“I have no reason to believe you,” she said. “A man of such rank and means would not act as you have.”
“I assure you, Miss Castle, Iama duke. A famous one at that. If I may…” He reached inside his morning coat and pulled out a square card and offered it to her. “If you find yourself available tomorrow evening, please accept this invitation.” He bowed, breathed in her pretty countenance again, then swept through the back door, leaving her alone.
Chapter Two
Before Julia coulddraw a full breath, the inner door to the bookshop opened, and her best friend, Lady Willa Bradbury, stood in the hallway staring at her.
“What has happened, Julia? You look as if—”
“I was prevailed upon by a devilishly handsome man pretending to be a duke?”
“What?”
“Yes,” she said, his features etched in her mind forever, her body only now starting to cool down from her physical attraction to him—and her irritation at his audacity to treat her as he had. As if she were his subordinate—perhaps even a servant.
“You should come back inside the shop and sit for a moment. I will get us some tea and a piece of cake.”
Julia agreed. She was in no state to hail a carriage or even walk on her own. “I would be most grateful.”
She followed her friend back into the small but neat shop that catered more to masculine tastes in literature, though before Julia had provided the necessary money for Willa and her widowed mother to finance the store, she had made a special request for an area dedicated to women who had intellectual curiosity for books normally unavailable to ladies. Of course, Willa had been only too happy to accommodate her, creating an elegant place in the back of the shop where women could sit in semi-privacy and enjoy a forbidden book for the afternoon.
Once inside the store, Julia relieved herself of the armful of books she had been carrying when the supposed duke had knocked her over.
“Tell me,” Willa pressed her. “What was this mysterious man like?” She leaned her elbow on the counter, resting her chin on her hand.
“Rude, to be sure,” she said.
“Rude? Is that all?”
“Arrogant.”
Willa’s brow rose. “And?”
“Running from someone or something.”
“Oh?”
“Oh, indeed. And if I’m not mistaken, though his attire was of the best quality, I could swear there was a long, narrow strip of material missing from the back of his morning coat.”
“How very odd.”
“Yes. And he claimed over and over again to be a duke.”
“Maybe he is one.”
Julia clicked her tongue in disagreement. “Wouldn’t I know one if I saw him? After all, I was raised by one.”
“All dukes look and act alike, then?” her friend asked.
“Willa…” Her best friend had a habit of teasing her.
“A fair question, is it not?”
“I suppose it is,” she said, giving a noncommittal shrug. “There was something untrustworthy about him, even predatory, as if he was undressing me with his eyes.”
Willa straightened and smiled. “That is reason enough to close the shop early.” She walked to the front and drew the thick drapes, then barred the door. “We must let no one disturb us, for I want to hear more.”
“You are a cake, Willa.”
