Page 28 of Her Ruse with the Wicked Duke
“No more questions. I will see you in three days,” he stated, giving her a playfully stern look.
She furrowed her brow but smiled and nodded anyway.
ChapterNine
“Your Grace, your afternoon tea is ready. Would you like me to bring it here, or serve you in the sitting room?” The maid poked her head into Rowan’s office, unable to pull her eyes up to his.
“Just leave it in the sitting room. I will be there in a moment.”
He ran his fingers through his disheveled hair, sighing and attempting to smooth out his crumpled white dress shirt. He had been in his office since the night of the last party, and the lack of human contact was beginning to wear on him. If he had to read over another statement of rental fees, he may lose his mind.
“Your Grace,” Maxwell suddenly said, standing in the doorway and making Rowan practically jump out of his seat.
“Maxwell. Apologies, I did not hear you enter. What is it?” Rowan palmed his face, rubbing his sleep-deprived eyes.
“You have received a letter from Miss Snow,” Maxwell replied, a ghost of a smile on his face.
“Oh, thank you.” Rowan stood up, stretching, and grabbed the letter from the man, tearing it open and quickly scanning it, a smile growing on his face. “She accepted my invitation to the party.”
“Wonderful. Shall I make an appointment with the tailor, then?”
“Yes. Let them know I will be there the morning of the event. I would also like you to stop by the modiste’s and have them make something for Miss Snow. Something blue. And do not let them know that I put the order in.”
He remembered how vividly her eyes shone in her powder blue gown, and he figured he should repay her for helping him so far. After all, he already secured three new possible investors at the garden party. The men were definitely a few drinks into the night, which made Rowan’s job slightly easier, but he could not deny the allure of the Season’s Diamond at his side. They were intrigued by his blatant approach to pursuing her and mocked him endlessly for not proposing to her on the spot.
Unbeknownst to them, marriage is not my cup of tea, but the jealousy in their eyes was amusing.
Rowan placed the opened letter from Alice on his desk and headed out with Maxwell to the sitting room, where the maid poured him a cup of tea, placing a small cube of sugar inside.
“Will you be sending a carriage to Miss Snow’s home, come time, Your Grace?” Maxwell asked.
“Yes. I would rather she does not get lost in the forest with her driver,” Rowan replied, sipping the tea and reaching for the newspaper that lay on the table.
“I will let your coachman know. Will you be going to the gentlemen’s club this afternoon?”
“No, I have a meeting with the Baron Bray. I will be heading back to my office after tea. Feel free to take the carriage into town,” he said, an article suddenly catching his eye about the state of the trade ships from Portugal. He wondered idly about what it could mean for his own business when he realized that his righthand-man had already left the room.
He finished his tea and made it back to his study just to have the butler announce that the Baron had arrived.
“Thank you.” He sighed, standing up and making his way to the front door, where he greeted the man, who wore a nauseating yellow suit. “Lord Bray, I am glad you made it. Do come in.”
“Thank you, Your Grace. You have a beautiful home. I hope you do not mind that I brought my daughter with me. She insisted that she should be here.” The Baron pointed to the foreign carriage in the drive, giving Rowan a tired smile.
The lady scrambled out of the carriage, whispering a complaint to her footman, before plastering a smile on her face and smoothing her skirt. She wore a similar yellow shade to her father, paired with her reddish curls.
“Your Grace.” She bowed, her hair bouncing as she shot back up. “I do hope your afternoon is well.”
“If all goes well in our dealings.” Rowan smiled politely, looking at her father. “Let me bring you to my office. Miss Darcy, will you be joining us?”
“Of course, Your Grace.” She stared at him with her blazing green eyes, and he nodded, leading them inside. “This estate is beautiful.”
“My father designed it all for my mother,” he said, opening the door to the sitting room.
He figured that if a lady was present, he should hold their meeting somewhere more appropriate.
Even though she had treated Miss Snow like nothing more than a low-status individual throughout the Season… If I were not entirely desperate at this point, I would throw her out right now.
“Oh! Is she here? I would love to meet her.” Elizabeth grinned, looking around at each door as if his mother would pop out at any moment.
