Page 26 of Her Runaway Duke
“From the footmen,” McGregor said.
“The footmen are gossiping about me now?”
McGregor stopped laying out Levi’s clothes to look at him. “Everyone does. Not just here, but in every household. Not much else to talk about, now is there? Never mind the chatter, YerGrace. We only talk amongst the staff. Everyone is most loyal to ye. Not a word will get out.”
He paused before beginning to speak again. “She’s a bonny one, ain’t she?”
Levi grunted, although he couldn’t help the quiet twinge that struck deep within him at the thought of McGregor – or any of his other staff – considering Lady Siena in that way.
“Hadn’t noticed,” he said. “Be respectful.”
“Of course!” McGregor said. “We were only thinking of you.”
“Of me?” Levi repeated. “What do I have to do with it?”
“Well,” McGregor said with a shrug as he helped him into his clothing for the day, “when ye’ve shut yerself up here all alone there is not much chance to meet women. However, it seems that one has quite literally fallen onto your doorstep! Perhaps it’s fate.”
“Perhaps it is nothing more than what it appears to be,” Levi said, stamping down any hope of seeing Lady Siena as more than just a woman passing through – for that was all she was. And he would be wise to remember it.
The truth was, McGregor was right. Hehadenjoyed himself at dinner last night. He knew he was not a scintillating conversationalist, but Lady Siena hadn’t seemed to care. She had been comfortable in the silence, and when she did speak, she was worth listening to.
He had been surprised at how quickly she had forgiven him, but then, she appeared the forgiving sort, considering what she’d had to say about her parents.
If he was the man he had been before, he would have had a mind to tell them exactly what he thought of their plan to marry her off to a man like Mulberry. What could they possibly have been thinking? He knew Mulberry had fortunes, yes, but it had been amassed from preying off men when they were at their lowest points.
While Levi wasn’t certain what the man would be like with his wife, if how he treated other men – and women, or so he was told – was any hint, Siena had escaped just in time.
He wondered what she was doing today. What she was wearing. What mood she was in.
Was he so bored that this was all he had to consider now?
Except he thought he actually cared.
Which was most concerning of all.
Siena was pleasedto find the library that morning empty of anyone except for the characters that filled the pages of books surrounding her. She had been itching to discover which books were nestled in the shelves that lined the expansive room from floor to ceiling but had been too absorbed in her work of itemizing the paintings of the house.
She had saved the library for last and was pleased to find that in here, there were no paintings to speak of. Instead, the books and their spines provided all of the art one might need.
Siena smiled like a child who had been presented with her choice of sweets as she wondered just how many volumes were housed here. She crossed over to the shelf where she had found Shakespeare’s works and then began to make her way to the left.
They were rather well organized, so different from her father’s library, which was filled with books but only to display his collection of knowledge. He hardly ever read any of them and Siena found them far too boring.
The majority of the books in his collection were political and historical volumes.
Her preferences leaned towards distant lands, thrilling swordfights, and disguised princes.
None of which fit in her father’s library.
Here, however, she held out hope, for she had no idea who the past owners of this grand room were and what they might have been interested in.
She peeked over at the next shelf, thrilled when she opened the cover of the first book and found it to be a work of fiction.
This was promising.
Over the next hour, she became familiar with how the library was organized and her eyes widened in amazement as she discovered the variety of genres present in the collection. From thrilling adventures to heartbreaking romances, the shelves held a treasure trove of stories waiting to be explored.
Her fingers trailed along the spines, finding the rough texture of leather-bound classics and the smooth surface of newer novels. Siena's heart raced with excitement as she unearthed hidden gems, each book whispering promises of wonder.
