Page 14 of Saved By the Rakish Duke

Realizing that they weren’t going to stop on their own, Duncan reached for whatever was closest to him—a combined volume of the Iliad and Odyssey that he had been skimming through whenever he got the chance—and hurled it at them.

The pair separated with a series of yelps and choice words thrown in his direction.

“As expected, you’re broody as usual,” tutted Fairhaven—at least this time with the decency to lower his voice, “and that is exactly what we’re here to fix!”

Reaching into his coat, he pulled out not one, but two whiskey bottles and held them above his head.

Duncan shook his head. It was a long-standing practice between the friends that at least one of them should remain sober during important events to keep the others out of trouble—tonight had been Duncan’s turn.

Naturally, the sober friend would be rewarded for his valiant efforts after the event was over, which was what his two companions were attempting to do right now.

“With how I had to practically fold you into your coaches, I thought I wouldn’t see either of your faces until early next week.” Duncan crossed his arms.

“Howdareyou!” slurred Harlington as he stooped over to pick up the volume that Duncan had hurled. “We were just resting our eyes.”

“Sure you were.” Duncan chuckled. But his smile faded upon seeing Fairhaven trip over his own feet.

They’re in no condition to be out here, let alone to carry out their intentions of taking me out and about.He sighed.

“Hurry up, Blackmoore!” Fairhaven called out, stumbling to his feet. He suddenly gasped in realization and slapped a hand on Harlington’s shoulder. “It’ll be faster if he leaped out the window and we caught him!”

“I can’t seem to find my coin purse,” Duncan lied. “Come upstairs while I search for it.”

His friends scoffed at his plight but agreed nonetheless to come upstairs and perhaps even help him search for his coin purse.

When they were finally inside the room, Duncan casually reminded them to remove their boots.

“But then we shall have to put them back on again when we leave.” Harlington waved a dismissive hand. “Just gather your things already so we can be on our way.”

“And you callmethe grouch.” Duncan chuckled, pretending to search through his personal effects. “It’s been a long night, why don’t you ‘rest your eyes’ while I conduct my search? It might improve your mood.”

“Perhaps I shall,” His friend stifled a yawn. “But only because you’re so absurdly slow.”

Duncan rolled his eyes. “You're far less annoying when you’re sober,” he mumbled.

“Pardon?”

“Nothing, Harls.” He smiled innocently. “Use my bed, and will you take your boots off?”

CHAPTER5

Penelope kicked her sheets off of her. The ball had completely exhausted her. But for whatever reason, she had an irritatingly shallow sleep the entire night.

As she rubbed her eyes, they landed on the very armchair that His Grace had so unabashedly dropped himself into hours ago, immediately prompting her to roll onto her other side.

It’s not because of him,she told herself.It's only natural that I would struggle to fall asleep on the first night away from home.

Now that she was lying facing this side, she could see from the clock that it was about a quarter past ten. Given the late night they had all had, it would be excusable for her to lie in for another hour or so.

But given her restless night, forcing herself to lie still for the next hour sounded like torture.

With a heavy sigh, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and began to get ready for the day. But as she walked to the dresser, the cursed armchair loomed in the corner of her eye once more, prompting her to wonder if the duke had already left to start his day.

That’s it!She grabbed the armchair and began pushing it towards the door.His presence alone was torturous enough, but now even his absence is affecting me!

Once the armchair was halfway through her door, she checked the hallway to see if anyone was around to-

“Oh, good morning!” She greeted a pair of maids dusting the console table and its contents. “I know this is a most peculiar request, but I was hoping to free up some room. Is there someone I can talk to about safely putting this armchair away for the remainder of our stay?”

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