Page 30 of The Scandalous Love of a Duke
Was his intent to buy her favours? A payment in kind for kisses.
He had risked her reputation by sending this.
Oh, the arrogant, selfish man.
She turned to her small travelling desk, withdrew a quill and paper and sat down to write.
No, thank you, Your Grace. On all accounts, I do not accept.
K
* * *
John stared at the rows of facts and figures in annoyance. There were no anomalies in the ledgers. He could find nothing wrong. Yet something did not stack up. Something must be wrong somewhere; something that would explain the loan and then there was Wareham’s recent behaviour.
This morning the man had come to John with a taunting smile on his face, as if he wished to know if anything had been found in the books and then had gloated over the fact it had not.
He had asked John if he would like to ride along one of the estate’s boundaries. John had accepted and so endured Wareham’s insolent company for three hours. After that, John had decided to ask Harvey to employ an investigator and track the loan Wareham had made from the other end, to find out why it had been given.
A light knock hit the sitting room door.
‘Come in,’ John called, glad of the interruption.
‘Your Grace.’ Finch’s deep tone stretched into the room, as a footman entered, bearing a parcel.
John’s brow furrowed and he rose as the footman put the box down.
When the door closed behind the footman and Finch, John undid the string and lifted the lid. It was the bonnet he had sent to Katherine, carelessly thrown atop its wrapping with a scrawled note cast on top of it.
He laughed when he read her words.
No, indeed…The girl amused him. She had not said no to his kisses, and he was not inclined to accept it now. She had liked the bonnet. He wished her to have it. He wanted her to favour him over her reverend.
‘Finch!’ John called.
‘Your Grace?’ The door opened again.
‘I am going out. Have my curricle made ready.’
Half an hour later John drew his curricle to a halt before the Spencers’ small manor house, then looked back at the groom who had accompanied him. The man jumped down from the perch at the rear of the carriage and ran forward to hold the horses’ heads.
John climbed down and lifted the hatbox from the seat.
His heels crunched on the gravel as he crossed the drive to the door.
He felt light-hearted. This amused him.
The door opened immediately and Castle, their butler, greeted John with recognition. ‘Your Grace?’ He bowed. ‘I am afraid Mr and Mrs Spencer are not at home.’
Excellent. John smiled. ‘I have come to call on Miss Katherine Spencer, Castle. Is she home?’
The man’s eyebrows lifted as he looked at the box John carried. Of course, he had probably seen it before.
Well, let the man speculate. Katherine was Phillip’s sister, the gift could be explained away.
‘Will you wait in the parlour, Your Grace?’
John walked along the hall, glancing up the stairs. If she was not in the parlour, she must be up there. He would much rather be going to her chamber to visit her. A sudden image of Katherine, hair tussled, half asleep and languid-eyed, came into his mind.
