to the bedchamber she and Chrissy shared without explanation and threw herself onto the bed. She couldn’t talk about this, even to Chrissy, who knew how Dinah felt about Abingdon. She was embarrassed more than anything, not just about what she’d let the duke do to her but what she’d hoped it could mean.
Oh, logically, she’d known all along his attention meant nothing, but the teeniest part of her heart would always hold onto hope. Or was it merely wishful thinking? Hope sounded like she believed it might somehow be possible for a duke to fall in love with her. Wishful thoughts knew it could never happen, but wouldn’t it be lovely if it did?
Tomorrow she’d have to return to Sutcliffe’s and pretend she hadn’t kissed one of the owners. That he hadn’t kissed her there.
The place in question throbbed as she remembered. She quickly shut off those thoughts.
A knock came on her door, and Chrissy peered inside the chamber. “Abingdon is here to see you,” she said softly.
Dinah closed her eyes and turned her face into the pillow. “Tell him I’m asleep.”
“He can hear us whispering.”
Sighing, Dinah sat up. “Can you take Grandmama to the market? I don’t wish to be overheard talking to him.”
Chrissy nodded, and when Dinah entered the front room, His Grace was alone. She bobbed a quick curtsey.
“That’s not necessary, you know,” he said. He looked as though he hadn’t slept in a week, his hair showing the tracks of his fingers threaded through it, and his face was drawn. She felt pity for him, almost.
“I think it is,” she said. “Will you sit?”
He shook his head. “But you may. Please.”
She sat in the chair she preferred and waited for him to speak. In the long silence, she fought not to ask if he was unwell and what she might do to help him. She hadn’t seduced him or done anything to cause him to take the liberties he had—no, she couldn’t think of it that way. She hadn’t asked for it, but she’d given of herself freely.
Abingdon paced toward the window and looked out. “Sometime in the brief time between when we left your office and when I returned, my brother came. The door was unlocked.”
Dinah gasped, realizing exactly what else was unlocked. She covered her face with her hands. “Oh, God.”
“Yes.”
“How much did he take? I will pay it back. Are they certain it was him?”
Abingdon came back toward Dinah. “He was still there when the guard returned. He got nothing, but it doesn’t matter.”
He didn’t need to explain it for Dinah to realize that leaving the money where anyone could steal it was much worse than having it stolen from her desk.
“I have to let you go.”
For a moment, she thought he meant he would stop flirting with her, but no, this was so much worse. “I understand.”
“As your employer, let me say we’ll pay you the wages owed up to today. I doubt my partners will agree to a letter of recommendation under the circumstances.”
Tears pooled, then spilled down the sides of her nose as she nodded. “I understand.”
He knelt in front of her. “Now let me speak as Jack. I will take care of you and your family. It’s my fault any of this happened. It’s not fair that you lose not only your job, but also the chance of finding a similar position because of the actions of me and my brother.”
Dinah wiped at the wetness on her face. “You don’t—”
“Don’t deny me this, please, Dinah. If all you’ll allow me to do is continue to pay your salary, then I will do that. But I want more…”
He would offer to set her up as his mistress again, and she couldn’t bear the idea. “Please, don’t say it. I can’t do that. Grandmama will know what we do, and I cannot shame her that way.”
“Let me—”
“And no decent man would wish to marry the sister of a courtesan. I can’t do that to Chrissy.”
“I must be allowed to finish,” Abingdon said sharply. “I don’t want a mistress. Unless that’s the only way I can have you. Dinah, you intrigue me like no other woman has. Your wit delights me. You’re beautiful and intelligent…I can’t be in the same room with you without wanting to be nearer.”