Page 28 of Her Wolf of a Duke

In truth, he hated how easily people saw his title and decided to like him regardless of how he acted. No one seemed to have true feelings, good or bad, for him. Only his title. When it came to Miss Kendall, however, she only seemed to like him when his mask fell and he stopped his act. She was an exception, and that interested him.

The following morning, when the pairs were made, Miss Kendall glared at him as he had expected her to. He tried to feign surprise, but he wasn’t any good at it and she saw through it regardless.

“This was your doing,” she accused, “wasn’t it?”

“Not exactly, no, but as we are together, it would be unwise to dispute it, would it not?”

She rolled her eyes, took the first clue from him, and began on her way. Levi had not yet read it, but he knew that his friend hadquite a flair for the dramatics when he felt like it. The clues were written in poem form, each pair having a different starting point that led to the same end, the ones in between being in varying orders.

“My face is round, I watch the day,” Miss Kendall read. “Tracing time in golden ray. Might you know?”

“Might you?”

“You are infuriating,” she groaned, but then she lit up. “Actually, I just might. Come along.”

She ran off at a speed he had never seen in a lady, and he tried to keep up with her. She seemed to know precisely where she was going, eventually coming to a stop at the sun dial by the roses.

“It uses rays of sunlight to tell the time,” she explained. “This must be right.”

Levi set about searching for the clue, soon finding a folded piece of paper in a crevice. Miss Kendall cheered brightly, but instead of taking the paper from him she allowed him to read it for himself.

“I have no tongue, yet tales I tell. Seek me where minds explore and swell. That has to be the library, yes?”

“I am inclined to agree, Your Grace. Very astute of you.”

“Might we be the most intelligent people here?” he asked in a joking manner as they set off for the next clue. “I believe we are.”

When they entered the library, Levi noticed how she froze a little at the sight of the chairs. It was where she had been when he walked in on her, and though he had practically forgotten the moment it was evident that she had not.

“How will we find the clue in here?” she asked. “This is one of the largest libraries that I have ever seen.”

“Mine is larger,” he mumbled, wandering the room and picking up a few books.

At last, they found it underneath a glass vase. Levi found it first, but Miss Kendall was quicker, and so when they each reached out to touch it, she took the vase and he, in turn, took her hand.

Her skin was incredibly soft, and her hand was delicate. He almost forgot that it was most improper to hold onto a lady’s hand for an extended amount of time, and he would have had Miss Kendall not tried to pull away. They both shared an uneasy laugh, and then he stepped back and allowed her to unfold the paper.

“In winter’s chill, I bloom in light. My scent is sweet, my blossoms white.”

They looked at one another for a moment. It was about flowers, that much was obvious, but with how vast and manicured the gardens were, it could have been anything.

Suddenly, Miss Kendall sprang into action, running out of the library with him on her heels.

“Where are we going?” he asked.

“The orangery, of course. Dorothy told me all about them. Orange blossoms are one of her favorite flowers, you know.”

When they arrived at the orangery, Miss Godwin was already there with her partner, Miss Penton. They seemed to be looking intensely at a clue that they had found, and so they would have to search for a different one in there.

“Emma!” Miss Penton called. “How are you enjoying your search?”

“It has certainly been entertaining. I hadn’t thought the Duke of Pridefield to be a poet. And the two of you?”

“This is our first clue,” Miss Penton sighed. “I cannot make head nor tail of it, and it isn’t as though Dorothy is in any rush to leave here.”

Miss Godwin blushed fervently at that.

“It simply smells too wonderful. I have had an orange for breakfast every day since our arrival.”

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