“I think it’s possible,” she said evasively. “Have you ever met the man?”
He shifted in his chair, shrugged, and finally said, “No, and I have never wanted to.”
Loretta really had no idea whether or not a woman wrote the book, but there was something infinitely delightful about dueling with the duke in a tit-for-tat way. She believed she could do it all night and not grow tired. “Do you know anyone who has ever met him?”
“I can’t say I do. I didn’t have a fondness for the man’s book so I didn’t go around asking about the fellow. Especially considering the uproar going on in Society at the time I was reading it. The person who actually wrote the book was of no importance.”
“I’m sure that was true.”
“To say the least. I had all but forgotten about the book untilMiss Honora Truth’s Weekly Scandal Sheetbrought it to everyone’s attention again last year, when the Duke of Griffin’s sisters made their debut. But you have given me cause for thought on this. I may have to ask about him when I return to London. You’ve now made me curious about Sir Vincent Tybalt Valentine and”—he paused—“other things.”
From the corner of her eye, Loretta saw that Mrs. Philbert had started listening to them again, so she wasn’t about to ask what other things he was talking about, but she would have if they’d been alone.
Instead, she abruptly changed the conversation. “Tell me, Your Grace, do you dine with such elegance every night?”
“Never when I dine alone in London, but always when we have guests at Hawksthorn.”
“But,” Mrs. Philbert added as she looked at the duke, “if you don’t mind me joining your conversation again, Your Grace?”
He acknowledged her question with a nod.
“I wanted to tell Miss Quick there are times when we are less formal here as well. When it’s just the three of us. We dress for dinner, of course, but the food is not as elaborately prepared with so many courses and the table not quite so majestic. When the duke is away, which is often”—she gave Hawk a passing glance—“Lady Adele will, on a rare occasion, say she doesn’t want to dress for dinner, and she has the freedom to have something delivered to her room for her.”
Hawk kept his attention on Loretta, but said, “Thank you for clarifying that for Miss Quick, Minerva. Now, if everyone is finished, I think it’s time for a brandy.”
He rose and stepped over to help Loretta with her chair while Paxton hurried to the other side of the table to help Lady Adele and Mrs. Philbert. Hawk deliberately let the backs of his fingers press against her shoulders as she stood. A delicious shiver of pleasure rippled through her at his brief touch. It intensified as he bent close to her ear and whispered, “I’ll see you in the drawing room later.”
“You won’t be too long, will you?” Lady Adele asked her brother.
“I promise we won’t be,” he said indulgently.
“See that you aren’t.” She gave him a smile and then a kiss on his cheek. “It always seems to take you longer to have a brandy than for ladies to have a cup of tea.”
“That is because you drink your tea fast because you don’t want it to get cold. We don’t have that problem with brandy.”
“Come along, Miss Quick,” Lady Adele said and marched from the room.
Loretta, Lady Adele, and Mrs. Philbert started making their way back to the drawing room. Lady Adele talked while Loretta once again looked at all the beautiful things she’d seen when she’d first entered earlier that evening. Life-sized portraits, mirrors, and paintings of flowers, horses, and dogs hung on the plaster-covered walls. Large urns had been placed in all the corners, and on both sides of the fireplace stood regal-looking suits of armor that included swords and pikes. Clocks, music boxes, and figurines of varying styles, sizes, and shapes had been arranged on handsome pieces of furniture.
The drawing room was extravagantly furnished with gilt-washed wood chairs and dark-wood settees upholstered in elegant-looking fabrics dyed in rich colors and soft hues. Some were floral, others striped, and two matching armchairs near a window were covered in a material that looked as if it could have been made from gold thread. Baroque-styled woodwork trimmed the ceilings and frames, and fancy-topped lamps burned brightly to show it all.
Loretta had always thought the Earl of Switchingham’s home was the most impressive manor house she’d ever seen. That was of course, before she’d walked into the Duke of Hawksthorn’s home. This was just the kind of house she’d imagined the duke growing up in. She could see a little boy running from room to room, darting around the side table and away from his tutor, laughing as he hid behind the heavy velvet draperies. And the duke’s children would grow up here one day, too, she thought with a sigh of longing.
“Would you mind playing something for us, Minerva?” Lady Adele asked. “I’d like to visit with Miss Quick.”
“Not at all,” Mrs. Philbert said, and headed for thepianoforte at the far end of the large room. “Did you have something special in mind that you wanted to hear tonight?”
“Thank you, Minerva, and no, you decide. Come sit by me on the settee, Miss Quick. Right here.” She patted the cushion. “I want you to tell me more about your brother.”
“All right,” Loretta said, making herself comfortable on the small sofa beside her hostess. She would have thought that by now Lady Adele had asked Paxton everything possible under the sun. Loretta couldn’t believe there was more she wanted to know about him.
“He never stops smiling,” Lady Adele said and then turned to her cousin. “Not that one, Minerva. It’s simply too slow and makes me feel sad. I’d rather you play a lively tune. Do you mind?” Mrs. Philbert immediately changed the tempo of the score without saying a word or even looking up from the pianoforte. “Thank you,” Lady Adele said to her cousin and turned back to Loretta again. “So I want to know, is happy his true disposition or is he putting on an act for me?”
“It’s not an act, I assure you. I’ve never known him to be given to bouts of melancholy, and it’s just not in his nature to be disagreeable. I think your brother will attest to that, as well.”
“Hawk did make mention of that. Mr. Quick is quite handsome, too. That’s something else our brothers have in common, don’t you think so?”
“Yes,” Loretta agreed. Hawk was most pleasing to look at.
