“It has only been a week, Mrs. York, and in truth, I would much prefer to spend my time with this sweet angel rather than his grumpy uncle,” Elara replied, knowing better than to try to explain the true nature of her marriage to the Duke. It was a temporary marriage, nothing more. Once she found Evander, she would be free of it for good.
As she had that thought, Elara realized that Mrs. York had just confessed that the Duke was not home yet again, giving her a perfect opportunity to go snooping.
It is my opportunity to look into Augustus’s rooms.
“Actually, Mrs. York,” Elara said, stopping in the hall. “Perhaps you should take little William after all. I am feeling a little tired from our stroll in the garden, and I believe I shall have a rest.”
“Can I bring you anything?” Mrs. York asked, gently taking William from Elara’s arms.
“Oh, no, I am quite fine. I just fancy a nap,” Elara quickly replied.
“As you wish, Your Grace,” Mrs. York replied with a curtsy. “Have a pleasant rest.”
Elara turned around and pretended to head toward the stairs. Then, when she heard the door to William’s nursery close, she hurried back down the hall to Augustus’s rooms and study. That was where she had found the note with her brother’s name on it the first night she snuck into the party, and she was sure there were more clues to uncover.
I have spent so many days with William that I have forgotten my goal.
Elara chose to look through the younger brother’s bedroom first, going directly to the small writing desk near his bed and riflingthrough the drawers. Her heart leaped when she found a pile of letters in the second drawer, but as she opened them one by one, she frowned. They were not the clues she had hoped to find, but love letters from the many mistresses and paramours the younger Harcourt brother obviously kept. Elara blushed profusely as she read through a particularly detailed one, and when she put it back, she felt disgusted.
Just how many mistresses does this man have?
Did the Duke have such women at his disposal as well? Women who could do such prolific things as the love letter had stated? If so, no wonder he did not want anything to do with Elara. She barely knew what kissing felt like or what the basic instructions for copulation were.
She then thought of her husband’s words from their first confrontation. He had said that Evander was not as innocent or good as she had thought… could it be true? Elara loved her brother dearly and had faith that he was alive… but was it possible that he was not the hero she had always thought him to be?
Why have you made so many enemies, Evander?
Shaking her head to dispel these thoughts, Elara shoved the letters back into the small writing desk and continued searching Augustus’s bedroom. When she came up empty-handed, she moved to his study, her mood considerably fouled. She could not help it. No matter how many times she tried to pull away from the thought, she wondered what sort of things her older brother had been up to leading up to his disappearance.
As Elara looked over the vast array of bookshelves that lined Augustus’s study and considered where to start searching, sheheard the twist of the door handle. Worried she would be discovered, she dove behind the large desk in the center of the room and crawled into the leg space beneath it. To her surprise, she heard the Duke’s deep voice muttering angrily as the sound of books being pulled off the shelves filled the room.
“What did you do?” the Duke growled to himself as he pulled one file after another off the shelf. “Devil take you, Augustus, what did you do?”
Unable to ignore her curiosity, Elara moved on her hands and knees out from under the large desk and peeked around the corner. Constantine wore a deeply engraved expression as he flipped viciously through the file open in his hand.
What is he so angry about?
Elara wondered as she watched her husband’s angry expression grow more intense. A jolt ran through her as she heard the door open again, and before she could give his expression much more thought, she ducked quickly back under the desk.
“Your Grace...”
Elara’s heart quivered at the sickeningly sweet voice that spoke. There was no doubt it was a woman, and one who obviously knew the Duke in averyintimate way.
“Why do you follow me like this?” he asked gruffly. “Have we not already spoken on this matter? Our arrangement has ended.”
Elara relaxed a little. At least the Duke did not sound very pleased by the woman’s presence.
“Do not be in so foul a mood, Your Grace,” the woman replied in a pouting tone, her voice drawing closer. “I have missed being with you greatly. In your arms… in your bed.”
Scandalized by the woman’s words, Elara could not help but peek around the corner of the desk. She could not make out much in the dim light, but she did see ruby-red lips and a beauty mark on the tall, thin woman dressed in a plain dove gray dress and white apron. A maid’s uniform.
Elara’s stomach twisted painfully as she watched the woman reach for the Duke’s face in a deeply familiar way. To her surprise, though, he slapped her hand away and stepped back from her.
“Do not do that again, do you understand?” he growled. “Are you insane? I am a married man now, and even if I were not, our relationship ended nearly a month ago.”
“Oh, come, Your Grace,” the woman pouted. “You cannot still be angry about that, can you?”
“If you must ask that, then you truly do not know me,” Constantine gritted out. “Your behavior was abhorrent, just as it is now. I warn you one last time to drop this subject. As I said, I am married now.”
