Page 8 of A Bride for the Forbidden Duke
Veronica flailed at a loss for words. Her tongue had caught in her mouth, and confusion muddled her brain.
“I do not understand what you mean, Your Grace.”
“You are wasting your precious minutes with inane questions,” he told her, his voice flat. “Do you wish to wastebothof our times, My Lady? What is it youwant?”
“I—”
She cut herself off, frowning.
He was putting her so on the spot! What a foul, rude man, who did not deserve all the handsome charm his face otherwise suggested. But the intimidating air that rolled off him like shadows should have warned her otherwise.
Without thinking, she took another step, now only a few paces from his desk. Frustration laced through her as she clenched her hands behind her back.
“Stop moving closer,” he warned her, “and get to the point, Lady Veronica.”
Anger flared in Veronica’s chest.Thisman was her last hope? This rude, impatient man whoclearlythought himself above her time.
Pointedly, he looked at his pocket watch. “I believe you have four minutes now.”
She spluttered, frustration rising in her. But she breathed deeply, letting her eyes close only for a moment before she opened them.
I need his help, she thought.I cannot let him get to me so.
Calmly, she began to speak.
“Your Grace, I believe you are business partners with my brother, Robert Hartley, the Earl of Grantham. As you mayremember, a year ago, my brother disappeared and has not been heard from since. His absence, while puzzling and distressing?—”
She tried to ignore the heavy sigh and the fierce gaze the Duke did not relent with.
Her voice carried her words calmly, still. “While distressing, it has put my mother, Lady Grantham, and I, through some financial difficultly. Losing both my father and brother, in quite different ways, has put a strain on the two of us.”
She had barely stopped talking when the Duke raised a brow. “And why is that my concern?”
“Well, Your Grace…” Veronica winced. “Robert went to the West Indies due to your business affairs, did he not?”
She was only met with a huff of insulting laughter. “Your brother made his own choice to go there. It was not necessary. He was impatient. And how he has disappeared was of his own choice as well. Are you quite certain you did not lose your father and brother in the same manner?”
Veronica seethed. “I do not like what you imply?—”
“Whether your brother returns is not my concern, Lady Veronica. Have a pleasant journey back to your residence.”
He made to pick up a pen on his desk, but Veronica would not give up. She stumbled through the shock of how little theDuke truly seemed to care for her brother. But… but why go into business together if he did not care for the whereabouts or circumstances of that business or partner?
Still, she had not traveled the journey across the square, only to be pushed back now.
“Your Grace, with the utmost respect?—”
“I do not see a great deal of that,” the Duke interrupted. “You have only two minutes left. Use them wisely to leave my home.”
“You have permitted me five minutes to speak,” she reminded him. “So that is how I shall use them, Your Grace.”
Her voice did not tremble or betray her shock or nerves. She was speaking rashly out of turn, but her desperation took over instead.
“I understand you see this as none of your concern, but I deeply request your help, Your Grace.”
The Duke lowered his pen, and Veronica dared to hope as his eyes lifted back to her. “No.”
“No?” she whispered.
