Page 65 of Lavender’s Lost Duke

Lord Chilcott pulled her even closer to himself. “What are you reading right now?”

“I’ve been studying the book of Revelations.”

“From The Bible?” Lord Chilcott asked with obvious shock.

“Yes, from The Bible,” Lavender smiled a little. “Haven’t you heard of it?”

He shook his head. “I try to leave church at church.”

“Sermons are helpful. But I like to make up my own mind on matters of importance.”

Lord Chilcott dipped his head. “You cannot keep saying things that make me respect you more, Lady Lavender. It is unholy to worship someone more than God.”

“I believe you are admitting to being a heathen.”

His answering smirk only added evidence to her claim. The music came to a stop, and he finally released her. “I certainly do not claim to be as wholesome as you.” He led her from the floor. “I don’t want to deliver you back to the duke. If that is me being a heathen, then so be it.”

Lavender swatted his shoulder. “Behave, my lord.” Their interaction felt far too much like flirting for Lavender’s peace of mind. Lord Chilcott was the enemy, the one responsible for making others’ lives miserable. The lost duke being among them. “Thank you for the dance.” She met with Miriam and Samuel who had been dancing together at the edge of the room.

Miriam took Lavender’s arm. “Excuse us for a few minutes.”

Samuel kissed Miriam on the cheek. “If I have to.”

She smiled. “You do.” She led Lavender from the men’s company. When they reached the corridor, she turned to Lavender. “Are you certain you want to do this?”

Lavender nodded. “Of course I do.”

“It’s only that . . .” Miriam pinched her lips between her teeth. “. . . well, Lord Chilcott is not all bad.”

Lavender shook her head. “Only time will tell. Miriam, I know what it looked like back there. But I have no romantic feelings for Lord Chilcott.”

Miriam nodded and grasped Lavender’s hands. “Well then, I will be just around the corner. Yell my name if you need me.”

“I will.” Lavender let go of the duchess’s hands and tucked herself behind the pillar closest to the exit. From her vantage point, she could see anyone who left the ballroom from behind, and she was hidden from view. She leaned her head on the cool stone of the pillar and took a deep breath.

She counted six persons who left the ball, none of whom seemed the least likely to be an accomplice of Lord Chilcott, and only five whom she knew by name. The other lady who left, Lavender hadn’t seen before, but she noted her light-brown hair and the pattern of her dress should she need to give details.

“I am surprised, my lord, that you wanted to meet at a ball. It is not my usual way of working,” a female voice said from the other side of Lavender’s large pillar. She recognized the voice, but she couldn’t quite place it.

“That is the point, I would think.” It was Lord Chilcott who answered. “Do tell me you have a secret compartment about your person where I can give you this stack of letters.”

A tinkling laugh came from the woman. “My reticule will be sufficient, I am sure.”

Lavender could hear some shifting about for a few moments, and then Lord Chilcott spoke again. “When can you be finished?”

“These things cannot be rushed. But I am usually capable within a week.”

“I will call on you next Thursday then.”

The woman tsked. “So long as you don’t bring the Gardner girl with you, you may come to my home. It will be a beautiful thing to see her heart get crushed. I’m counting on you to make your stance quite public before you receive my work.”

“Of course,” Lord Chilcott answered.

“Well, I’m off.” Lavender heard the sound of a kiss. “Until next Thursday.”

Lavender was blinking fast, trying to make sense of the conversation, and attempting not to cry at the same time. The woman walked from the interaction with her head held high, her honey hair reflecting the light from the candles along the walls. Lavender didn’t dare breathe. She knew that woman. It was Meredith Dalrymple, the person who had once been her friend, however briefly.

A mountain of questions piled up on Lavender’s mind. She’d known that Meredith was attempting to sort out where the lost duke was, but why was Meredith upset with her? How had she gotten involved in the situation in the first place? And how was Lord Chilcott going to publicize Lavender’s supposed heartache?