Hugh did not look convinced. “Maybe…”
“He does not care about the stutter, Hugh.” Again, she stroked his cheek. “I promise you.”
Yvette believed what she said. Having watched the Duke care for Hugh after his fall, she saw no hint at all that he gave a damn that his son stuttered and stammered. Really, there was no reason that he should.
Just as she knew this, she also knew that she did not know the Duke nearly so well to be sure of such a thing, and her words were little more than made-up assurances to make Hugh feel better. What if the Duke was acting that way on purpose because she was there? What if, when he was alone with Hugh, things were different?
These thoughts plagued Yvette after she left Hugh to sleep.
She wandered from his room and down the halls, trying to confirm the truth of her words, while knowing that she was in no position to know them for fact. She just didn’t know the Duke nearly well enough to truly know what was on his mind.
It was because she was so in her own head that she did not realize where she was walking, and it was for this reason that she found herself walking past the drawing room when she really should have been making her way to her bedroom.
There was a light coming from inside the drawing room. She paused when she saw it and then looked around for a member of staff. They should have put out the flames before going to bed,but as she peered through the darkness and as she listened, she knew that they must have forgotten.
“Lucky for me then…” she said to herself as she entered the drawing room.
Indeed, the fire in the hearth still burned hot, and she sighed and shook her head as she crossed the room to put it out. Which she meant to do, crouching down by the fire, looking for a poker to separate the logs before smothering them with –
“It’s polite to ask before you do that, you know,” the Duke said suddenly.
“Oh!” Yvette cried out and fell backwards on her buttocks.
“Miss Norleigh!” The Duke had been sitting on the couch by the fire, hidden by the dark, invisible to all those who weren’t looking for him. But he leapt from the couch and fell to his knees beside Yvette the second that she fell. “Are you –”
“I’m fine,” she said a little too forcefully, embarrassment flooding her as she pushed herself to her knees. “Just… a little surprised, is all.”
“I’ll say.” The Duke stayed crouched, one hand out as if to catch her as she climbed to her feet. “That was an interesting noise you made just now.”
She scowled at him. “First you scare me, and then you mock me.”
“I needed something to lighten the mood. I’m sorry that your embarrassment is the only thing I could find to do that.”
“Who says that I am embarrassed?”
“No?” He stood up slowly, his towering body stretching tall over her. “I suppose those reddened cheeks are from the heat of the fire.”
Yvette’s cheeks flushed even redder than they were and she looked away before glancing at him and scowling playfully. “And what are you doing… lurking in the dark like this?”
He sighed and sat back down. Then, he picked up the glass of whiskey on the side table and took a sip. “Getting lost in my own thoughts, and drinking heavily.”
“A dangerous combination,” she joked.
“When done alone.” He raised a questioning eyebrow at her. “Would you…” His eyes flicked to the space beside him. “Like to join me?”
Yvette hesitated, and for good reason.
Common sense told her to say no. It was late. They were alone. And Yvette was not here to grow closer to the Duke. In fact, she would have done better to just avoid him. Not because of anything he had said or done, but because of who he was. Shewas but the daughter of a vicar, he was a member of the peerage, and she knew the dangers of becoming attached.
But in that, she was here for Hugh, and if she wanted to help Hugh, then she had to get to know the Duke… right? And what better chance would she get than this?
It is not the best excuse I have ever come up with, but it will do for now.
She felt a flame flickering inside of her, excitement starting to build whenever she looked into the Duke’s dark blue eyes and saw that other side of him. It was a side that she liked, and one that she wanted to get to know better. Not for Hugh, but for herself.
“I suppose I can join you,” she sighed with exaggeration. “But only for a moment.”
“Somewhere you need to be?”
