Page 24 of A Deal with the Broken Duke
“Don’t worry,” Harry said. “I burned that letter. I could tell it was supposed to be a secret.”
Juliet nodded. “Good. That means it will never be read, then.” She paused for a moment. “Thank you again. And good luck with Father. I hope he doesn’t make this difficult for you.”
“Father won’t make things difficult,” Matilda said confidently. “This is his dream come true. His daughter courting a duke… He’ll be so excited he won’t be able to see straight.”
Harry laughed. “I’ll see you later, I hope.”
He watched both sisters disappear back down the garden path.
What a strange turn of events all this was. He wondered what Daniel would say when he found out. Then, he wondered if Juliet intended for him to tell Daniel. If not, it would mark the very first time he had lied to his friend.
He found that he wanted to do it anyway.
How odd. He must have cared more for Juliet than he had initially believed.
CHAPTERSEVEN
Five minutes later, Harry was knocking at the door to Halsway Manor.
It was answered by a butler, a man he had seen before but didn’t know by name. “Your Grace,” the butler said. “Are you expected?”
“I’m not,” Harry replied. “I’m here to speak to Lord Linford. Is he at home?”
“Yes, Your Grace.” The butler’s eyebrows lifted in mild surprise, and Harry thought he knew why. The man had assumed that he would ask to see his friend Daniel, not the viscount.
Today was full of surprises.
“Come to the sitting room,” the butler suggested. “I’ll go and fetch him for you.”
He led Harry into the sitting room, and Harry took a seat by the fire and stared into it pensively, wondering how this was going to go. He hadn’t seen Lord Linford in a long time and wondered if the man would be difficult. Juliet and Matilda had seemed to think it was necessary to handle him delicately to make sure this went the way they wanted it to. The Duke wondered if that was true.
A moment later, the door opened, and Lord Linford entered the room.
He hadn’t changed much from the man Harry remembered. His hair was mostly gray now, but he still looked strong and hale. He smiled at Harry when he saw him. “Your Grace,” he said. “I had heard you were back in London after your time in Paris. Welcome home.”
“Thank you. And please, call me Harry.”
“Oh, goodness, no.” Lord Linford shook his head.
Harry supposed he shouldn’t be surprised. His title was clearly the thing that mattered most to Lord Linford. Juliet and Matilda had warned him to expect this. He might have been Harry to Lord Linford when he was younger, but now that he was a duke, he should expect his relationship with this gentleman to change.
It was sad, in a way. He had always known that the title he would inherit from his father would open certain doors for him, but he hadn’t been prepared for the way other doors would close. A gentleman who had once been like an uncle to him—his best friend’s father—now saw him as a duke first and as Harry second.
Well, that was fine. That would make it easier for Harry to do what he needed to do here. It might have been difficult to bring himself to deceive someone he was close to, but Lord Linford had made this decision for him—the two of them were no longer close.
“I suppose you’ve guessed the reason for my visit today,” Harry said.
“Juliet mentioned that I might be seeing you.” Lord Linford couldn’t seem to contain the eagerness in his expression. “I hadn’t realized that you would be coming so soon, but I suppose you’re just as excited as we are about all this.”
I should have taken some time to think about what I was going to say to him.
Harry needed to make this sound convincing, or else it was possible that no one would believe him, and then the whole plan would be ruined before it ever began.
“I was so pleased to see Juliet again last night. It’s been such a long time since the two of us saw one another.”
“Yes, and I imagine she’s very different from what you remember!” Lord Linford laughed. “I certainly never imagined that my Juliet would grow up to be pretty. But she has, hasn’t she?”
“She’s lovely,” Harry agreed, wondering why it was that her father didn’t seem to see any problem with talking about her that way.
