Page 4 of Good Duke Gone Far

“I can see that,” replied the man in black.

Less than a second was given to the man in black to offer an explanation for his presence. “Leave your card with Darby. I’ll see to it later.”

“This really is a pressing matter, sir.”

“I have enough pressing matters at hand. If I had any more, I’d be holding diamonds. I’ll have to see to your matter next. Unfortunately it’s simply not my top priority today.” Quinn turned to Darby, gesturing to the stranger on the doorstep of his London home. “He’s the perfect reason that I need you here. Take care of this. I’ll be back tonight and we can settle everything tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow–” the man in black tried again.

“Is the best I got. See you then.” Quinn tipped his head at the two men and strode off toward his horse.

After Quinn had strapped his bags onto the horse, he patted her nose. “Let’s go, Muffin.” It wasn’t the name he had chosen for the horse, but it had stuck.

Throwing a leg over the great animal, Quinn clucked his tongue, and the horse obeyed. This was going to be a long day. For the time being, he allowed himself to dwell on the sweet scent of honeysuckle.

Quinn could only hope that sooner rather than later, he would find the hellion who had called into question his entire purpose of life. The words that came out of her mouth…He shook his head in remembrance. Most of the time he could ignore her. And most of the time that was planned because they were always in a group together. He made sure of it. The last thing he wanted was to be trapped in a confined space alone with her. There were two important things about handling Kat. One was to take her in small doses. The other was to never try to handle her alone.

Yes, he realized he was being flexible on the second point today. But Lady Anna would be there. He had to refrain from audibly snorting. Lady Anna was not the world’s most vigilant chaperone. At least two people had found love, and perhaps more, under her watchless eye.

All that meant that he couldn’t waver on the first principle. He could not spend excessive amounts of time with Kat. Nevermind excessive. He couldn’t spend more than was absolutely necessary. He would bring her back today.

There was a short season in which he had spent more time with her, but thankfully there had been others around them the entire time. Something about her just caused his head to ache. Among other ignored bodily reactions.

The house party they had endured together last summer had brought a group of them all close together, close enough to be on a first name basis. Though they all called him Colonel. He never asked if it was in jest, honor, or ignorance because it didn’t matter to him. They were all friends. They had been friends for a while.

Quinn inhaled a deep breath. Somehow the fragrant honeysuckle brought him right back to the time and place of the house party. He could easily recall the jasmine scent that permeated the orangery and the lemon fragrance emitted from walking through it.

Truth be told, Quinn couldn’t remember the first time he had even met Kat, most likely because he could only remember the mouth that she had, in more ways than one. But she was Reggie’s sister, and Reggie was a good friend. Well, as good a friend as he could be. Unfortunately, that decent-enough-of-a-friend had just called in a favor.

Luckily for Reggie though, he had messaged Quinn within hours of Kat leaving. There wasn’t any hint of panic, but the message was clear. Reggie needed Quinn to keep an eye on his sister as she had just decided upon a hair-brained scheme to tackle Scotland, and a Scottish duke no less. Even though Kat had taken Lady Anna with her on her maniacal mission, everyone knew she was the world’s worst chaperone, or best–depending on who was giving the testimony.

Quinn decided he would ride hell for leather to catch up to Kat, thinking that she couldn’t have made it too far being in a carriage. But the day was fast approaching late afternoon by the time he had finally packed up and left. Muffin would have had to have eaten a breakfast of four-leafed clovers for him to find Kat and take her back to Davin’s new place in one day. But that was still the plan. Quinn chuckled. Goodgreen Hall, where she had been staying to help plan a wedding, was nice enough, but with all the wedding talk, Quinn made as quick a getaway as he could. Sure, he would return for Bella and Elliot’s wedding, but really, how many affianced couples could a man be around? First Gregory and Jonathan both got married last summer. Now, Kat’s sister Charlotte was helping plan Bella’s wedding to Elliot. It was a wonder Quinn could keep it all straight.

He would be lucky to escape the summer being single. But that was what he needed right now. He wasn’t going back to his position as Colonel. He was done with war. If he never picked up a weapon again, well, that would be too soon. Now he hoped to find something else he could do for the rest of his life. Though he played consistently, he wasn’t good enough at chess to pursue a career there. He loved his horse, but it would take too much money to do anything interesting in the equine world. And boxing, well, he might still throw a few punches each week, but it wasn’t to fight someone else. It was for an entirely different reason. One that he wasn’t even sure how to put into words yet. Perhaps if he could just throw that one punch that was begging to be released, then he could define it.

For now, Quinn focused on the road and the quickest entry into Scotland. Without a doubt, Kat would take the most efficient route. If she left as quickly as Reggie relayed, she wouldn’t be wasting any time.

Quinn felt a vibration run up his leg. He was anxious to meet up with the devil of a woman. That was all. That was all it was every time he saw her deep set eyes and wide slash of a mouth. The same irritating reaction that tempted to put him in a frenzy unless he made himself scarce. Which was why he always put what distance he could between them. It was deuced uncomfortable being around her, not knowing what she was going to do or say next.

In a weird way, she reminded him of someone else he used to know. But that was even more vexing to think about.

So Quinn shoved all thought aside, dug his knees just a touch deeper into Muffin, and pushed his body and mind to one goal. Close the distance. Rescue the girl.

Chapter 3

LARGEPOTHOLESMADEFORaching bones, which made for an irritable passenger. Kat had read and reread the newspaper she had brought along with her several times. Once she started reading the columns for a third time, she dropped the papers and allowed her mind to wander.

Every woman in her life had recently developed some impressive hobby or career, and Kat had barely managed to maintain her social ties. It was a wonder she had any friends. She really needed a focus, maybe some charitable work or purpose-giving work that could eat through the days. Something she could throw herself into without offending anyone. It was laborious to duck and dodge taboo activities and conversation topics. And Kat eschewed labor at all costs. So instead of ducking and dodging, she walked right through them.

One door she would love to walk though, would be the marriage door. As long as she married rich, she could do whatever she wanted. She had her sights set on nabbing a duke. Really any duke would do, since she would happily settle for a marriage ofthatlevel of convenience.

However, one right after another, every duke around her was falling for some headstrong woman. Well, she was the most headstrong of them all, so her chances were good that the next duke would fall for her. There was no part of her that wondered if she could get the Scottish duke she was about to investigate though. Two things killed that line of thinking. First, he would be in Scotland, and Kat was not moving to Scotland. Second, he had proposed to her sister. And trying to steal someone from another woman, especially her sister, would be unconscionable.

No, the Scottish duke was definitely off the table. But the moment she sorted out who he was and why he was proposing to Charlotte, Kat would return to England. She would attend Bella and Elliot’s wedding and hopefully snag one of the single groomsmen Elliot would be expected to bring. Knowing Elliot, all his groomsmen would be married already.

All the career planning and thoughts of husband hunting were just dull enough to put her to sleep. Unfortunately all the bumps in the road were just jarring enough to keep her awake.

Dull and achy would soon become the least of her worries.

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