Page 89 of A Deal with the Broken Duke
“Yes,” Lady Annie agreed. “But I would have liked to be wrong this time. I confess, as surprised as I was by it, it was good to see His Grace happy. And I do believe he was happy with you. It was just that superstition of his.”
“I wish things were different too,” Juliet said. “If only for his sake. I see now how horrible it must be for him, believing himself to be cursed, fearing that every time he cares for someone, he’s putting them in danger.”
Lady Annie hesitated. “Do you really want to see things change for him?”
“Of course I do,” Juliet said. “More than anything I want that.”
“In that case, I’d like to speak with you privately, if you’re willing.”
Juliet frowned. “Speak with me about what?”
“I can’t go into that here, where people might hear us. But will you try to get away and meet me in the library?”
Juliet knew she couldn’t refuse. She was too curious about what this might be about. “I’ll be there in just a few minutes,” she said. “I just have to make sure my father isn’t looking. He won’t like me leaving the party.”
“I won’t take up too much of your time,” Lady Annie assured her. “With luck, he’ll never even notice you were gone at all.”
She smiled and slipped away into the crowd.
Juliet’s heart pounded. She had intended to avoid Harry at all costs tonight, and this, whatever it was, felt uncomfortably like dipping her feet back into the waters she’d meant to stay out of.
But she couldn’t turn down the opportunity to find out what Lady Annie thought she should know.
She waited until her father’s back was turned—he was in conversation with Lord Cumberland about something—and then, she slipped out of the room and down the hall that led to the library. She would have to hope that Lady Annie had been right about how much time this was going to take, because if her father did discover that she was missing, Juliet suspected that the library was one of the first places he would look for her.
Would he be upset to find her in conversation with Lady Annie? About that, Juliet wasn’t sure. It wasn’t as if there was anything scandalous about it, but he had been adamant that she should socialize tonight. He probably wouldn’t approve.
And he definitely wouldn’t approve if he knew what they were talking about. He wanted her to forget about Harry.
She wished she could.
She opened the door to the library and went inside, but once she was inside, she froze.
Someone was waiting for her in there standing beside the window.
But it wasn’t Lady Annie.
CHAPTERTHIRTY
Harry put his hand in his pocket and ran his fingers over the edges of the folded-up note he had found in his napkin at dinner.
Meet me on the south balcony between dinner and dessert, it read. And the signature was simply “J.”
“J” could only be one person, of course. He had no doubt about who had written the note. And from the moment he had unfolded it in his lap and read it, he had known that he would do as she’d asked. Perhaps it was foolish… Well, no, it was definitely foolish, but he couldn’t bring himself to stay away. He had to know what it was Juliet wanted.
So now, he stood on the south balcony waiting for her.
He had been hopeful that she would get here first and that she would be waiting forhim, but it hadn’t turned out that way. He’d been here for about five minutes already, and he was beginning to question his decision to come at all. Maybe he had been unwise. Maybe it would make more sense to go back inside, to pretend he simply hadn’t seen the note. Wasn’t he just making things worse for the both of them by allowing this to continue when they knew it couldn’t possibly lead to anything?
He was about to give up and go back inside when he heard the sound of light footsteps approaching.
His heart beat faster. This was her. It would have to be.
A shadow fell outside the door.
He stepped back beside the wall, leaving space for her to come out.
The door opened, and a slight figure stepped out onto the balcony and into the moonlight.
