Page 6 of A Virgin for the Duke of Depravity
When he opened the door, he found that it was not a member of the club, but rather a footman from his estate. That could only mean one thing: the girls were up to their usual mischief.
That was the last thing he had time for right now.
“Your Grace,” the footman said as he bowed his head. “The girls are missing. We cannot find them anywhere.”
“Again?” Leo pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed his eyes shut.
Ever since he had assumed guardianship of his nieces, they had been a constant source of trouble. The biggest issue was that they had a tendency to go missing at the slightest provocation.
“Again,” the footman confirmed.
“Girls? Missing? What did you do to them?” Margaret turned to face him, her eyes blazing.
She drew herself up to her full height and squared her shoulders, prepared to confront the Duke. Her hands curled into fists of their own accord.
Of course, after what she had witnessed here, she had every right to be alarmed. But this was nothing that concerned her.
“I have done nothing. Obviously, I was here withyou,wasting my time.”
“Youwere wastingmytime,” she corrected him, but he had already turned away from her to face the footman again.
“Did you search the kitchens?”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“The sun room?”
“Yes, Your Grace.”
“Under the staircase?” Margaret’s voice was an unexpected intrusion into the conversation, but Leo turned to look at her with curious eyes.
Immediately, she shut her mouth. Her jaw clenched, as if she were trying to hold in more words that she desperately wanted to say.
“No, Your Grace,” the footman said. “We did not look under the staircase.”
With another weary sigh, Leo extended his hand toward the little nun. He intended for her to take his arm so that he could escort her out, but she eyed him suspiciously. Her eyes narrowed, and she stiffened even more than she had when he asked her to leave.
Of course, he could not fault her if she did not want anything to do with the so-called Beasts of the ton. But he also could not let her go on such terms, not when she might prove to be useful in locating his nieces.
She did not take his arm, even after a long moment.
The footman looked between them, then averted his eyes.
Leo chose his footmen for their ability to keep their mouths shut, but for a moment, he wished he’d chosen less carefully. Let the footman deal with the little nun instead.
“You are coming with me,” Leo announced. “You did not want to leave the club and be turned out into the ton. Now, you will help me find my nieces if you wish to stay off the streets.”
Margaret understood that he was offering her an escape because her gaze softened, and she finally acquiesced. Her shoulders relaxed as she reached out and took his proffered arm.
Leo was almost startled by the heat of her touch—something that he was not used to. While he might host these parties at Olympus, he usually did not attend them. The ton kept their distance from him when they could.
Perhaps he was a Beast, after all.
He tried not to think about what it felt like to have the nun on his arm as they made their way out of the club and into the carriage waiting to take him back to Devishire Mansion.
Margaret looked relieved to see the carriage, and she hurried to scramble inside. Leo realized that she was truly nervous about the idea of being thrown out to the ton. He wondered what exactly she was running from that would have sent an innocent nun like her into one of his parties.
A nun-to-be, he reminded himself.
