Page 40 of A Duchess Mistaken
Silence.
Johnathan nodded. It was what he’d expected and he was happy that he’d asked, but he couldn’t escape the sharp stab of disappointment lancing him at her quiet rejection.
“Very well. I shall inform the others that you are feeling unwell.”
He turned away, tucking away the familiar tug of sadness he always felt after interacting with his mother.
“I shall play.”
He thought he might have imagined the words at first. Johnathan paused, heart thudding in his chest. He turned to look back at his mother but she was still sitting as still as stone.
“Very well,” he breathed. “I shall inform the others then. They…they will be happy to see you.”
She didn’t say anything to that, but Johnathan didn’t mind half as much. His mother had agreed. That was a feat in and of itself.
Agnes couldn’t believe she was doing this again. She looked twice down the hallway before she knocked and waited for the duke’s response.
“Come,” came his voice on the other end of the door.
Agnes steeled her nerves, slipping inside his study. It was very much the same as the last time she’d snuck here. Despite that, she looked around the room as if it were the first time seeing everything, not yet ready to face the gentleman sitting behind the desk.
“Miss Agnes.” He sounded genuinely surprised. She couldn't blame him. She was surprised at herself for coming here at all. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
Agnes finally turned to face him, hoping that she looked as normal as she was trying to be. “It is almost time for our game, Your Grace. I came to fetch you.”
She couldn’t take her eyes off him. He reached for the pair of spectacles perched on the bridge of his nose and lowered it to the desk as he squinted at the clock across the room. She watched as his brows shot to his hairline in surprise then those sky-colored eyes turned to her.
“Forgive me,” he said hastily, running his hand over his face. “I was so lost in my work that I did not even realize how much time had passed.”
Agnes nodded. She knew that it would be best for her to leave, not wanting to risk them getting caught alone together, but she went against her better judgment and approached the desk instead.
“What are you working on?” she asked him.
The duke seemed surprised by the question. “I doubt it is anything you will find interest in.”
Agnes raised a brow at that and he chuckled.
“Well, perhaps it might. God knows it would not be the only thing that surprises me about you.”
Agnes couldn’t help smiling at that. She came closer still, close enough for him to tilt his head up in order to maintain eye contact. There was something about the way he looked at her, as if wholly interested in whatever she planned on saying next, that made her heart flip in her chest.
“As a child, I had always been interested in numbers,” she said. “And my father thought to foster my interest by teaching me everything he knew about running a business. That came with managing ledgers quite like the ones on your desk right now.”
“Quite an unusual interest of a lady of your stature,” the duke commented, his eyes glittering. “Do you not wonder what society might think?”
“I do not. Do you?”
The direct response and question seemed to take him off guard. Then he chuckled. “I do what is expected of a man in my position.”
“A man in your position as what?” she questioned. “As duke? As a brother? As a son? Do all those positions work in tandem or will there come a time where those roles oppose each other?”
The duke tilted his head to the side as he regarded her. Agnes felt an embarrassing flush of heat touch her cheeks. She couldn’t help looking away.
“Forgive me,” she murmured. “Philosophy is another interest of mine. I have a terrible habit of reading deeper into situations that do not need it.”
“Terrible is not how I would describe it,” the duke said amicably. “But I cannot say that I have the response to that question just yet.”
He stood, rounding the desk to stand in front of her. They were suddenly so close that she didn’t know what to do. Her mind told her to take a step back, to put distance between them. Or rather walk out of the room altogether. But her feet remained rooted to the spot.
