“There, then let us send him a note. I am sure he will be most apologetic.”
“If you think so.”
“It will ease our minds, and we will ensure that your mother’s lock of hair is returned to its rightful place.”
“But why would he remove them? There could be no benefit, surely.”
“Artists work in their own ways, my dear Miss Sterling. Who are we to question their methods?”
She took a breath and let her shoulders drop. “You are right, of course.”
He handed her back her parents. “I am sure it is simply a mistake.” He bowed and she bobbed before turning towards the door.
“Thank you, Your Grace.”
“You are most welcome.”
When she turned to close the door, he was already back behind his desk and writing on a new piece of vellum. Her shoulders ached, and she was exhausted. She made her way back to her room and placed her parents in their spots on her dressing table. The duke would make it right.
Tony sensed troublewhen his brother called him to his study. His brother looked grimmer than normal and simply pointed to the chair opposite.
“What have I done now?”
“Well, that depends. Do you have anything you need to confess?”
His throat grew tight at the lie on his tongue. “No!”
“Good. I had a most distraught Miss Sterling in here earlier.”
“Oh?” Shit! Shit! Shit!
“It seems Lord Dunstan has removed her parents from their frames and now her mother’s lock of hair is missing. She came here to ask if it was necessary to remove the frames in order to do the painting.”
“And?”
“I said I wasn’t sure. That I would send a note to Dunstan requesting the lock of hair be returned.”
“All right. Do you want me to deliver this message?”
“Yes, personally, if you please. I want to know why he would take them from their frames in such a manner.”
Tony’s breath stalled. Why had he never thought of doing the same? What if the secret was indeed hidden within the frame of the pictures? And now Dunstan had it. What a fool.
Tony stood and paced the room. “I checked him out. He has nothing suspicious in his past. Other than the art, he is a dull subject. He has never even had a gambling debt or as much as an IOU.” Tony stopped pacing and looked at his brother. “He is too clean, far too squeaky for my liking.”
The duke simply lifted a brow. “You checked him?”
Tony frowned back. “That is what you do when you are sifting through potential husbands for your ward.”
The duke smirked. “Oh, of course.”
“I’ll go and see Dunstan right away. He better have a good reason, or I’ll blacken his eyes so he cannot paint for a month.”
The duke nodded and then waved him out. “Make sure you do it today, before I end up having Mother and Marianne up here too.”
He was going to get to the bottom of it and Dunstan had better have a good excuse.
Chapter Twenty
