Page 12 of Just About a Rake (Ladies Who Dare #5)

L eonora’s heart lodged in her throat as she followed the duchess from a distance, hoping she was being stealthy enough. Only, she didn’t feel stealthy at all. Oh, no. It felt as if a magnifying glass were trained on her every movement. At any moment, she half-expected the duchess to turn and wink in her direction as if to say, “Oh, yes, I see you there, darling. Sleuthing is not in your blood.”

She pushed those thoughts away, forcing herself to focus.

Had the duchess seen her at the fight?

She didn’t think so. The woman had been staring at the match before she’d turned on her heel and made for the exit. Leonora hadn’t paused to think—she’d simply followed. Too many questions whirred in her head. What was the duchess doing here? Alone? What could her motives possibly be? Had she come with someone like Leonora had? And was she truly who Leonora suspected her of being?

She wanted answers.

Needed answers.

Too many threads fluttering loosely in the wind—the secret meeting in the park, the duchess calling on Dare, her offer at the lake. Leonora squared her shoulders with determination. She might feel like a criminal creeping along the street, but she would follow the duchess, and hopefully, today would bring some of the answers she sought.

Leonora’s footsteps quickened as she padded after her. She was just about to turn into a street the duchess had already disappeared down, her gaze fixed ahead, and— crash! —she collided with something—some one —solid.

Lord!

The sudden impact jolted her a step backward, and she gasped, trying to regain her balance as the world seemed to spin for a moment. Firm hands gripped her arms as she wobbled, steadying her.

Oh, dear. This is what happens when you creep about!

She took a step back, lifting her head to apologize, ready to offer thanks for the man’s quick intervention, when her eyes locked with his. A cold chill ran down her spine, and for a breathless moment, time seemed to stretch, her heart nearly stopping in her chest.

No.

This was in no way a good moment. What were the horrifying chances? What were the impossible odds of such an encounter?

Heart?

I was careless.

“Careless?” His eyes darkened as his face twisted into fury.

Had she spoken out loud?

“You are right about being careless, Leonora,” he growled. “In fact, careless doesn’t even begin to describe it! Reckless is more like it!”

Her brain went blank. “What are you doing here? Were you at the fight, too?”

“You are asking me that? What the devil are you doing here?” He swept the area with a cold look. “Why are dressed like that? Are you here with someone? Whose jacket is that? Wait —what fight?”

Leonora struggled to keep up with his flurry of questions, but the last one hit her like a blow. Drat. Why had she asked him that? She’d outed herself without meaning to! And she had no good reason for being here.

“Heart?” A voice came from beyond her brother. His back shot straight, his eyes opening wide.

The duchess.

Leonora instinctively took two steps back while Heart stood at the corner of the two streets, blocking the view between her and the woman. Had the duchess passed her brother and retraced her steps? For now, at least, Leonora was hidden, obscured partly by Heart and partly by the building, keeping her out of the duchess’s line of sight.

“Heart? That is you, isn’t it?” the duchess pressed. “Are you just going to ignore me? I thought someone was following me, but I never expected to be you.”

Leonora stared at Heart.

So many emotions flashed across his face, emotions Leonora had never glimpsed on him before while he kept eye contact with her. The Duchess of Crane meant something to him. Or at least, she had meant something to him at one time in the past. That much was as clear as the sky above them.

He turned to the woman in question.

Leonora stared silently at Heart’s side profile, her mind still rather blank. She didn’t know how many seconds passed when a hand clamped around her wrist, yanking her back. She stumbled a few steps, and before she could process what was happening, a hand covered her mouth, muffling any protest. Blast it! She was pulled into the shadows of a nearby wagon—one she hadn’t even noticed until this very moment—her body pressed against the rough wood.

Leonora blinked as her eyes came level with a half-buttoned shirt, revealing a strong set of chest muscles.

Dare.

Wasn’t he fighting?

However, a great sense of relief washed over her. “What are you doing here?” Leonora asked in a hushed voice.

“Chasing after you. Why did you leave like that?”

Her eyes widened as she remembered her purpose. “Oh, that. I’m sorry. The duchess was at the fight, but she left, so I followed her.”

“The duchess was at the fight?” He turned thoughtful. “I suppose that makes sense. It’s about the only thing that could make you tear your eyes away from me.”

Leonora punched him in the arm but couldn’t help a hushed laugh of exasperation from following. “How can you jest about such things? My brother caught us.”

“He caught you, not me.”

A minor detail. “He saw your jacket.”

“But he cannot know for sure that it’s mine.”

“Oh, he knows,” Leonora said, somewhat flustered. She wiggled from his embrace and peered around the wagon. “I want to listen.”

“Very well but don’t lean over so far,” he advised, his hands lingering on her arms once more. Had he always touched her like this? Small, seemingly innocent gestures. Or was it that she was only becoming aware of them now?

She glanced back at his face, his exposed chest, and averted her gaze again. Her pulse stirred. Noticing was dangerous. Noticing made her want to notice more.

“What is happening over there?” he asked, hunching beside her but not peeking like she was.

You are happening .

Whatever that even meant. Lord, the man was so... so... distracting . It seemed almost unfathomable that they had now found themselves in this position. This situation, that Leonora herself couldn’t clearly define.

She placed a finger on her lips and strained to listen. They had missed the first part of the conversation, but not, it seemed, anything of real significance.

Heart’s voice, unmistakable in its exasperation, rang out. “Devil take it, Your Grace , how many times must I tell you I’m not following you? Shall I scale the walls of this building and shout it from the deuced rooftop so that all of London might hear? Will you believe me then?”

Leonora arched a brow.

“Forgive me if I find your word hard to trust,” the duchess said.

“Believe what you will. You always do.”

“Well.” A new voice entered the conversation. “This is an unexpected surprise. I thought I saw you at the fight, Duchess.”

Leonora recognized that voice, didn’t she? Hadn’t she just heard it casting taunts at opponents? She glanced at Dare, raising a brow. Your cousin?

Those dark-blue eyes settled back on her and nodded. Then he flashed her a roguish grin. Infuriating man. Why was he smiling at her like that? Was he flirting? At a moment like this?

He’s always smiling, Leonora.

True. But tell that to the pulse in her wrist!

“Who the hell are you?” Heart demanded. “What is this damn fight?”

“He is my son,” the duchess voice came, “and a participant in a private boxing match nearby. I was curious.”

Son?

Leonora’s breath caught in her throat. A wealth of implications were hinted at in that one word, but she couldn’t begin to decipher the true meanings. She shot a look at Dare over her shoulder. If Drake was the duchess’s son and Dare was his cousin... Did that make them all family? Had she been flirting with her own family? Surely not. Dare and she... Her brain refused to process the information.

Even Heart was silent at that, apparently unable to think of a response.

The grip on her wrist tightened, and only then did she realize she’d tried to snatch her hand free from Dare’s grasp.

Calm down, Leonora. Dare didn’t know her secret, so he wouldn’t imagine anything wrong.

“Since when have I been your son?” Drake snapped, drawing Leonora’s attention back to the conversation. “We share no blood.”

Leonora let out a sigh of relief, not listening anymore. Suddenly nothing else mattered except she hadn’t been teasing— kissing— family! However, her curiosity sparked again. Even at that, she knew her luck was running out.

We should leave. And soon—before the three dispersed and Heart set his nose back on her trail. She’d rather face him back home than here, so she sank back, surveying their surroundings for a route of escape. As it was, her heart already threatened to burst through her chest. She could only imagine what it would do if they were discovered together, huddling behind a wagon.

Dare caught on. “The alley...” he whispered close, sensing her desire to flee the scene while they were still able.

*

Dare brought them to a halt only when they arrived back in the vicinity of the warehouse. They hadn’t wandered off too far, and his carriage should be just around the bend. Dare turned to Leonora. Her breathing was ragged, akin to that of a woman who had just run ten miles without pause, and she bent over, clutching her belly. The day had certainly taken an unexpected turn—more than one, truth be told.

“Leonora . . .” He hesitated. “Are you all right?”

She held up her hand. “Give me a moment.”

Her complexion had paled slightly, and the smile that usually played at the corner of her lips—or the very least, sparkled in her bright eyes—had vanished. It was as though the farther they retreated from the wagon, the more her spirits waned. Had she heard something troubling? He hadn’t been listening closely, only observing her. And the streets. Guarding.

“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?” she answered quickly. Too quickly.

Dare narrowed his eyes on her. He didn’t believe her, but he also couldn’t drag her troubles from her lips. If she didn’t want to confide in him, he couldn’t force her. But he could be a rock she might lean on.

He caught a silky tendril of her hair between his fingers. “Perhaps because you look as though a ghost has chased you to death’s door and back.”

“Don’t say silly things.”

“You think I’m being silly?” Should I retrieve a mirror for you? He’d known enough women in his life to leave the last part unsaid, but he wanted to see the teasing glint return to her eyes.

“Aren’t you?” She drew in a deep breath. “I’ll be fine in a moment.”

He glanced around. There wasn’t even water to offer her.

She straightened and attempted a smile. “There. See? I’m all better.”

He didn’t believe her for a second. Something had unsettled her. Had she feared being caught with him? Granted, it was a frightening prospect, but it also didn’t ring true.

“Leonora, the duchess and your brother...” His voice trailed off as those blue eyes fixed on him. A flicker of something—something that put her on instant alert—flashed in their depths.

“What about them?” She sent him a pointed look. “Also, shouldn’t you first tell me about this cousin of yours? The duchess called him her son, but they don’t seem to be blood.”

Ah, yes. He’d heard the comment but hadn’t thought much about it. Had Leonora thought it true? He supposed she might have. “Drake isn’t her son. He’s a by-blow of the late duke. She must have been indulging in a bit of sarcasm.”

“I see. So, your cousin is illegitimate, then.”

Dare heard the note of relief, which further spurred the niggle growing inside him. His brows drew together as Heart’s face popped into his head like a sore tooth. He’d glimpsed the man’s profile before they’d dashed into the alley. Some feeling about the look on his face, even just from the side, niggled at Dare.

What was going on?

Who was the duchess to the Heart family?

“He is, yes. He has also never been recognized by his father. Not even as he lay dying.” It probably wouldn’t have mattered even if the duke had recognized any of his sons. The man possessed a cruel nature. His cousin and his brothers were better off this way.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Leonora said softly.

“Shocked?” Dare asked with a faint smile. “Does it bother you? His mother is my mother’s sister. She fell from grace after her affair with the duke became public.”

“Only slightly shocked. And completely unbothered. Your cousin is fortunate to have you as family.”

Her earlier question resurfaced, prompting him to ask, “Would it have mattered if he were her real son?”

“Of course it would.” Her eyes widened before she said hastily, “I mean, of course, it would not have. Why would it have mattered?”

Why indeed.

But Dare didn’t want to add to her troubles. He wanted to add to her smiles, her brightness, so he simply said, “You do not have to tell me if you don’t want to.”

“It’s not that, it’s just—” She paused, drawing in another deep breath. “It’s almost impossible to say.”

“Then don’t say it.” He wanted to know, was so damn curious the words nearly stuck in his throat, but he didn’t need to know. The latter was better in any case. Knowledge led to entanglements.

Those were never good.

He ignored the voice laughing inside his head, mocking his attempts to stay free from entanglements.

But what could be so devastatingly hard to speak aloud? What family secret could be so impossible to voice? Given Heart’s history, and that that it involved the duchess, as well as Leonora’s mother and her question about Drake...

Dare’s gaze fell on Leonora’s pinched lips. Her eyes were cast downward, her heart-shaped face so much like...

Almighty heaven.

Could it be?

Was this the secret?

The duchess had left London twenty odd years ago and never returned until now. Apparently always wearing black. Mourning... who exactly? And then there was Leonora’s curiosity about the woman.

Did the duchess have a daughter?

Leonora?

Christ in Heaven. Her visit to him took on a whole new meaning, and he suddenly wished he could pluck the forming bud of suspicion from his mind. Leonora’s family secrets had nothing to do with him. He didn’t want to know them. He didn’t want to know any secrets, for that matter. He just wanted to live his life without it intertwining with anyone else’s in away way that it could never again untwine .

As if sensing his regard, she suddenly looked over, and their gazes locked. Usually, a smile or a question mark would enter at this point, but they remained cautious.

Assessing.

An odd sense of pain swelled inside him. He’d always felt Lady Leonora to be like the sun in the sky—beautiful, bright, and wholly out of reach. Too warm for a man like him to touch. He could only ever bask in the scant she rays allowed. To him, she was as unattainable as that fiery globe, offering a measure of light to men like him prone to walk in darkness.

Without her light . . .

He would stand in nothing but shadow. Who would have thought the sun had such a heavy burden to carry? A burden Dare wished to hell he could bear for her. A burden that could at any time cause this sun to lose its glow.

This secret she carried—he knew at once she carried it alone. Not because no one else in the family was privy, but because they wouldn’t have included her in the secret. If his suspicions were correct, he could understand why. But this clever temptress had discovered the truth anyway, and it had taken on a new form of burden. It was one he could never carry for her, but he longed to take it on if it meant she would smile again. Even just once.

No, he couldn’t carry her burden, but perhaps he could lighten its weight.

Entanglements, Dare. You’ll never be able to take this back.

Then so be it. For the only thing he wanted back this instant was her spark of light, the slight corner of her lips tilting up. Even the slightest measure of warmth would do. He would take any stray ray at this point. Not for him, but for her.

“The duchess,” he paused when her gaze returned to him, but only for a moment. “You have an uncanny resemblance.”

Her brows furrowed. “I . . . we do?”

“Yes,” Dare said. “The shape of your jaw is similar.” Though she had the same eyes as Heart, which had made the family’s ruse so believable all these years.

“Oh?” She looked uncomfortable. “I hadn’t noticed.”

Little liar. Little burden-keeper. This was indeed a secret that could shock the proverbial trousers off London. But most importantly, most frighteningly, it was a secret that could render her instantly and forever ruined. Was this why she was so bold in seizing moments? So brazen and fearless in her approach to life, in her flirtations with him?

It made sense.

“She is your mother.”