Page 6 of Defying the Duke
She climbed the steps to the third floor, where Grandmama had supper ready and Chrissy was setting the table for them to eat.
Chrissy glanced up when Dinah entered the large main room and took off her pelisse. “You look happy. Has some handsome prince offered to sweep you away to his principality and marry you?”
“Of course not. I just had a silly conversation on my walk home.” Her eyes widened as she realized she’d now have to admit to the duke being worried about her safety and why. She bit her lower lip as she took the plates off the shelf and carried them to the stove for Grandmama to serve supper.
“Talking to yourself again, are you?” Chrissy asked. She filled a pitcher with water and carried it to the table.
“And who were you walking with, young lady?” Grandmama asked. “Should I be setting another place at the table for Sunday dinner?”
“No, nothing of the sort. One of my bosses was walking this way, and we talked about the coronation.” Dinah hoped the vague response would satisfy her grandmother’s curiosity.
She hoped wrong. Grandmama dished a portion of the meat pie and handed it to Dinah. “One of the dukes knows my granddaughter well enough to chat with on the street?”
“He is my employer. He’d have done the same with Father.”
“That’s different,” Grandmama said.
“How?” Chrissy asked.
“One’s your father and the other is your sister, of course.”
Dinah shrugged at Chrissy. “And yet we’re both employees. Or Father was.” A sudden heaviness weighed in her chest. Three months had passed, and it still hurt to remember he was gone.
Chrissy took the last two plates and carried them to the table where Dinah sat. Sitting, she spread her napkin in her lap. “Which one?”
Dinah frowned in question.
“Which of the dukes? Was it Nomansland? He’s so handsome. And how ridiculous is that title? Nomansland!”
“His grandfather, the first duke, was not held in favor by the King. The Queen was the one insisting he be rewarded for some service to her, so the King chose the most absurd territory he could find, Nomansland.” Grandmama paused to sip her water. “Is Gabriel a friend of yours, Dinah?”
“You know him well enough to call him by name?” Chrissy asked, her voice filled with awe.
“His father was a schoolmate of your father,” Grandmama explained. “Of course, they grew distant as adults, but I was fond of him and kept up with the news of his family when he married.”
Dinah swallowed her mouthful of pie. “How did we not know this? Father never talked about his childhood, but you’ve told us many stories.”
Grandmama tipped her head to one side in thought. “I don’t know. It wasn’t important. He knew the previous Duke of Abingdon, too, you know. Eton.”
“Is that how Father came to work for him?” Chrissy asked.
“Your father’s way with numbers impressed the elder Abingdon as far back as university. He could rattle off percentages and potential gains and losses off the top of his head.” Their grandmother’s face softened as she smiled in memory. “He was such a smart lad, your father. And an even smarter man.”
“Just like Dinah,” Chrissy said.
Grandmama reached over and cupped Dinah’s chin gently. “You’re so much like he was. If only you could find a love like he had with your mother. Then I could die happy.”
Dinah lowered her gaze, wishing they’d talk about something else. “Well, you won’t be dying anytime soon,” she pronounced. As she settled into spinsterhood, it was beginning to look like Grandmama would live forever.
CHAPTER 3
Three days later, Jack found himself with nothing to do by midafternoon, which never happened. Caught up on correspondence, he went downstairs to the main gaming room and strolled around the room, watching as his dealers interacted with guests. Sutcliffe’s had some of the best dealers in Town, both in their accuracy and their ability to keep losing players from becoming disruptive. Sometimes it almost seemed the losers were happy to part with their money just to stay at the tables here.
Nothing in any gaming room required his attention, and he grew restless, having no purpose. Glancing at his pocket watch to discover it was only three o’clock, he grimaced. He couldn’t get a round in at the boxing club and return in time to walk with Miss Westfall at six. He imagined his chances of convincing her to leave now were slim to none, yet he found himself crossing the room toward the back staircase.
She smiled as she stood when he entered the office, but her brows drew together when she glanced at the watch on her desk. He assumed it had belonged to her father, as the size seemed too large for a lady’s reticule. She didn’t question him and went back to her ledger.
“Sit, please. Don’t let me disturb you,” he said facetiously, noting she didn’t wait for his permission to sit, as she should have due to his status. Her lack of reaction to his presence might have been insulting, if he weren’t her boss. He shut the door behind him.