Page 60 of Her Heartless Duke

Isaac frowned. “Any problems over at Bennet House?” he asked, knowing that Miles frequented the Bennets’ London residence to call on Daniel and Olivia’s cousin.

“Not that I am aware of,” Miles replied as he dug out the red ball.

“Are… both ladies all right?” he hazarded to ask.

His friend looked at him oddly. “Lady Olivia and Miss Fiona? I would think they are all right. There was no word of it otherwise.”

“Is Lady Olivia…?”

“As far as I know, things are as they should be in Bennet House.”

Isaac inwardly released the sigh of relief he had not been aware he had been holding in. If Olivia was all right, then that would mean that her illness had not progressed. If she even had said illness and he wasn’t simply blowing everything out of proportion.

And yet, it still did not explain why she had not shown up for their practice.

Perhaps she has been seeing that gentleman she claims to have in her heart?

That thought nearly choked the air out of him.

“So, is it true then?” Miles asked him, casting a sly glance at Daniel, who now had a couple of glasses at his elbow.

“Iswhattrue?”

“About you and Lady Olivia…”

Isaac’s stick shot out and he missed hitting his cue ball. “What about me and Lady Olivia?” he snarled.

Miles looked nervously at him and then, his gaze slid back to Daniel. Finding their friend still nursing his drink at the bar, he whispered, “People have begun totalkthat there is something between you and Lady Olivia.”

“What utter nonsense!” Isaac remarked acridly.

“Well, you have been seen together with her rather often…”

“I am merely accompanying her in her brother’s place,” he snorted. “You know how she can be quite obstinate once she has set her mind on something. If no one keeps an eye on her, she is bound to get herself in trouble.”

“Ah, so that is how it is,” Miles nodded with a smile as he positioned himself for his shot. “For a moment, I feared that you would become Daniel’s brother-in-law—you know he would never give you an easy time for it.”

“And here I thought you wished to become his cousin as well,” Isaac retorted, to Miles’ chagrin. “I have even heard it said that you have already taken up residence in Bennet House’s parlor.”

“Ah, nothing of the sort, I assure you…” Miles chuckled nervously, waving his hands before him right before he missed his next shot by a rather wide margin.

As Isaac poised himself at the other side of the table, his friend grinned and added, “By the way, I heard that Lady Vivian will be attending Lady Willow’s dance competition.”

Isaac paused and narrowed his eyes. “She will?”

He had known Lady Vivian for over a year and she was not one who would join a dance competition. She did not have a competitive bone in her body and she certainly did not mention it in her letters.

His friend nodded enthusiastically. “Well, she is attending with that bloke Bennington…”

“Bennington?” he scoffed in derision and proceeded to miss another shot. “But he is a complete and utter idiot!”

“A rathersafeidiot,” Miles corrected him.

“What the hell do you mean by that?” If his friend was not careful in choosing his next words, Isaac was of the mind to make him regret them.

Miles gave him a hurt look. “You did not exactly do yourself any favors last year,” he reminded Isaac. “When I heard the gossip, I had initially thought that it would make moresensefor you to be with Lady Olivia—her temperament seems much better suited to yours.”

“And where did you hear that ridiculous piece of information?”