Page 28 of For the Duke's Eyes Only

She knew where he lived. Her daily constitutional walks often took her past one of his residences.

He kept several homes in London but favored the one in Mayfair. When he kept a mistress, he installed her in the house in Covent Garden, the better to display her at the nearby Royal Opera House. He had no mistress at the moment. She knew because the gossips would have delighted in informing her if he did.

Which was neither here nor there. Whether he had a mistress was none of her concern.

“Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?” He smiled blandly, as if this were a polite social call instead of what she knew it must be—he was here to convince her not to go to Paris.

“Would you care for some tea, Your Grace?” asked Mari, always one to iron over awkward situations.

“Thank you, no,” he replied. “I’m only here for a brief conversation with Lady Indy and then I shall trouble you no further.”

“If you’re here to order me to be a good girl and stay home, you can save your breath,” said Indy.

“We’re not in a competition, not on this matter,” he replied, his tone pitched low and even. “You mustn’t make a rash decision. Allow me to elaborate upon the particulars of the situation more fully.”

Robertson appeared in the doorway again. “The children have returned, Your Grace,” he intoned.

Mari rose from her chair. “Would you like me to stay, Indy?”

“No need. This will be the briefest of conversations.”

“Should I have the servants remove the breakables?” asked Mari. “I hear vases and such have a tendency to be broken when you two share a room.”

“I’ll behave if the lady will,” said Ravenwood. “We won’t have to argue if she’ll listen to reason.”

Indy pointed at the library door. “We won’t have to argue if you turn around and walk back the way you came.”

“I’ll just be in the nursery if you need me,” Mari said with a smile, leaving the door wedged open as she departed.

Ravenwood stalked toward her. “Don’t be so stubborn, Indy, we want the same thing.”

“Yes, to find the stone before it’s either lost forever to a private collection or becomes an international incident. You have your methods and I have mine. We’ll see which one is more effective. You can search the demimonde and the underworld and I’ll use more orthodox methods.”

“Will you please just listen for a moment?” He began pacing up and down the library, much as she’d been doing earlier. “I can’t seem to make you understand that I’ve no interest in besting you in this matter. It’s strictly concern for your safety motivating my advice for you to remain in London.”

“Hogwash!” Indy declared. “Do you expect me to believe such a preposterous notion? You haven’t cared for my welfare since we were children.”

“Whether you choose to believe it, or not, your welfare is important to me. That’s why I’m here. Will you set aside that prickly pride of yours for one moment?”

“You’re lecturing me on pride?” Indy laughed sharply. That was the second time she’d been accused of being prideful today. “That’s rich indeed.” She lifted a brass paperweight shaped like a globe from her brother’s desk and hefted it between her hands.

“Are you going to throw that at me?” asked Ravenwood with a wary glance.

Indy regarded the brass globe. “I’m going to tell you precisely how this conversation will go, to spare us both the pain of having to carry it out. Now listen carefully. You’re going to tell me this mission is too dangerous for a lady, and then I’ll tell you to go straight to the devil, and then—”

“I’ll threaten to have you kidnapped and bodily restrained from traveling to Paris.”

“And I’ll say try it and you’ll face a sharp blade.”

“And then I’ll say that sometimes I swear I want to...” His voice trailed away but his gloved fists clenched.

“What, Ravenwood? What?” She relinquished the paperweight and stalked toward him. “You want to kill me? My, what touching concern for my welfare that displays.”

She was tall for a woman but he was tall for a man. He glared ferociously, his eyes heating with molten copper.

“I want to...” He jerked off one of his gloves and then the other.

“Strangle me?” she asked, her mouth suddenly gone dry.

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