“Oh, very much so,” Rose enthused. “The artists did such a magnificent job of depicting the expressions and the musculature. I am amazed by the intricate details. They are a marvel, and I am so grateful that the Duke of Devonshire has so graciously made them available for people to enjoy. It is one of the few places my mother allows me to go on my own.”
“You are unaccompanied?” Alex’ incredulity brought a blush to Rose’s cheeks.
“Well, of course, my maid is about somewhere,” Rose excused with a vague wave behind her. After an awkward moment, she returned to the purpose of her visit. “Thank you again for coming. I was not certain if you would. I know this cannot be comfortable for you.”
“Curiosity would not allow me to keep away. You have not acknowledged my existence for more than two years, and then I received an urgent request to meet you here. So here I am.”
“I was not even certain if you had received my note, as I could not ask you to acknowledge it. My parents would never have allowed me out of the house if they had any inkling I was going to be meeting up with you.”
Rose was embarrassed over the boldness of that admission, but it was necessary, so she ignored it as best she could and plunged further into her explanation.
“I overheard a conversation while I was at the Yorkleigh musicale that I felt you needed to hear about.”
“Have you taken to eavesdropping, my dear?” he asked, teasing her once more.
Rose knew her face was practically on fire now, but she ignored that as well as his comment. “They were discussing how best to entrap you into marriage,” she blurted out.
This finally brought the duke’s sober attention to her face. Rose forced herself to meet his gaze as he searched her face before he asked, his tone one of disbelief, “Do you seriously expect me to believe that someone was discussing such a subject in your hearing at the musicale? And if you did hear a couple of silly debutantes having such a conversation, why did you consider it such an urgent matter as to arrange a clandestine meeting with me? Are you perhaps trying to trap me into marriage for yourself?”
She had expected some resistance from him, but she had not thought he would turn on her so completely. Feeling her face smoothing into the stony impassivity usually reserved for uncomfortable social occasions, Rose’s voice took on a frigid chill. “I do not care what you believe, Your Grace,” she stated, while dipping into an ironic curtsy. “I was labouring under a delusion of misguided loyalty to a childhood friend that caused me to go out of my way to warn you that grown men are conspiring against you and using debutantes to do it. But if you do not care to learn about it, I pray you will forgive me for inconveniencing you by this ill-advised meeting. I wish you a good day, Your Grace.”
Unable to maintain her impassive façade, Rose felt tears gathering in her eyes by the end of this speech. Turning away so that the duke could not see, she once more busied herself with her drawing materials, packing them away and making to leave.
Rose heard him make a growling sound low in his throat. She was unsure what it meant, but then Alex grabbed her by the arm and spun her back to face him. “I apologize, Rosie, I meant you no insult. I know you would never stoop so low as to trick me into marriage. Please, I know you went to a great deal of effort to tell me about this, forgive my churlish behaviour and tell me what you know.”
Gulping back her tumultuous feelings, Rose mustered her composure and launched into her tale. “It was at the musicale hosted by Lady Yorkleigh two nights ago. My dear friend, Lady Elizabeth, who I was sitting with, had to go speak with her mother for a moment during a brief intermission in the performances. I remained behind because we had managed to get great seats from which to enjoy the music. I assure you, I had no intention of eavesdropping. I did not even realize the gentlemen were there, as they were behind me and obscured from my view by this strange, sculpture-like object in the room. I really cannot tell you what that object was, and it is the one thing that makes me question Lady Yorkleigh’s tastes, as everything about their home is quite lovely.”
“Yes, yes, Rose, I know the object you are talking about, please get back to the matter at hand. Quit trying to avoid the ugly part. I have known you for far too long.”
Rose felt the colour rise once again in her cheeks, acknowledging the truth of his words. She continued, “I would assume they could not see me, either, or else they would never have said anything in such a location. I am undecided if I am glad they did or not. I feel duty and honour bound to tell you, but I dearly wish I was never involved and that they had never hatched such a scheme in the first place.”
∞∞∞
Alex was now over his initial reaction to her words and was again enjoying her company. He had missed his friendship with Rose quite keenly. Hearing her now trying to dither about in order to avoid getting to the truly unsavoury part of her story reminded him of just how deeply he had enjoyed their friendship and what its loss had meant to him. He realized he would happily spend the day listening to her put it off, but clearly it was a serious matter and he needed to get to the bottom of it. He decided to pry it out of her.
“So, who were the gentlemen?” He thought this would be a straightforward question, easy to answer.
“You have to remember that despite my advanced years, I am a debutante and have been out of the country for a couple of years. Unless someone was involved in the Congress, I really am unacquainted with most people. I had to get Elizabeth to identify one of the men for me. He was wearing the most dreadful puce waistcoat. I did not wish her to know about the matter, so I told her that is why I wanted to know.”
“And did that help her to identify the gentleman in question?” he prodded gently.
“Yes, she explained to me that the poor man was in mourning for his wife and had lost all his funds and so had no one to tell him that he should never wear that particular shade. It was actually a nice colour, come to think of it. I think you would have been able to pull it off.”
Alex could barely contain his grin at her words, but he would not allow her to become sidetracked. “And so this impoverished gentleman with the not-so-terrible puce waistcoat was who?”
“It was Lord Austen, Your Grace,” she blurted finally. “I am so sorry if he was a friend of yours. And if you are actually seriously interested in his daughter, Lady Anne, I am even more sorry. But I must tell you, I would really advise against any involvement with them. The other man, I will not say gentleman because he is an affront to the title, was Sir Jason Broderick. I cannot like that man. He reminds me of a snake. Any man who is in cahoots with him cannot be a suitable candidate for an alliance with you.”
Alex was taken aback by her words. “Are you absolutely certain of this?”
“I am, Your Grace,” Rose insisted with simple sincerity. “Is there a particular part you are questioning?”
“Are you absolutely certain of what you overheard? And are you completely sure of the identities of the people in question?”
“I am absolutely certain of what I overheard, Your Grace. Sir Broderick was asking Lord Austen if he had managed to sew you up yet. Lord Austen said it takes time to catch a duke, but that his daughter was a good girl and knew what was expected of her. To be completely honest with you, it was your name being uttered in hushed tones that drew my attention to their conversation. I cannot tell you what led up to that part of it because I was caught up in looking about the room at the milling people. But when I heard Sir Broderick whispering your name, it caused ugly shivers to run up my spine and caught my attention.” Rose shivered again in recollection. “As to their identities, like I told you, I am new to Town so I had to ask Elizabeth about Lord Austen. But this is not her first Season, and she seems to know everybody. Besides, she said she is friendly with Lady Anne, so I am quite certain she would know who her father is.”
“How did you know who Sir Broderick was? You have not said that you had to ask about his identity. And it seems to me that you recognized his voice from beh
ind you.” He searched her face waiting for her answer. Seeing a multitude of emotions warring across her features, the duke held his breath. He found himself wishing she would drop the formalities and return to the comfort of their shared childhoods and call him Alex. So few people did these days.
∞∞∞
Rose felt like squirming away upon this question. He was getting rather close to all the particulars that she did not wish to discuss. She made every effort to steer clear of them.
“He was in Vienna at the same time as us. We have been introduced before. I have never liked the man.”
Much to her relief, Alex took her words at face value as he was clearly distracted by other thoughts. “But I still do not understand why you felt so strongly about it that you felt the need to break a three-year silence in order to tell me about it. Unfortunately, it is not all that rare a thing for me to encounter schemes such as this. Ever since I became my father’s heir it has become a fact of my life. Did you not think I could handle it?”
Rose gave a helpless shrug as she contemplated her answer. She was discomfited by his reference to becoming the heir, as it struck so close to her own loss. And she really had not given thought to the fact that he might be accustomed to plots such as this.
“It truly was not that I did not think you could handle it, Your Grace,” she began before pausing. “I am sure you could handle any situation you might face, Your Grace,” Rose continued, seemingly thinking aloud. “I just remembered how you hated artifice and subterfuge, so I thought you might not even realize such plots might be afoot. I will admit to you that I had not realized that they could be commonplace. Once again, I must apologize if I have inconvenienced you by arranging to tell you about it. I thought it was a terribly important thing. You are a duke now. Someone plotting against you is bigger than just you, if you don’t mind my saying so. You are not just another rich nobleman. Being a duke brings this into a matter involving the government, would you not agree?”
Now his gaze sharpened as he searched her eyes. “Are there details you are leaving out about this, Rosie? Did they say anything about the government?”
“No, no,” she protested, “I have told you everything I heard. I truly thought you would want to know, Your Grace.”
“Would you stop calling me Your Grace?” he blurted out.
“But you are a duke now.” She was aghast.
“But you have known me all your life.”
Rose shrugged again. “It is not as though we are going to be having many conversations after this anyway. It would never do for me to become overly familiar with you.”
“Are you trying to tell me that you are just going to throw this problem into my lap and leave it there?”
“Whatever do you mean?” Rose eyed him, confused.
“You arranged to meet me to tell me about this urgent problem. Surely you must have some ideas about how to solve it.”
“Not particularly, Your Grace. We do not associate together. How could I possibly help you to solve this problem? I arranged this meeting to give you the necessary information. What you do with it is up to you.”
“Even if it is for the good of your country?”
Now Rose was truly divided. Inadvertently the duke had touched on the one thing that was sure to gain her cooperation. Her desperate wish to do something more with her life, something meaningful, in a grander way than just giving birth to the next heir to someone’s estate. She was sorely tempted to take the duke up on his offer. Not that she could trust him, of course.
She still had no idea what to do about Sir Broderick’s schemes in the grander scale. She had no idea who she could confide in. Never would she tell Alex about it, but if she remained involved in it with him to a certain extent, perhaps she could gain more information that she would then be able to share with her father. Still on the fence, she asked some questions of her own.
“Did you have anything in particular in mind? I really did not apply myself to coming up with a plan. It was hard enough trying to figure out how I could meet you in order to tell you about it.”
“And I assure you, I do appreciate your efforts. I understand you were motivated by loyalty to your country as well as to our old friendship. But do you think that loyalty could help you see your way clear to helping me?”
“Perhaps,” was all that she would allow until she got more information.
The two studied each other for a moment, both deep in thought. It was as though they both came up with the idea at the same time.
“Lady Anne,” they both blurted out before bursting into laughter.
“Exactly,” Alex approved as he got his mirth under control. “Have you met her?”
“Not yet. What can you tell me about her?”
“Not much, I’m afraid. That was why I was rather surprised by your words. I had no idea she had it in her to try to entrap me, nor did I think she had the inclination. We exchanged a few words here and there last Season. I partnered her in a couple dances. That is about it.”
“I wonder how she thought she was going to be able to entrap you,” Rose mused. “I did hear that you danced with her a few nights ago.”
“I danced with a number of girls a few nights ago,” was all the duke would say.
“The on-dit is that you are hanging about for a duchess this Season.” Rose made the statement in as neutral a tone as she could manage, ignoring the flutter in her stomach at the thought, hoping he would divulge some information.
“Is it really?” The Duke of Wrentham met her question with one of his own, not revealing anything. But then the oafish man turned a grin upon Rose and teased, “I never would have considered you to be the type who listens to idle gossip.”
Much to her chagrin, Rose could feel heat creeping back into her cheeks. “It is difficult to avoid, Your Grace. It seems that is all anyone amongst the ton does with their time.” She continued a touch defensively, “And really, it would not be so strange for you to be looking about for a wife. No doubt it is about time for you to be thinking about producing an heir. How old are you now? You must be six and twenty, surely, Your Grace.”
Now it was Alex’s turn to be defensive. “That is certainly not terribly old. I am nowhere near my dotage, I will assure you."
“Of course not,” Rose soothed. “But mayhap you do not wish to have Lady Anne’s plot to be interfered with, as it would no doubt make matters much easier for you.” Despite her words, Rose felt sick in the pit of her stomach at the thought of her Alex being leg shackled to someone who would conspire with the likes of Sir Jason Broderick, and she had every intention of interfering, no matter what the duke thought on the subject. Not that she had any idea how to go about it, but she was quite certain it would be that much easier if she had his cooperation.
Alex was looking at her as though she had quite lost her mind. Rose had to struggle to contain her grin. She had always enjoyed discomfiting him. “Have you been drinking too much ratafia, Miss Smythe? That is the only possible explanation I can arrive at to justify how you could possibly think I would consider it an acceptable solution to be entrapped into marriage. Not only do I wish to pick my future bride on my own terms, I would also like to actually look forward to spending the rest of my days with her. So in answer to your question, no, I do not wish you to leave her plans undisturbed. Just because I find it hard to believe she is plotting against me does not mean I do not believe you. No matter what our differences might be now, I know you would never lie to me.”
Rose’s mouth went dry at these words, and she felt another wave of nausea strike her. While she had not told him any blatant lies, she was keeping things from him, and knowing him as well as she did, she knew he would consider that to be the same as a lie. But she was almost certain he would despise her if she revealed those details, so she was absolutely stuck between a rock and a hard place. Refusing to think about those difficulties at the moment, Rose pasted a smile onto her face and brazened it out.
“So, aside from
being surprised to hear that Lady Anne is plotting your demise, is there nothing you can tell me about her? She is our best option to try to get more information, and I will be in a better position to pry it out of her if I know what I am working with.”
Alex looked at her appraisingly. “Do you really think you could pry information out of someone?”
Rose smiled mischievously but did not bother replying. She was quite certain the duke would not want to hear about her experience with just such activities. She had been rather good at it, if thinking so was not too terribly immodest of her, she thought with another private grin.
“Never mind about that, we need to make a plan. We also need to determine our objectives. Do we merely want to know what the lady and her father have planned for you in order to mitigate the disaster, or do we want to find out what the greater scheme is and how it involves Sir Broderick? I know you hate anything underhanded, so I will fully understand if all you want to do is ensure you are safe from the parson’s mousetrap.”
∞∞∞
Alex was silent a moment as he regarded Rose steadily. He almost grinned as he saw her fidget with her frustration. He revealed nothing of his thoughts on his face as he considered her words.
She was absolutely right when she said that he hated all forms of untruth, but he was no longer a green youth. The lies and deceptions perpetrated by his parents had given him a deep aversion to falsehood. But in the past three years, since his brother died and he became the heir to his father’s title, he had learned more than he had ever wished about how the world around him worked. Unfortunately, at times, duplicity was necessary.
He enjoyed Rose’s innocent view of him, and he hated to disabuse her of it. However, he could clearly see she was anxious to get to the bottom of the entire plot and so was he. Wishing she would confide in him her reasons for distrusting the knight, Alex was forced to proceed without all the information at his disposal. He couldn’t blame her for her aversion to the man. Alex didn’t much care for him either.
The Duke Conspiracy: A Sweet Regency Romance Adventure (Mayfair Mayhem Book 1) Page 6