Page 12 of The Duke Says I Do
“That will be all for now.”
The panel slid into place, plunging them back into twilight. “He’s right, you know,” Portia said.
“About the gardeners?”
“About it being beneath your dignity to wash Jupiter.”
“He didn’t say that.”
“He didn’t need to. And he offered you a chance to wriggle out of a nasty job.”
Granville gave a dismissive huff. “As if you’d let me get away with palming Jupiter off on Phipps.”
“I might have…expressed disappointment.”
She couldn’t see the duke roll his eyes. Somehow she knew that he did. This preternatural awareness was new, too. She’d never been interested in his reactions before. Now they loomed far too large in her consciousness.
“Might?”
“You don’t have to listen to me.” She wondered why, having worked so hard to obtain His Grace’s cooperation, she offered him a way to avoid his obligations.
He didn’t answer that. “Phipps was hired to drive the horses, not play my kennel keeper. He’s a deuced good coachman. I don’t want him taking his services elsewhere.”
Portia wasn’t convinced that care for his servant’s sensitivities lay at the root of His Grace’s cooperation. It could be mere wishful thinking, but she sensed a bond building between dog and man. She was wise enough to keep that observation to herself.
The hubbub outside faded. They’d left the busy thoroughfare behind and turned into the street leading to Lorimer Square. The carriage rolled to a stop, and she heard Phipps climb down and start shouting, presumably at the grooms.
Portia began to speak, but a quick hand on her knee kept her quiet. No man had ever touched her leg before. The contact shuddered through her like thunder. Waves of heat rippled through her. She went silent, more with shock than discretion.
Once again, she was grateful for the darkness. She doubted she could hide her overwhelming reaction.
When after about a quarter of an hour, Phipps opened the door to the coach, allowing light to flood in, she’d just about regained control of herself.
Chapter 4
Phipps surveyed the coach’s occupants with more of that stoical expression. “My lady. Your Grace.” He bowed to Portia before addressing Granville. “I’ve sent them all off to the King’s Head on your shilling.”
His gaze fell on Jupiter, who stared back with the intelligent interest that seemed to be his default attitude. Portia had dealt with hundreds of dogs and loved every one of them. But she could already tell that Jupiter was special. The thought of him being ripped to pieces in a dogfight made her feel sick.
“Housing Jupiter turns out to be an expensive business,” Granville said drily.
When Phipps laughed, Portia was surprised yet again. Not just because the duke’s response hinted that he might take Jupiter.
It was clear that duke and coachman shared an easy relationship. She’d always assumed that Granville was too high in the instep to treat his social inferiors as anything except convenient underlings. She’d been wrong about this, too.
It was a bitter pill to realize how badly she’d misjudged Granville. She thought back to how disgusted he’d sounded when he mentioned people cozying up to him because of his rank. Perhaps his remote manner in society was justified. He hadn’t been at all the haughty aristocrat today. In fact, he’d been a good sport, given that events hadn’t gone to plan for him, from the moment he stepped forward to confront Jim.
Phipps subjected Jupiter to a thorough inspection. “He isn’t what I imagined you bringing back from the docks.”
The now-familiar wry smile appeared. It exerted an unsteadying effect on Portia’s nerves. When Granville smiledlike that, he didn’t look chilly and self-righteous. He looked dangerously approachable. “He’ll make a better impression after a bath.”
Portia remained as unconvinced about that as Phipps. Now she took the time to consider the dog as something other than a fellow creature in need of help, it was clear that nothing was going to turn him into a beauty.
“Shall I take him?” Phipps asked.
“Yes, please.”
“What do you think he is?” Phipps caught the rope dangling from the collar and coaxed Jupiter onto the ground. “There’s a bit of bull terrier there.”
