Page 85 of A Duke Makes a Deal
Turning to search the room, Clara caught sight of Mr. Lutz, flanked by two elderly gentlemen. He seemed to be deep in conversation with them. Clara frowned.
“Mr. Lutz is over there.”
“Yes, I know,” Lord Valle said. “But Cynthia wasn’t particularly worried about who Violet was locked up with, just that she was locked up.”
Clara looked at him.
“Who is she with?” she asked quietly.
“Mr. Trembley,” he said. “I didn’t want to do it, but she threatened… I mean, she insisted.”
Clara was surprised to find herself feeling sorry for Cynthia’s fiancé. What threat could she have used against this man?
“You must find them and set things right, Lord Valle. My husband will be incensed if he discovers your fiancée’s plot.”
“She’s with him,” he said. “It was her idea to cause a distraction so that she might try to… to revisit her relationship with the duke.”
Though Clara felt a sudden stabbing feeling in her heart, she tried to ignore it. If Silas had been speaking the truth—and she hoped he had—he wouldn’t fall victim to her feminine wiles.
“Thank you for telling me. And please hurry,” she said as the music came to an end. She curtsied as he bowed and nearly went their separate ways when Clara spoke. “And Lord Valle?”
“Yes?”
“I think, for the sake of your health, you should be gone from here within the hour. And perhaps you should consider going alone.”
A sad shadow passed over his eyes.
“Always.”
“No,” she said, taking a step towards him. “I only think to preserve you from my husband’s wrath, but when he learns that you helped… well, I daresay you’ll always be welcome to Greystone.” She nodded. “If Violet’s reputation remains intact, that is.”
A hopeful smile shone on the young lord’s face before he turned to leave the room. Clara was now on a mission to find Silas.
Hurrying from the ballroom, Clara first searched the parlor then the card room, making several excuses as she was cornered and nearly roped into conversation. After searching the library and even the billiards room, Clara had begun to worry thatthey had gone somewhere out in the gardens when she saw the baron’s private office. Deciding just to peer into the room before heading to the back terrace, Clara pushed open the door.
There, on the other side of the room, she saw Silas’s back facing her, with long, delicate arms wrapped around him at the waist.
A ringing sound echoed in her ears as her cheeks warmed. Clara had always thought herself a level headed woman, she had never felt so dejected, nor so furious, in her entire life. Even when she was being gambled away by Dilworth, she had never felt lower than she did at that moment. The man she loved, embraced by that wicked woman, a woman he had once loved. It was almost too much.
Thankfully, Silas seemed eager to have Cynthia off of him and pulled at her hands, stepping back as he did.
“Cynthia, stop it.”
“Don’t you remember it, Silas? How painfully wonderful it was? How terribly gutting it was between us?” Her words caused Clara to feel ill. “It was the most satisfying feeling in both of our lives.”
“No—”
“Ah-hem.”
Clara was sure that her shoulders were straight and her chin was high when she made the throaty little noise that called both of their attentions away from one another. Silas pulled away from Cynthia’s desperate grasp, causing her to stumble slightly. He walked purposefully towards his wife.
“Clara—”
“Please, Silas,” Clara struggled to say, her tone shaky. “We don’t have time. You have to find Violet.”
Silas tilted his head, unsure.
“Excuse me?”
