Page 87 of Second Duke's the Charm

Why couldn’t she resign herself to settling with what they had? Wishing for more was only asking for heartache.

And yet foolish hope persisted.

She refolded the letter just as Justin entered the breakfast room, looking his usual handsome self.

“I need to return to London,” she said without preamble.

He glanced at the paper in her hand with a frown. “Nothing bad, I hope?”

“Oh no, just a small business matter.”

“Is it anything I can help you with?”

A hot flash of guilt swept over her at his seemingly genuine offer. She disliked having to conceal the true reason from him.

“Thank you, but no. It’s not connected with the duchy, just an appointment I must attend.”

He nodded and she let out a tiny huff of relief that he wasn’t questioning her further.

“Very well. I could do with getting back to business myself. If you don’t want to ride with me, I’ll have the carriage readied for you. We can leave after lunch.”

“Have you had your belongings transferred to Wansford House?”

“I sent Simms back to town yesterday evening to see to it.”

She smiled at him. “In that case, I look forward to giving you a tour.”

Justin stared at Tess across the breakfast room. Was he a fool for wanting to believe her? Did she truly have business in town, or was that letter in her hand a summons from a lover?

He willed her to leave it on the table so that he might lower himself to some shameful snooping, but she tucked it into the pocket of her skirts.

He was glad she’d suggested leaving Wansford Hall. He’d been about to suggest it himself.

His pulse pounded at the sight of her, sitting there, looking so beautiful it made his chest hurt. She appeared so guileless, so content.

Perhaps it was his imagination, but she seemed to have become even more lovely since they’d arrived. There was something different about her, a satisfaction he couldn’t quite pinpoint. She seemed more sensual, more alluring than ever. A poet might even have said that she’dbloomed.

Not that he’d ever subscribe to such flowery nonsense.

Perhapshewas the one who had changed? Had he, like so many others before him, fallen dangerously under her spell?

No. She was a distraction. He needed to go back to London and throw himself into his work, to rid himself of this terrible desire to be with her. Not just to make love with her, but at other times, too. To make her laugh, or to listen to that husky voice of hers. She could make even the most prosaic description of drainage ditches sound seductive.

Justin ran his hands through his hair. For the first time in his life, the thought of going back to work was… unappealing. The need to prove himself, to succeed, had paled. In fact, the only reason he could think of to earn money now was to spend it on Tess. To clothe her in the most beautiful dresses. To shower her with jewels.

What was wrong with him? He had everything he’d set out to achieve. With Tess at his side, as his hostess, he should have been looking forward to conquering yet another section of society, to widening his connections, increasing his profits. And yet it all felt hollow.

Perhaps by the time they got back to London Simmswould have discovered something that either condemned or exonerated her when it came to the “accidents.”

Could she really be so duplicitous as to wish him harm while melting so passionately in his arms? He hated to consider it, but experience had shown that people were quite capable of looking him in the eye while planning to rob him blind.

He prayed to God that Tess wasn’t one of them.

Chapter Thirty-Four

“Daisy, Ellie, I think I’m in trouble.”

Tess sank into one of the armchairs at King & Co. with a ruffle of skirts.