Page 17 of Her Duke in Shining Armor
“And…”
“And what?”
“Your last transgression,” Lady Eleanor said while standing. Aaron admired the smooth and fluent movement of her fingers as he stepped away. “The card?”
“That too,” he replied.
“The reason?”
His eyes narrowed a little, “Can’t the apology stand by itself?”
“To be clear, you did not explicitly apologize for the dance card,” Lady Eleanor said stiffly. “And you still have not told me the reason you did it.”
“I told you that I don’t have one,” Aaron replied as he neared her. “Must you dig into everything?”
“Must you complicate everything?” she shot back while stepping to him herself.
“Can you just accept my apology without demanding the reason?” Aaron demanded as his temper started to rise. The flash of ice in her eyes drew him like a moth to a beacon.
“No,” she glared even harder. “Not when it comes from you.”
“You are insufferable,” Aaron sighed. “I’m here extending the olive branch and youmustsnap the twigs.”
“And you are unendurable,” Lady Eleanor visibly bristled.
Footsteps announced the arrival of Miss Malcolm, “My Lady, I have the refreshments.”
Lady Eleanor’s eyes with lit with fire, blazing but entrancing at the same time. Her mouth thinned, “Not necessary, Miss Malcolm, His Grace was just leaving.”
Infernal woman,Aaron cursed.
“Right, Your Grace?”
“Right…I am” Aaron replied coolly. “Thank you and farewell, My Lady and Miss Malcolm.”
Turning away, Aaron strode out without looking back. His stomach was tight in anger, but his face was blank. He got to the foyer just as the butler was coming around the corner. His eyebrows went up.
“Leaving already, Your Grace?”
“Yes,” Aaron said curtly.
“Your Grace,” he replied while opening the coat cupboard and retrieving Aaron’s items after directing the footman at the door to summon Aaron’s carriage. “I assume your visit went well.”
“Not as well as it could have,” Aaron replied while donning his coat. “But thank you, Mr. Ambrose.”
The look on the butler's face was knowing and his voice dipped, “Your Grace, if I may give you some advice without surpassing my station. Lady Eleanor is a complex creature and what you see now is only the surface. If you dig deeper, you will find so many layers to her you will be astounded.”
“That sounds like it takes time,” Aaron replied dryly. “Time I do not have or better yet, time she will not afford me. As I see it, it is best to part ways and let the tiresome connection we have between us die.”
Ambrose was about to say something but wisely, he did not. “As you see fit, Your Grace.”
The carriage came and Aaron dipped his head in farewell. Entering the carriage, he mused over the man’s words. It was evident that Eleanor was a puzzle, an intricate puzzle with more than a thousand pieces to fit together. But was it worth it? Was it worth the time and effort to get to know her when the odds were that she was just not interested?
But when have I been afraid of a challenge?
Chapter 5
The thrice-perplexing London season was over but that did not stop semi-formal get togethers or assemblies. This time it was a birthday party in the Vauxhall Gardens for Miss Helena Harte, a young debutante that had just completed finishing school.
