She straightened her spine and glared back. Any minute now the hot ball somersaulting in her stomach would explode. And then she’d demand an explanation why he ran around as gardener Henry. Why he deceived her so cruelly.
His expression stilled. There was a warning in his eyes. He shook his head. It was so subtle, maybe she’d imagined it.
He didn’t want her to acknowledge that they knew each other in public. She exhaled shakily.
“Marbles,” she blurted out. “It’s marbles.”
“Of course it is,” the Dowager Duchess said as she helped herself to her third canape. “When in doubt, it must be the marbles.”
“Marbles.” The duke looked baffled. Lucy choked back a laugh. For one second, she’d broken through his aloofness. Could she do so again? Was her Henry underneath that abominable veneer after all?
She opened her hand and showed him her treasure.
Blackmore looked at them through his quizzing glass. “Blimey. They’re marbles all right.”
“How quaint.” Lady Louisa looked like she’d never seen marbles in her entire life. “They’re boys’ toys, are they not?”
The duke stared at the marbles. Not a muscle in his face twitched as he said, “They’re indeedboys’ toys. And if I am not mistaken, they’re mine. I seem to recall they were my favourite.” He held out his hand. Lucy dropped the sweaty glass balls into his palm. She could not imagine the duke ever playing with marbles.
“I didn’t know they were yours, Sir. I thought if no one needed them, I’d take them.”
“You mean to say you play with marbles, Miss Bell, do you, by Jove?” Blackmore’s beady eyes twinkled.
“How unladylike!” interjected Lady Louisa.
“I intended to give them to Jimmy.”
The duke sighed. “I dare not ask who this Jimmy is.” He raised a hand. “Spare me the lecture. He is no doubt either the bootblack or the stable boy.”
“He is the lamp boy.”
“Ah. I was close. And why would he need marbles when this Jimmy ought to occupy his time refilling my lamps?”
“They’re not for him but for his younger brother, Jem, who is only five. Their mother died recently, you see,and Jimmy’s raising him alone. He’s not yet eleven. Jem is mostly in the stables getting into mischief. I thought I could give him the marbles to keep him busy.”
“Miss Bell. You seem to have made very intimate acquaintance with my serving staff on such a short amount of time.”
He had no idea. It was a shocking and unladylike thing to have done, her stint as a housemaid. And it certainly was not considered appropriate for people of their station to consort with servants.
“Wonderful, Ashmore. I see we’re improving. Next to the Prussian Felix, you have a lamp boy called Jimmy who has a brother called Jem.” The dowager was enjoying herself tremendously. “In due course we shall no doubt learn the identities of the chimney sweep, accompanied by his entire family history. It is vastly entertaining.”
Lady Louisa looked back and forth in bewilderment. “Can we really be discussing lamp boys and chimney sweeps?”
The duke leaned back and looked at Lucy with hooded eyes. One long finger stirred the marbles in his palm. Then he held them out to her. Their fingers brushed lightly, and Lucy almost jerked her hand back at the spark between them. He dropped the marbles into her palm, slowly, one by one.
“You may give them to this Jem, Miss Bell,” he murmured, giving Lucy goosebumps.
“Thank you.” She sagged. She couldn’t maintain this for much longer.
“Well. How very quaint.” Lady Louisa shook her head in amazement. “Now that this is done, may we discuss how we shall spend the evening? How about charades, or a round of spillikins?”
“Whatever you wish, Lady Louisa,” the duke replied with a bored voice, but he looked at Lucy as if she posed him an unsolvable riddle. This irked her, because it should be the other way around. He puzzled her. He owed her an explanation. Why? The duke ignored her questioning gaze as he retreated once more behind his aloofness.
“I prefer a round of whist myself,” Blackmore’s voice boomed. “Finbar? Bleckingham? Who else is in?”
“Not for me, thank you. I will peruse the library, if His Grace doesn’t mind. I’ve seen you have a notable collection of music, there.” Mr Fridolin looked at the duke expectantly.
“My dear Fridolin, we shall look forward to your professional opinion on our collection,” the duke replied.
