Page 63 of Lavender’s Lost Duke

“Who?”

Samuel looked at his lap. “You’re not going to want to know the answer.”

“I’ve already got Jack up to his nose in murky water. I’ll not allow him to risk more for me.”

Samuel shook his head. “No, not Jack. Although we’ll unpack that in a moment. I think it has to be Lady Lavender.”

Thomas’s chair clattered behind him, he’d stood up so quickly. “No.”

“She’s more talented than you would expect.”

“I have no issues with how talented she is. I refuse to put her in danger,” Thomas fumed.

Samuel tapped a finger on his desk. “Sit back down so we can talk.”

Thomas picked up the chair and sat on the edge of it, not trying to mask the frustration on his face. “Could anyone else accomplish the task?”

“No one that I can think of.” Samuel put up a hand to silence Thomas’s retort. “Lord Chilcott has singled Lady Lavender out as the woman he intends to court. It has been pointed and even manipulative at times. What we don’t know is why he has chosen her, specifically. For any other woman that gave Lord Chilcott a difficult time, he would have given her the cut direct. But he bends to her whims when she asks it of him. All we need her to do is get in the way of the plan a little bit to see how Lord Chilcott reacts.”

“You’re going to put her in the time and place?” Thomas didn’t have a good feeling about that. “When and where is it?”

Samuel closed his eyes for a long moment. “I’m afraid I can’t tell you that.”

“You don’t trust me?”

“No,” Samuel said bluntly. “No, I don’t. Not when it comes to her. You would put your life at stake if it meant saving her a scratch. It would be foolhardy for me to give you that information.”

Thomas stood with a calmness he did not feel. “This whole mess is mine to sort out, not yours. Please, allow me to help in some way.”

“Whether you like it or not, it is my problem to sort out. Miriam has decided to take your case of hopeless love as a challenge. Until you and Lady Lavender are safe and married, my wife won’t sleep at night—which means neither will I.”

“You don’t seem all that put out about it,” Thomas remarked drily.

Samuel tried to bite back his smile. “I’ve argued with Miriam about love these past five years, and it never does get old.”

Thomas shook his head. “And does Miriam believe this plan is the best one to discover what Lord Chilcott is doing?”

Samuel nodded. “She does.”

Thomas blew out a breath. “I don’t think I can argue with her.”

“You’d be right on that score.”

A knock sounded on the door.

“Who is there?” Samuel called.

“Lord Chilcott, sir,” came the butler’s muffled voice.

Thomas’s eyes went wide.

Samuel put a finger up to his lips and pointed to the corner of the room where the door opened.

Thomas tiptoed over to stand behind the door while Samuel walked to open it. The door swung open and came within inches of Thomas’s nose. He held his breath.

“Good day, Lord Chilcott,” Samuel said. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Might I have a word with you in private?”