“Austin, stop it,” she whispered furiously once she could speak.
“Now, there’s the cheekiness I desire in a woman.” He placed his hands up in surrender. “But all right, I’ll stop.”
“Everyone is staring at us,” she whispered.
“Let them.”
Deena rolled her eyes. “Jests aside, Miss Langley is a fine choice for a wife,” she said in a serious tone.
Austin sighed. “You’re certain of it?”
“Most certain.”
A moment passed between them, the bell rang, and their second hourglass ran out. Time was running out for both, literally and figuratively. Austin was unsure when ruin might befall him. He glanced at Miss Langley and considered her, but when his gaze returned to Deena, he felt tugged towards her. And he resisted the pull.
Any relations with Deena might ruin them even further, and not just that, he could lose a lifelong friendship as well. Only God knew how alone the Velvet Duke would be. Austin let out abreath of air he didn’t know he held in and unwillingly stood. He bowed with exaggerated gallantry.
“I’ll investigate your rational choice, Dee. Thank you.” He tried not to look at her, resisting the temptation to turn the hourglass a third time.
“Thank me when you find a suitable wife, Velvet Duke,” she said haughtily.
Austin let out a soft, self-satisfied chuckle. “Don’t worry, Dee. I plan to thank you quite extravagantly,” he said as he walked away from her table.
His stride was unhurried and leisurely. He could feel the weight of every gaze tracking him and heard the whispers in his wake.
“Did you see how long they spoke?”
“Far beyond three minutes!”
“And that laugh of hers was positively unguarded.”
“Mama! He flipped the hourglass!”
“She? Of all the fine ladies!”
He ignored the voices as he always did from the time he became a young man. Despite what they might say, he would bespending more time with Deena. They had a deal, and he will see to it that it is fulfilled. He looked back at her and found her staring down at her fingers again. So many words were left unspoken between them, so many looks, and touches...
But Austin chased all thoughts of her away.
She is off-limits and cannot be trusted.
He clenched his fists at his sides as he sat in front of Miss Langley.
Eleven
Austin looked around at all the ladies surrounding the breakfast table, and an unwelcome uncertainty overtook him.
None of these women impressed me.
He sipped his tea slowly, frowning as he tried to remember the previous day’s events, but all he could hear, looping unbidden through his mind, was Deena’s unguarded laugh that rang across the lawn like music no one else had been permitted to hear. He recalled the way her nose turned an adorable pink every time she blushed, as though her body betrayed her secrets before her mouth ever could.
Secrets.
Austin had many secrets that, if revealed, would cause some murmurs. To allow gossip surrounding his name to go unchecked might lead to his ruin. His father’s secret affairs wereexposed years ago when he was still a young man, but no one questioned him as the son of the Duke of Windemere then. He never imagined that perhaps his mother had her own secrets, too.
Until now.
He took a slower sip, his mouth suddenly dry and his frown deeper. He tried to picture the imposter who was clearly working hard to cause Austin’s downfall. Could it be one of his father’s ex-lovers? A woman scorned and left behind? Or maybe it was a distant cousin or nephew who felt they deserved his title and estate more than he did?
