Page 7 of Only a Duke (Ladies Who Dare #6)

L ouisa gave a fake grin to the fake gardener, which, come to think of it, might look stranger than actually scolding the man!

But, Lawks, this duke deserved a good scolding.

He didn’t say anything. However, that smile—so vexingly knowing —remained.

It amazed her how a mere stretch of lips could convey so much more than words.

And then there was Leo.

That her brother and the duke were having a conversation hadn’t surprised her.

Leo loved slipping away from his governess to keep the company of their servants.

She had been the same when she was young.

She was still the same. She herself enjoyed conversing—gossiping—with the servants. They knew everything in and about town.

What worried her was that this was Mortimer.

She didn’t believe the duke lacked honor, but she couldn’t ignore the fact that the man was still an enemy of their family.

Who knew what nonsense he would whisper in her brother’s ear, given the chance?

If the duke had designs of his own beyond the book, she and her brother could become pawns in a dangerous game.

She wanted to avoid that at all costs. It wasn’t just this man’s presence she feared, it was the influence he could have if he lingered too long. The havoc he could wreak.

Had she let a wolf into the den by playing along with him and not clubbing him over the head with a candelabra or stabbing him with a knife?

Please, Louisa. You would never stab a man.

Well, she did possess a vivid imagination.

She dispensed with the fake smile and sent the man A Look instead.

Where on earth is that deuced book?

All her worries would be solved if she could just find the book.

“Your brows are furrowing,” he murmured. “This might be stating the obvious, but I gather you are not pleased by my approach.”

“I applauded your observation.” She opened her arms in a display of confusion. “From a thief to a gardener? You are a man of many talents.”

“I am.”

She scoffed at that simple admission. “I should have known you wouldn’t be able to wait leisurely for my missive. Is it because I am a woman or a Talbot?”

“On the contrary, I am simply not a man of leisurely pastimes.”

Louisa didn’t care to dwell on what sort of pastimes he might prefer. And heavens, this close, why did the man still look so maddingly handsome dressed in such drab clothing? Where had he even gotten such clothes?

Not the point, Louisa!

“Do you take all your disguises so seriously?” she muttered.

“Of course. Would you not?”

That innocent tone with an innocent question truly riled her! Louisa used the most sarcastic tone she could muster. “Is that really the point here?”

“If not, what is?” Another “innocent” question.

“It is that you are here at all! Right now! Dressed as a gardener!”

“Are you certain? Is it not that you lost the book?”

Louisa inhaled a deep breath. Very well. She had stepped straight into that jab.

“Lady Louisa,” the duke began, but paused, having the good sense to look a bit—a tiny smidgeon—sheepish. But that look only lasted for one brief second before it vanished beneath a cold shield of indifference. Was this a mask he wore? He wore it well.

But then, did all men not wear one? Women too. Even she lifted a smile for her stepmother while inside her chest her heart scowled. Mortimer should be no different. What did it matter? It had nothing to do with her. He had nothing to do with her.

“The book...?” he said, bringing her back to the present and leaving the question itself unspoken.

Yes, that blasted book. “ Well , I was searching my father’s study when I caught sight of you through the window.”

He gave a nod. “Which distracted you.”

“ Which reminds me, you still haven’t told me what you hope to accomplish by acting as a garden statue.” Acting all suspicious.

“I am not here to cause trouble, Lady Louisa. I am merely making it easy for you to deliver the book once you find it.” Those sharp, amber eyes searched hers. “It’s rather a mystery, the book’s lack of presence.”

You don’t have to tell me that, Duke.

He didn’t trust her, that much was clear. Still, if he wanted to dress the part so he could stay close, he should also act the part. She jabbed at a nearby shrubbery. “These bushes could use a good pruning.”

The duke adjusted the cap on his head and stepped up to the closest, already neatly trimmed shrubbery, catching a small leaf between his fingers.

The corner of his lips inched upward. “Pruning, you say? It’s true that like many things in life, if not pruned regularly, the most beautiful of shrubs starts to grow waywardly and recklessly. Though perhaps not daily.”

She glanced between him and the hardly wayward greenery. “What are you getting at? Is this your way of getting out of gardening duties?”

“Not everything benefits from a quick trim.”

Lawks. Also, do not fight with dukes, highwaymen, or criminals! “Since you are the gardener, prune it. Some. More. Lady’s orders.”

“No.” Resolute. But why did it seem like his eyes were laughing at her? He picked another leaf. “I respect a craftsman’s touch, and also my limitations.”

“That remains to be seen. However, did you truly have to go this far? Did you have to come here?”

He didn’t hesitate to nod. “Yes.”

Very well, fair answer. It was hard to believe a whole criminal enterprise was being run through the wagers in that book—at least some of them.

If Theodosia hadn’t enlightened her as to its secrets, she would have dismissed it as utter hogwash, but she had been persuaded.

And Mortimer had been hunting for the book from the start, which was telling in itself.

Drat, she had misplaced no ordinary ledger.

This mysterious organization wasn’t just in need of a pruning, but rather it was a weed that needed to be plucked from the earth altogether. But first things first. “We should show some interest in more of the garden so we don’t raise any suspicions.” Her stepmother’s eyes were everywhere.

“What about that tree? Perhaps we could be discussing it.” He pointed to a huge tree whose branches and leaves hung down to the ground.

She smiled. “Ah, yes. This weeping willow is my favorite tree. As a little girl, I would hide from my governess here.” In fact...

Louisa marched toward the tree, parting the branches with ease as she entered the shelter within. Inside, it felt like a second realm, one separate from the world beyond its shelter. A good spot now for a private conversation.

The duke entered after her, his voice cutting through the rustle of leaves. “You must have hidden a lot.”

She turned to him, smiling. “How did you know?”

“A feeling in my gut.”

“You are right.” Her gaze flicked to the sky of leaves, then back at him. “Even to this day, I still enjoy reading my books in its branches.”

He glanced up. “In its branches?”

Louisa stepped up to pat a particularly sturdy branch jutting out from the tree. “It’s thick and low enough to enjoy without the fear of falling to one’s death.”

“Fair.”

“It should also provide enough shelter to talk for a moment.” She met his gaze. “You must be wondering how I could not yet have found the book.”

“I am curious, yes.”

Louisa brushed her fingers against her cheek.

“I am curious about it, too. I cannot rightly explain it myself.” It was driving her rather mad, to be honest. A light breeze parted the curtain of leaves, and her eyes caught on a scene beyond the duke.

She gasped and took a few steps forward to get a better view, stopping beside him. “Are they kissing ?”

He turned to follow her gaze. “Who?”

She pointed between the leaves of the hanging tree, parting them slightly. “There, don’t you see them? It’s Milly and John! Dear lord, they are kissing in our garden. In broad daylight!”

He ducked his head, tilting it toward hers. His breath brushed her ear, “Ah, indeed. It is rather shocking behavior.”

Louisa’s whole body went taut. What’s more shocking is your proximity!

He was so close.

She took a quick step to the side. “Must you lean this close?”

A brow arched. “Didn’t you want to show me the two servants kissing?”

“That’s...” She hadn’t expected him to look so closely! “Never mind.” What was the point of trying to reclaim a respectable distance when nothing about their encounters was respectable?

A short pause before amusement laced a simple question, “Lady Louisa, are you embarrassed?”

“Are you not?” she retorted, suddenly a bit breathless. “Asking me such a question!”

Their eyes locked, and the devil danced in his. “Why be embarrassed about young lovers embracing?”

“You need an answer for that?” Lawks, why was she so riled by this man? Her heart drummed almost painfully, but she couldn’t help herself. “I am an innocent lady!”

“Would innocent ladies proclaim it so ardently?”

Louisa narrowed her gaze to slits. “What are you saying, Duke? Are you saying I’m not innocent?”

“Merely that the term can be debated.”

“Well, I have never kissed a man before. That makes me innocent, no?”

A lofty brow lifted. “And yet you know enough about kissing to recognize that it’s inappropriate for your servants—and you—to do it so publicly. Some might claim that to be innocence lost.”

“So I am not completely innocent because I am aware of what it means to be innocent or not?”

He shrugged. “It’s a debate to be debated.”

Blast the man. She was outdoors but somehow still needed air. And distance. And possibly a large stick. Hah! She would rather debate with a fence post—it was sure to prove less vexing.

*

Innocence.