Page 3 of How to Ruin a Duke
A realization struck her.“Notes!Hidden notes!That’swhat happened to—well, I’d better not say whose violin, but a certain customer of mine.The sound post has been knocked out of position four times this past week.She said it was due to vigorous playing—”
Simon Thorn choked.
“—but I’d wager she was fumbling for a note.”
“You could be right.At least you got to collect four fees for your pains.”
“And at a higher rate than usual for providing emergency service.”Rowena grinned.“Do you want to read your note?”
“Yes, all right.You’ve earned the right to have your curiosity satisfied, Miss Luthier Who Can Fix Anything.”He unfolded the paper and read out, “‘Mr.Amorous—you cannot be ruined except by your own folly, and what an entertaining spectacle that is!’”
His brow creased.“That’s not even my name.What is this rubbish?Is it a threat?”
“Mr.Thorn,” Rowena tried out the name delicately.“Someone is flirting with you.That text comes fromHow to Ruin a Duke.May I?”
She extended a hand—her right, boldly—and took hold of the paper.“ ‘Have many pleasures.’‘Essential qualities.’‘Cards and curricles.’Yes, those are fromHow to Ruin a Duketoo.It’s full of alliteration.‘Meet me at…’ Ahem.”She thrust the paper back at Mr.Thorn, her cheeks growing hot.“If that last bit is from the book, I, ah, haven’t got to that part yet.”
“Clearly, I should read it.It must be a most intriguing book.”With a sigh, he crumpled the note.“So, someone wants to foster a flirtation with me, but without putting any thought into it.”
“Now you’re being alliterative too.Maybe you wrote this note to yourself.”
He scoffed, but before he could reply, a whisper of movement at the curtain had Rowena turning away.It was no person, but a spiny little mammal wandering in from the workroom.
Thorn craned his neck to regard the new arrival.“Who’s this?”
“The younger Miss Fairweather by far.”Rowena scooped up the animal, cradling the familiar protective ball that Cotton made of herself.“This is my hedgehog, Cotton.She gobbles down all the insects that would otherwise eat my woods and resins and glues.”
“A useful partner, then.”Thorn extended a hand toward the animal, then halted.“May I pet her?”
Rowena liked that he wanted to, liked even more that he’d halted himself and asked permission.“Of course you may.”
She set Cotton on the counter, where the hedgehog nosed at the shining brass horn with her little quivering snout.Thorn was gentle as he stroked her prickly back, so gentle that Cotton didn’t even roll up again.
Rowena liked that, too, the care he took with her pet.
Once Cotton had determined that the horn wasn’t food, she regarded Rowena with reproachful black button eyes.No treats?Then she picked her way gently along the counter, pausing every step or two to sniff the air as if something new and delicious might have entered the shop.
Perhaps it had.Rowena regarded Mr.Thorn from the crown of his hat to the toes of his boots, and she couldn’t fault the sender of the hidden note for its seductive tone.
So she asked, “Who could have stuffed a note into your horn?”Curiosity might have killed a cat, but it had never been known to harm a person or hedgehog.
“The mother of the young fellow I was meant to be tutoring?Wife of the man who dismissed me?I can’t imagine who else.”Thorn frowned.“Maybe that’s why he dismissed me, if he saw his wife shoving a note into my horn.”
“Dear me, yes.Flirting with a married woman?How scandalous.”
“In this instance, it was one-sided.I can’t help what someone writes to me in a note.”He sounded frustrated as he began to pack his horn back into its case.“IfHow to Ruin a Dukeis to cost me clients, I ought to bill the author.”
“Fortunately for him or her, the author is anonymous.”
“Ah.Bad luck for me.”He shook it off, flashing a grin.“Or not so bad, since it brought me here.”
“I thought you weren’t an incorrigible flirt, Mr.Thorn.”
“Well.Not incorrigible.”Those brown eyes were warm on hers, or maybe it was Rowena who was warm.And why not?It was a fine spring day, and the light slanting through the shop windows was bright and clear.
“As we’re indulging each other’s curiosity, Miss Fairweather, will you tell me how you came to run this shop?”
“Because I’m a Fairweather,” Rowena said simply.“It’s in my blood.”
