Page 26 of The Gambler Wagers Her Baron

“Out with it,” Damon sighed, glancing at the hall clock. Nearly midday, and he hadn’t even made it to his work yet. “I have a long day ahead of me.”

“Ummm—” Brown stared at the floor. “You have a visitor.”

“A visitor?” Damon asked. “Why was I not summoned?”

Was it Flora again, stopping by unannounced to badger him and create unease in his servants? It had been less than two days since her last visit. Even when she was upset over Damon’s refusal to conduct his daily life according to her edicts, Flora was not known to call on him more than once per week. Had he done something unusual to incur her wrath?

Mr. Brown cleared his throat as he was accustomed to doing when he was nervous and feared inciting Damon’s ire. “After what happened at the party, I had hoped he would take his leave if you did not attend him directly.”

The only thing that had happened at the party was…

“The Duke of Catherton is here?” Any lingering tendrils of exhaustion fled as a new alertness coursed through him. “How long has he been made to wait?”

“Only ten minutes, my lord.”

“Thank you, Mr. Brown.” Damon couldn’t be upset with his butler. After Damon had gone upstairs to see to his misbehaving children the night of the party, Brown had been charged with escorting the duke and Miss Samuels to his study. At some point, the governess—still masked—had slipped from the gaming room and absconded into the night, leaving the duke enraged with an unsettled debt.

“Shall I have tea brought round?” the butler asked.

“Heavens, no.” Damon had insisted he would send word to the duke as soon as he located the mystery woman who owed Catherton twenty pounds. He hadn’t any notion where she’d gone that night, but he knew where she was now, and handing over her identity to Catherton was not an option. “We shall not endeavor to make the man feel any more welcome than he is.”

Damon needed the governess to remain in his employ. If not for himself, then for Joy and Abram. With her in residence at Ashford Hall, she cared for his children in a way he’d been unable to all these years—something he longed to learn.

“Please make certain the children remain above stairs.” He couldn’t risk the duke spotting Miss Samuels, nor chance his children creating a scene his sister would surely hear about.

“Of course.” The butler nodded stiffly and turned to make his way upstairs.

There was nothing left for Damon to do but appease the duke.

With a casual grin, he entered his study to find the duke pouring himself a healthy tumbler of brandy. If his guest had been any other man, Damon would have laughed and asked him to pour him a drink, as well. Though it wasn’t another man.

“Your Grace.” The greeting was cool as Catherton pivoted to face Damon, his chilling, cold blue eyes nearly cutting him from across the room. “Do have a seat.”

Catherton ignored his offer; instead, he turned to study the portrait above the sideboard.

“My father with his favored hound,” Damon offered.

Still, the duke remained silent. Damon couldn’t help but wonder if it was a tactic the lord regularly used to unhinge his opponents. Not that Damon was in any way the man’s adversary.

Perhaps it was best to discuss the issue at hand and have it finished. “I thought we decided I would—”

“It has been over a day, Ashford…over a day.” The duke drained his tumbler and set it on a nearby table then sauntered across the room toward Damon. “I was under the impression you would handle the matter with haste and have the debt paid.”

“I have been unable to locate the woman in question. My man of business has taken up the search, and will no doubt be contacting me with information soon.”

Catherton’s stare narrowed on him. “I would hate to think you allow such unsavory characters into your home and go so far as to assist them in bilking your friends.”

The only unsavory man in his home was Catherton, and friends was something Damon would never be with the duke.

Reflexively, Damon moved toward his desk, putting Catherton closer to the door.

Damon stalled himself from running his hand through his hair before pivoting to stare over Catherton’s shoulder and out the open door as a wisp of green ducked from view.

The duke moved back toward Damon, grabbing his tumbler from the sideboard and refilling it.

Outside his study, Miss Samuels’ dark hair could be seen as she leaned around the door frame. Was the woman determined to be noticed? If it hadn’t been for the blue dye on her elbow, Damon might have continued on, oblivious to the mystery woman’s identity.

Damon turned in her direction, his brow raising in question before he sauntered across the room and shut the door in her bewildered face before moving to stand behind his desk.