Page 44 of Five Nights with a Rakish Duke
“I…” Penelope did not have the words. It was true that the Earldom would have gone to her children had she produced an heir before her father died, but that was not the way life had unfolded. Her father and her uncle had died in that accident, meaning that Adam inherited instead.
“He is very fond of you,” Veronica said kindly. “Of that, I am certain.”
“He loves me as his sister, Veronica. Of that, I am even more certain.”
In emphasis to her words, Adam sat down beside her and engaged her eagerly in conversation, yet Penelope was distracted, her eyes turning back repeatedly to Asher on the dance floor with Margaret.
* * *
Asher was only too happy to part from Lady Margaret’s side as he moved to the edge of the ballroom. He reached for a glass of wine stationed on a nearby table, eagerly lifting it to his lips to gulp readily.
Well, she’ll make a great Duchess with her propriety and elegance.
That was something he couldn’t deny. Lady Margaret was indeed elegant and concerned with propriety so much that she would not relax in conversation. Even when they had danced together, she had not let down her guard. Asher found it strangely infuriating.
With the glass of wine quickly downed, he returned the glass to the table and turned around, looking into the room again. His eyes found Lady Margaret first, seeing her talking with a few gentlemen, the center of attention. Yet, his eyes didn’t linger for long; they searched the room instead, looking for another lady entirely.
Penny.
He found her being towed toward the dance floor by her cousin, Lord Larson. He was smiling, talking keenly with her, but to Asher’s mind, something was wrong, for Penny was barely smiling at all. He had seen her smile enough times in his company to recognize what her true smile looked like. When she offered smiles now, they seemed forced, as though she were putting on a brave face.
“What bothers you, Penny?” he whispered into the air, determined to ask her when he got a chance. He half wondered if Lord Larson had told her of his letter and his intention to court Lady Margaret, and if that was the matter that upset her, yet he tried to brush off the thought.
It is five nights only.He had no reason to think that Penny had grown attached to him, so it was possible that she was not bothered by this at all, and that it was something else on her mind.
When he leaned backward on the wall behind him and placed his hands into his pockets, he discovered they weren’t both empty. In one pocket, there was something that felt like a scrap of paper.
He quickly pulled it free of his pocket, unfolding it to find a note had been surreptitiously slipped into his jacket when he hadn’t noticed.
Who could have done it?
He opened the parchment and looked down at the note, feeling his body rear off the wall in surprise at what it said.
‘Stay away from Lady Penelope.’
He closed the note and thrust it back into his pocket, looking around himself in surprise. He tried to think of all the people who had passed him during the course of the evening and anyone who could have added the parchment to his jacket, but he had walked past half the guests at one point or another. Anyone could have placed the note there.
They clearly suspect some connection, whoever left the note.
He had to talk to Penny, now. He moved away from the drinks table and headed toward the dance floor, watching as she danced with her cousin. At one point, Penny’s eyes found Asher’s across the floor, and they shared the smallest of stolen smiles before she looked back to Lord Larson. Asher waited impatiently until they were done.
Lord Larson took his cousin’s hand and began to lead her away from the dance floor. When he saw Asher, he made a point of leading Penny in the other direction, much to Asher’s irritation. Not that he could blame Lord Larson. Asher had, after all, won two estates off him in a card game. The Earl had a right to be resentful of the fact, but Asher was not going to be avoided so easily.
He circled the dance floor, following Penny and Lord Larson. As they passed by a group of friends, Lord Larson turned to talk to someone, giving Asher the briefest of moments to whisper in Penny’s ear as he walked past her.
“Meet me outside,” he whispered to her. He continued walking on, barely stopping so no one would notice that he had spoken to her. He headed straight for a set of double glass doors that led out onto the garden lawn. He hovered by the door for a second, glancing back to Penny. She was looking straight at him, her cheeks filling with another of those delectable blushes. It reminded him of the blush she’d worn when pressed beneath him on his bed.
Trying to brush off the memory, he moved through the glass doors, out to the lawn. The cold summer evening air bristled through his hair as he walked. Eager not to be seen from those still in the ballroom, he crossed around the side of the house until he reached a rose garden.
He paced up and down for a few minutes, passing the roses until he was somewhat lost in their colors, red and white, their scent reminiscent of Penny. Frustrated that she could not escape to be with him sooner, he fell still and tipped his eyes up to the sky, tracing the moon and the stars together.
That’s when he heard it, a twig under someone’s foot. He whipped around, looking for Penny, but there was no one there. Startled, Asher stepped forward. He had been so certain that there was someone there, someone walking toward him. Dismayed to find it had all been in his imagination, he turned back around, looking to the night sky again.
There it is again!He turned around another time to find nothing but rose bushes and an empty patch of grass.
“Penny?” he called softly into the garden, but no reply came. She wasn’t here. He stepped forward, searching for her, turning his head between red and white roses. “Is that you?” he asked.
There were more steps behind him. He turned round to confront whoever it was, but he was not fast enough. He felt the crippling pain of someone striking him across the back of his head and the top of his neck.
