The brunette’s cheeks flushed red. “R-right!” she sputtered, her voice pitched high. “Just wishful thinking, I suppose!”
Lucian doubted it. He had a strong suspicion as to the source of that rumor, and the person who had set this pack of muslin-clad hounds after him.
Lysander.
No matter. He would have his revenge on his cousin. His plans were already in motion.
The only thing he needed was to secure Rosalie.
He gave the two chits a nod of farewell. “Ladies.”
Then, he stepped inside. Collins closed the door behind him and turned the key in the lock.
Well, that was a relief. Lucian began tugging off his gloves. “I’ve been thinking, Collins. These young ladies lingering outside are becoming an annoyance. Perhaps we could station someone outside to shoo them away.”
Collins did not seem to be attending, which was unusual. He dropped his voice low. “You have a visitor, my lord.”
“Very good. I’ll see to him presently.” He handed his gloves to Collins and removed his hat. “Not a footman, I think. Even if they resemble a biblical plague, I can’t countenance a woman being manhandled. But perhaps a very stern governess type who can shame them into leaving.”
Collins nodded toward his grandfather’s study. “Your visitor is awaiting you in there.”
“Failing that,” Lucian continued, handing over his hat, “perhaps a sturdy country lass who can shoo them away without inflicting bodily harm.”
“My lord!” Collins hissed. “About your visitor!”
Lucian gave his butler a strange look. “Gad, Collins, who is it? Has the king himself come to call?”
Collins’s pale blue eyes were intense. “It’s Lady Rosalie!”
Chapter Seventeen
Rosalie knew without looking up from the account book laid open before her on the desk that Lucian was the one who had entered the room. The very air seemed to shift, almost to crackle with unspent energy, whenever he was present.
He confirmed it immediately. “Rosalie, my love! At last, you have graced me with your presence. May I ask what brought you here today? Dare I hope that you longed for my company?”
“No such luck.” She turned a page, keeping her eyes fixed on the book. “I’m here to snoop.”
His laughter was full of genuine amusement, as if he delighted in her forthrightness. He crossed the room and perched on the edge of the desk. Rosalie found her eyes drifting up, as if she were magnetically drawn to such concentrated masculine beauty. She found him looking rumpled, but in a delicious way. His hair was tousled, and his cravat was tied in a simple knot, rather than the intricate waterfall most men’s valets spent half an hour or more creating.
She wrinkled her nose as if what she was experiencing were distaste, even as her heartbeat kicked up a notch. “Where have you been this morning?”
“Boxing,” he said easily. “With Vander and David.”
Whose wives she had called on in recent days, a fact that he had probably just learned.Perfect.
Then again, she had already admitted that she was here to snoop. Who cared if he discovered the truth? Nothing would stop her from uncovering his sordid secrets.
He inclined his head. “I should like nothing better than to make myself more presentable so I can take you for a drive in the park.”
She rolled her eyes. “No, thank you.”
He studied her for a beat, and his expression sobered. “I’ve been hoping I would get an opportunity to apologize for the other day.”
She waved him off, snapping her gaze back to the ledger she had been perusing. “It wasn’t your fault. I know. Fortunately for you, my brother, Robin, happened to be walking down the same street. He said you did nothing to encourage the women who accosted you, and were, in fact, trying to shake them off.”
She could hear the smile in his voice. “Then you’ve forgiven me.”
She turned a page, not deigning to look up. “For that? Yes. For your other myriad transgressions? Not a chance.”
