Page 10 of The Scarred Duchess Deal
“I am afraid that I will have to offer you disappointment then, Sir, as you are far from the only one looking for Mortimer.” Sadness bled into her tone. Leo could not explain it but everything within him wished to offer her comfort. It tugged at something deep in his gut to see her looking so sad. Even more, as he was certain that sadness was a mask that she had cause to wear very often.
“I do not understand?” Leo pressed.
“My brother is wanted by a great many people, Sir, and not half of them for good reasons. He has been missing for the last three years. I suppose that if you were traveling you might not have heard about the scandals of theton–”
“Brother?” Leo repeated. He tilted his head to the side and struggled to recall her name. Mortimer spoke of very few things with animation: gambling, money, and his sister. He had practically worshiped her from what Leo knew about her. Though, he had never been given reason or cause to be introduced. Had he known that she looked as beautiful as she did – he could understand why Mortimer would keep them separate, given Leo’s rakish tendencies. “Tessa?” he hazarded.
Tessa’s bright blue eyes lifted as she nodded. “So, you really did know my brother?”
“Yes. Very well. I should love to be of some assistance to honor our old friendship. Do you really have no idea where it is that he has gone?” Leo asked.
“I suppose that you could check in with the constables to see if they have any new leads on him. He certainly has not written to me. You would have no reason to know, I suppose, though the scandal was large enough that I was certain every British citizen would have been told about… the fire,” Tessa continued flatly. She wrapped her arms further around herself as she spoke.
Leo could not tell if it was the chill in the evening air or if it was the subject that bothered her more. Either way, he found himself slipping out of his coat and boldly placing it around her shoulders regardless.
“My brother is the main suspect for the arson attack that killed our parents and left me with this particular disfigurement. I am sorry to be the one to tell you if you did not know, but he is now on the run. If you do manage to locate him somehow, I beg of you to ask him to write.”
Leo put two and two together as he looked at her. It felt absolutely impossible to him that the Mortimer that he knew would have been responsible for disfiguring his favorite person in such a way. He tried to fathom how Mortimer might have ever been pushed to such a point that he might even have made a mistake… but it was so unlike him. Mortimer had his troubles, there was no denying that. He tended to get in over his head or put himself into impossible situations from which there was absolutely no escape, but this felt a step too far.
“For your honesty, I fear that I must, too, be fully transparent. He and I were very close friends, but he also owes me a great debt of money. I fear that if I were to locate him, he would only run from me as well,” Leo confessed. “I am deeply, deeply sorry to hear this news.”
“Well, if it is only money that you are after, you will have to find him first regardless. You will have no assistance from me, Sir. Please believe that I would do anything to speak to him again,” Tessa finished sadly as she slipped his jacket back off of her shoulders and held it out to him. Leo lifted a hand in protest. She paused then said, “I have been terribly lonely in his absence.”
She did not know why she said it; she had no reason to trust this man. He was a perfect stranger to her, but his presence… speaking about her brother like this was the closest that she had felt to Mortimer in years. It felt like a weight lifted off of her chest. She could not look the man in the eye. She did not even know his name but for some reason, she had chosen to be more honest with him than she had been in the last handful of years.
Her aunt and uncle never allowed her to speak about Mortimer. They practically spat at the ground any time he was even referred to. They believed Mortimer guilty… which she would never do.
“Perhaps, if you are open to it, we could come to an arrangement that would suit both of us?” Leo proposed.
Tessa lifted her eyes to the man curiously. “I have nothing that you could want, Sir. I cannot repay his debts to you.”
“No, nothing like that. I merely mean that we could form a sort of… alliance, if you will. I have missed a great many things in my time away and perhaps you could assist me in catching up. In exchange, we could work together to help locate Mortimer. A fresh set of eyes is never a bad thing, and I could offer you that.”
“In exchange for what?” Tessa asked hesitantly.
“Companionship,” Leo answered simply.
Tessa blanched, then scoffed and shook her head. She turned and headed deeper into the maze as she spoke over her shoulder. “Of course. I ought to have known that was what you were after. Good evening, Sir.”
Leo jogged after her. “No! You misunderstand me! While I would neverrejectsuch a thing under other circumstances, that is not my intention here. I swear it to you! On the friendship of your brother that is not my intention. I only mean to say that it could help abate the loneliness for us both. I shall make a show of publicly courting you and that will afford us the time to be together to search for your brother. What do you say?”
“Why would courting you offer me anything at all?” Tessa gave him an once-over. It did not matter how handsome the man was, she knew nothing about him. She did not even know his name, or title – nothing about his family. While it was true that the idea she was courtinganyonewould be a thrill to her aunt and uncle…she did not trust it.
As if sensing her doubts, he said, “I know that I have not introduced myself. I am the Duke of Huxton. My name is Leonard Keats. You can call me Leo, if you like – well, should you accept my terms, then you are welcome to call me as such.”
Tessa stopped in her tracks. She felt as if she had been doused with ice-cold water. With a humorless laugh, she said, “You jest.”
How ironic would it be if she just so happened to be standing in front of the very same duke that was the object of attention for each and every person back in the ballroom? The Duke of Huxton was the very man that her cousin had set her sights on. Oh, the look on Sophie’s face if Tessa were to walk back into the ballroom on the duke’s arm. She would have traded nearly anything to capture the look of horror on her cousin’s face.
“I am perfectly serious. Feel free to ask about me.” Leo grinned, knowing full well what sort of reputation she would hear about when she did. “But when you do – remember that I have already sworn to you that the salacious specifics of my reputation are not at all my intention with you.”
“Why would you wish to pretend to court me?” Tessa could not help but ask.
Leo hesitated. The honest answer – that he wished to avoid the attention of so many would-be wives – might get him slapped. But she had been so open with him. “Because…” he sighed, “Because I can tell that you are overlooked. I am certain that you are not treated very kindly as a result of your scars, and perhaps being seen with the most eligible duke of the Season might… ease that burden a little. You are Mortimer’s sister, and as one of his good friends, I would be remiss if I did not seek to make your life a little easier in his absence.”
“You certainly do think highly of yourself, Your Grace,” Tessa answered flatly. She knew that he was right. There would be no way to speak poorly about her, at least not in the open if she were on the arm of a duke. “I appreciate your offer, Your Grace, but I do not need your charity. I certainly do not need your pity or attention.”
Leo took the opportunity to step closer to her. To his surprise, she did not move away from him as he reached for her chin. He took her face delicately in his hand and lifted her gaze to look at him. Her lips parted softly in surprise as she looked up at him. “Please?”
