Chapter One
London, 1877
The female whom Henrysought was practically prancing along New Bond Street, dressed in a plum-colored gown and a stylish hat upon her head with the identifying sapphire blue feather he’d been told to look for. He liked her on sight. If she’d been a dour, gray-clad woman, he might have questioned her ability to create the sweet magic of which he’d heard.
Henry tapped upon the ceiling of the carriage, and his driver pulled over. Leaning out the window, he called her name with a slight query to his voice although he had no doubt it was she.
“Miss Rare-Foure?”
He waited for her to turn and respond. After all, he didn’t want to be accused of accosting the wrong female. Actually, he didn’t want to be accused of accosting any female when it came right down to it. He hoped after they’d spoken, she wouldn’t be accusing him of anything except a pleasant arrangement.
He smirked to himself. In any case, no one accused a duke of being indecorous. He could say that with all the smug certainty in the world for it was true.
The woman in the plum dress stopped, barely able to hold her own against the tide of passersby, and stared directly at him — mahogany-colored eyes in creamy skin, dark hair escaping from under her feathered hat, and a hesitant, questioning expression.
Since she was carrying parcels restricting her movements, she couldn’t even raise a hand to swipe the tendril of hair that crossed her face as she turned.
“Who wishes to know?”
With that saucy statement, she seemed to acknowledge her identity, and then her gaze darted over the coat of arms on his carriage, and he watched her eyes widen.
Not awaiting his footman, he popped open the door and stepped out.
“Ido.” Henry offered her a shallow bow, a greeting she tried to return in the form of a deep curtsey befitting his status, but she could hardly manage with her packages.She ought to have a servant assisting her,he thought, a little irked that she was juggling so many items.
Before she could drop anything, he reached out and took the bag, perched atop a box she held with both hands.
“Oh,” she gave a little yelp of surprise, and then said, “Much obliged, my lord.”
He started slightly. No one had called him anything other than “Your Grace” since his father passed away, transforming Henry into the Duke of Pelham.
“Will you enter my carriage for a privatetête-a-tête? I mean, with your maid, obviously.” He looked past her for any such person.
“Oh,” she said again in a slightly different tone, her rich brown eyes looking directly into his. “That’s redundant, my lord.”
“I beg your pardon?”What was the woman on about?
“Atête-a-têteis, by nature, a private discussion, and thus, there is no need—”
“I take your point,” he said, not keen on being corrected by her. “I must tell you, I do not have a chaperone inside,” he admitted, gesturing to his carriage. “Do you have a companion with you?”
“No,” she said, glancing past him to where his coachman and footman awaited. “Nevertheless, I shall enter your carriage for two reasons. One, you are a well-known gentleman with a long-standing, spotless reputation, and two, because your coat of arms is plain to see, so obviously you cannot be engaged in anything remotely nefarious. We shall, of course, leave the shades up and the windows down. Agreed?”
“Yes, naturally.” He watched her take a breath. She was a whirlwind, but hopefully not a chatterbox. He didn’t have all day.
“And if you can drop me at Rare Confectionery after our discussion,” she added, “I will greatly appreciate it, as that is my destination.”
“I can get you there in a jiffy. In fact, I just came from your shop,” he admitted, handing her bag to the footman, before relieving her of the rest of her parcels, which he also dispatched, so he could assist her personally into his spacious coach.
“That’s how I knew what you were wearing and where to find you,” he said to the backside of her pleated bustle.
“Very clever of you, my lord,” she said, as he clambered up behind her and closed the door.
Tidily done,he thought.
“My purchases?” she added, glancing out the window.
“John will hold them safely until we arrive at your destination.”
