Page 59 of Her Heartless Duke

It took him several minutes to compose himself, to paste on the same expression he had always adopted around his sister—one of strictness tempered with a great deal of affection.

I will be strong, for Olivia’s sake, he vowed. And I will find the cure for this mysterious plague upon our family—no matter what it takes!

CHAPTERTWENTY-THREE

It had beenthree whole dayssince he last saw Olivia and Isaac was beginning to go out of his mind. She had not shown up for their intended practice two days ago and had not even sent word to him at all, which was most unlike her.

And most unsettling.

“Oh… Lady Olivia is still not coming?” The disappointment was clear on Horace’s face.

Isaac clenched his jaw. “Apparently not,” he snapped back in a curt tone.

“Mrs. Wilsondidsay the young Lady did not look too well when she accompanied her back to Bennet House,” Horace remarked glumly, seemingly oblivious to the storm clouds hovering over Isaac’s head.

However, his words had a different effect on him.

Did not look too well?Isaac found himself feeling rather chagrined. He had never left a woman feeling… less thansatisfiedbefore. He would like to think that he was not so inept in affairs of the bed that Olivia would refuse to show up for their usual dance practice.

But then again, her heart is with someone else,he reminded himself, recalling what she told him just before she leftthatevening.She is probably regretful to have shared such intimacies with me.

Those thoughts alone made him want to break something.

It seemed that the faithful butler of Anderleigh Hall finally read the room for he quietly excused himself instead of making any more remarks that would further antagonize his master.

He groaned in frustration as his hand raked through his long hair. He needed to get out or he was going to drive himselfinsanein his own home thinking about Olivia and all the possible reasons she had not shown up for their meeting or even just sent word to him.

At that point, it would have been more acceptable to him if she sent over some asinine excuse as to explain.

Somehow.

Stalking out of his study, he barked for his valet, and the man, to his credit, appeared almost instantly. Perhaps, he, too, sensed that Isaac’s mood was not at its best.

Or perhaps his staff wanted him out of the house before he drove all of them mad with his outbursts.

His valet was halfway through assisting him with a change of clothes when he asked himself how Olivia could burst into his life and, in the span of a few weeks, totally upend all semblance of order he had fought for.

He shook his head in disgust. Whatever—he just needed to get out and clear his head.

After that, he might be able to think up a better solution on how to deal with Olivia.

* * *

“You really have a preference for supporting these new gentlemen’s clubs, huh?”

Isaac looked up from the table to find two of his friends smiling at him. He simply smirked before he struck the white ball with his stick, watching as it bounced off the red ball, causing it to roll precisely into one of the pockets.

“You cannot possibly fault me for wanting to support a man trying to make an honest living,” he told them with a shrug. “And I felt like playing carambole.”

“White’s also has a billiards room,” Miles remarked as he grabbed another stick. “Anyway, I shall play with you, Langley.”

Isaac let out a slow grin. “Wonderful.”

“And I shall find something to drink,” Daniel declared. “If any of you gentlemen should need me, I shall be over there.”

He pointed towards one side of the room, where the entire wall was lined with shelves filled with all sorts of liquor. A lone bartender was polishing glasses for any of the patrons who might be hankering for a drink.

Isaac watched as his old friend strode off towards the bar with some confusion. He looked at Miles, who only shrugged and said, “He seemed rather troubled on our way here, but he would not say anything.”