“And propriety would of course mean you could not be so open about your affections.”And he would be unable to write to Emily. Luke’s guilt intensified.
She is supposed to be marrying your brother. And clearly he has developed feelings for her.Did she have feelings for him? Luke shook himself. The woman had already made clear that she intended to marry his brother, and it was unlikely that anything would have changed that.
Besides, he could not marry her. Not that he wanted to anyway. He did not want to marry anyone. He could not marry anyone.It is a shame second sons cannot inherit.
“Exactly.” Rodger wrung his hands. “I do not want to offend her by being overly presumptuous and well, there are other complications of course.”
“Such as?” Luke asked, frowning.
Rodger gave him a look, and Luke realised that he was talking about the fact that he still had not given him his consent to marry Emily. “Oh yes, right. Well, I doubt she would think you overly presumptuous. After all, you are here to get to know her after all. And if she has taken the time to make a recommendation that would suggest that she is also interested.”
“But-” Rodger began, but at that moment the door flung open and a breathless Lord Peter hurtled into the room.
“Oh good! There you are!” he exclaimed.
“Here we are indeed.” Luke glanced at his brother who looked just as nonplussed as he was. “Is there any reason you are so out of breath?”
“I did not want you to miss it.” Lord Peter clutched his side, still breathing heavily.
“To miss what?” Luke asked.
“The treasure hunt of course!” Lord Peter gestured in the direction he had come from.
“The treasure hunt?” he frowned.
“Yes! Rose has just announced it, she has asked that everyone meet in the entrance hall. You’ll join in, won’t you?” Lord Peter gave him an imploring look, reminding him of when Rodger hadbeen younger and had been desperate for Luke to spend time with him.
He smiled at him. “It seems as though I have very little choice in the matter.”
“Excellent, follow me.” Lord Peter turned and walked towards the door.
“We will be right behind you.” Luke called after him, before turning to Rodger and saying, “Perhaps we can speak on this later, Brother. Though, I feel that you might as well be bold. After all, she has clearly made an effort to connect with you. No doubt she would welcome confirmation of your own sentiment.”
“If you are sure.” Rodger bit his bottom lip.
Luke added. “Nothing improper mind you. You can always recommend a book, and give her leave to ask you if you mean anything by it.”
“That is an excellent idea. Thank you, brother!” Rodger nodded.
“Come on! Or you are going to miss it.” Lord Peter called.
“We should make haste, I suspect Lord Peter will be furious if we do not.” Rodger indicated the retreating back of the teenager.
They began to follow in his footsteps. “Probably.”
They hurried after the teenager, emerging into a rather crowded entrance hall. He scanned the crowd, and caught sight of Emily standing with Lady Natalie, Lady Marie, Duchess Caden and Lord Peter.
Lady Marie turned around and waved to them. Rodger waved back and made his way towards the group, with Luke following close behind. As they approached the group, Duchess Emberly held up her hands while her husband whistled a loud, sharp note.
Silence fell at once and everyone turned their attention to the pair of them.
“Thank you all for being here.” Duchess Emberly beamed at the assembled crowd. “As you know, we have had some guests with us and as they will soon be leaving, we though it would be an excellent time to have a treasure hunt.”
Luke felt his heart sink. They would be leaving in a few days. He tried not to look at Emily, aware that Rodger seemed to be whispering behind him.He is probably talking to her.
“Now, this treasure hunt will be done in teams of two or three. And each team will have to work through the clues together to find the treasure.” The Duchess held up a slip of paper.
At this, Luke glanced at Emily. Her face was blank, but he noticed a tension in her shoulders.She is afraid. She will need to read to compete.
