Page 33 of Duke of Wickedness
“As much as I enjoy your company,” he said hastily to Catherine, so Ariadne could have a moment to compose herself, “I am, alas, here for your husband. Is he in?”
Catherine, suitably distracted, gave him an apologetic shake of her head.
“No, sorry; we chased him away to his club so we could have some time alone as sisters. He’ll be back for supper, though, if you prefer to wait.”
David only just caught himself before he darted another glance at Ariadne. He didn’t know whattime alone as sistersmeant—he didn’t have one sister, let alone two of them to conspire together—but he did not blame Percy for fleeing in the face of such feminine mystery.
One of the benefits of not denigrating women for having sexual desires was that women actually spoke to him. That did not make him think that he knew all their secrets, however. It took fortitude—and a great deal of sneakiness—to get by in a society that offered little besides constant judgment.
He didnotwant to wait, therefore. And not just because he would likely reveal something he oughtn’t if he spent too much time around Ariadne and her sister. Ariadne, for all her charms, did not have the makings of a good liar.
A smart man would leave immediately. Lady Ariadne had clearly not told her sister about their arrangement—all his jokes about inhospitable treatment aside, David had no doubt that Catherine would have been decidedly chillier if she’d known that he had offered to show her sister the art of sensuality, which meant that she didn’t want Catherine to know.
He would not show her the disrespect of revealing what she wished to be private.
And yet…
And yet he could not seem to just leave.
“I merely need a document from Percy,” he heard himself say. “I do need it somewhaturgently,however…”
Catherine let out a beleaguered sigh. David assumed this was the kind of sigh he would have heard from his own mother, had she ever had any particular interest in offering him parental guidance of any kind. It was the sigh of a woman who, despite being entirely sick of one’s nonsense, still held more fondness than she thought wise.
“You are very impatient,” she scolded without any real heat. “What is it that you need?”
David hastily racked his mind. “There’s a contract that we signed with one of our partners on the piping investment.” He and Percy worked together on a deal that helped bring farming modernization tools to remote areas. It was good for tenant farmers throughout the country, not to mention fantastically lucrative for all the partners involved. David had his own copy of the contract, but Catherine didn’t need to know that.
“Impatientanddisorganized,” she sighed, shaking her head even as she smiled. “Fine. I will go get it for you. Wait here.” She turned to her sister. “Ari, I’ll be right back.”
There was tension in Ariadne’s smile—it was barely perceptible, but it was there.
“Of course,” she said.
Catherine didn’t even cast them so much as a suspicious glance over her shoulder as she left the room. David wasn’t sure if she was simply kindhearted enough to trust him or if she merely underestimated her sister so much that she thought Ariadne innocent and uncurious.
Ariadne, however, was all suspicious glances.
“You’re up to something,” she accused as soon as her sister was far enough away that she was guaranteed out of earshot.
He beamed at her. He found her skepticism to be delightful.
It was similarly delightful to feign innocence, however.
“Me? How could I be up to something? It wasn’t as though I could have known you would be here.”
This was true enough, which meant he found it highly intriguing when she blushed.
“Why, my lady?” he said, all scandalized shock. “Were youhopingto encounter me?” The flush deepened. “I’m flattered.”
Ariadne put her nose in the air. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She really was such adreadfulliar.
“Of course not,” he said, because he could afford to indulge her pride. “Though, if youwerehoping to see me, I might have suggested that this was not the best place.”
“Well,” she said briskly. “It’s good that I didn’t want to see you, then.”
Grinning, he took another step toward her. She pretended to be preoccupied with what was happening outside the window. Given that this particular window mostly revealed a tree, which could not be a novel concept to her, he had to assume that some of this fascination was inauthentic.
