She put her face in her palms. “She’s going to see me like this?”
“No one is more scandalous than my mother. Her son stopping by with a woman dressed as a man carrying a baby should be nothing to her.”
Patience didn’t look convinced.
A tiny, tiny, tiny portion of his brainbox wondered if her fretful look was for a last deception she hadn’t shared.
If she wasn’t his cousin’s widow, he’d know shortly.
The question would be if a final deception would kill what he felt or if the truth would erase his guilt for wanting to seduce his cousin’s widow.
CHAPTER 26
A LAST-MINUTESTOP
Confusion twisted about my head like a vise’s grip.
Did this happen to male spies or just widowed nannies who hadn’t taken care to protect their heart?
I didn’t know what I felt or what could come of it, but I knew I was in danger once again. I fell for Colin so fast I couldn’t think straight, and now I was falling for the duke. He made me think too much about being happy and whole and not hiding any piece of myself.
Could this last? Could a thing built on deception be true?
The carriage stopped outside a large stately manner. Lots of windows and lights, but the structure was not as big as Hamlin.
Did it have ghosts, too?
From the fretful look on the duke’s face—his smile slimming to nothing—it had to.
Repington caught my hand. “My mother and I don’t have much of a relationship, good or bad, but if I had to pick, I’d describe it as mostly bad. This will be difficult.”
“I’m not delicate. I can withstand her criticisms. I weathered yours.”
He held me in place. His eyes, cloudy blue in the lantern light, seemed to plead with my soul. “If I need to know anything before we go inside, tell me now. I’d rather have it said betwixt us, just us.”
I had nothing to tell him, and I wasn’t ready to share how much I liked his kiss or how I welcomed the heat in his gaze, the strength of his arms.
I shook my head and offered my shoulder to help him from the shiny black carriage. The masterful team of horses looked ready to bolt. I didn’t want to be here, either.
The duke waved me from the opening. “Onward, then.”
I waited for him to ease from the carriage, straighten, and then secure his balance on his cane.
Lionel’s cries started up again.
My poor son’s patience had worn away, but I wasn’t ready to expose myself and be more vulnerable to the duke.
Nonetheless, hadn’t I exposed what I felt when I didn’t shy away from his kiss?
I rocked Lionel in the basket. He seemed tired of bouncing. I was pretty tired of my waffling, too.
The duke put his hand on mine along the basket handle. He smiled down at Lionel, who stretched and shoved at his blanket.
Up three steps, we arrived at the door, which opened as if it had been waiting for us.
I’d left my hat in the carriage, not that this would help our cause.
The hall was littered in portmanteaus, big ones, small ones, even bonnet-size boxes.
