Page 15 of A Spinster for the Rakish Duke
Donovan remained tight lipped, but he knew the look in his eyes gave him away. Ronnik smiled and said nothing, simply releasing Donovan with a hearty laugh.
“You two,” he gestured to Emma and Donovan, “you may go, but Alistair and I here still have some business to discuss.”
As Emma and Donovan thanked Ronnik and left, he said, a little louder, “And please wait in your carriage if you don’t mind. Your type makes my customers nervous.”
He laughed again, so that Emma wasn’t sure if he was kidding, but Donovan led them outside to the carriage all the same.
Chapter Eleven
“You did masterfully, Mr. Connor!” Emma cried in delight as soon as the carriage door was shut. “Oh, it was absolutely impressive. He goaded you, and you still came out on top with him thinking he did. Excellent work.”
Donovan smiled, trying to remain humble. “Thank you very much, Miss Bradford. I am glad you are impressed with my performance though I am just doing everything I can to help,” he insisted.
“That doesn’t make it less impressive though I shouldn’t be surprised. Even if I didn’t always agree with your conclusions, I was always impressed by your body of work. Your mind is home to a cunning intellect, Mr. Connor,” she told him confidently.
His smile grew, and he humbly accepted the praise before trying to change the subject to something less embarrassing. “I doapologize; I have no idea how long my brother will be. We may be held up for a little bit.”
“Did you have a plan for our next move?” she asked, earnestness creeping into her voice.
“Unfortunately, we may be drawing to an end of an active investigation and towards a waiting one. Until we hear something from someone, I don’t believe there is much more to be done,” Donovan admitted reluctantly.
He did not want to let Emma down, but without clues, their options were drying up quickly. “If it is acceptable, I’d like to return to your brother's apartment with you, so I may look through his papers once again. Perhaps I missed something of relevance.”
“That is more than acceptable to me. I begrudge that it is these circumstances that we got to explore our relationship… ah, I mean our friendship, seeing as this is most of the time we have spent together,” Emma told him, her voice as mixed as her feelings but still tainted by sadness.
Donovan hesitated but then spoke, “I am sorry that I... I cast a pall onto our initial meeting by acting in a way that was unbecoming of me. I should have used more discretion and tact.”
It was Emma’s turn to hesitate. “There is something I wasn’t able to explain to you that night. I was embarrassed, but…”
How much did she want to tell him? While Emma wasn’t a fan of any lying, surely that her sister wrote that letter would be a little white one, yes? Still, something needed to be said.
“I found out that my aunt had betrothed me that night. I was brought to that ball specifically to meet the man for the first time. When the letter was written... it was truly how I felt. And I suppose if the circumstances had been different... Well, I suppose the circumstances don’t change the truth in the letter,” she mumbled, but then she realized what she had just said and turned bright red. “Not that it is particularly relevant now. I am betrothed regardless.”
Donovan looked concerned. “Your feelings on the matter definitely bear relevance. You do want to be betrothed to this man, don’t you?”
Emma didn’t hesitate at all, not wanting to entertain the thought otherwise whatsoever. “Of course. He was kind enough to agree to marry me even though I am well past the proper age. To be ungrateful of that would not mark well on my character, would it?”
Donovan leaned across the carriage. He took her hand gently in his and looked her in the eye. “I don’t know what relevance your age has to this. I think a man should be grateful to get to marry you, not the other way around, Emma.”
Emma’s entire face was red now, her breath catching in her throat. In all of this, though, she didn’t pull her hand away from his. “It’s easy to say, Mr. Connor, and I appreciate the thought,but the practicality of the matter still means you have to find someone willing to be with a spinster.”
“Wasn’t I willing to kiss you that night?” he asked her, his voice quiet and searching.
Her smile was a mix between embarrassment and knowing. “But, Mr. Connor, isn’t there a big difference between being in love and a kiss? I may not be well versed, but I know plenty of people are willing to kiss without love.” Her voice had almost taken on the authoritative tone she used to use with her younger siblings. Benjamin called it her “governess” voice. There was something underneath though, something she was trying to conceal.
“The misuse of a technique by a painter or a sculptor does not ruin the technique for everyone,” he noted. “A true artist can make a kiss mean a lot,” he told her, feeling a boldness grow within him, that same boldness that had taken hold of him the night at the ball.
“Is that so?” Emma asked, unconsciously leaning a little closer. “You’ll have to forgive my skepticism, Donovan. I found myself very distracted during the one kiss we have already shared. Do you believe there was something you were trying to convey?” She spoke with a coyness that even surprised herself. Was she trying to encourage him? She felt desires that she didn’t know were there spur her onward.
“Well, it would be a shame for any sort of miscommunication to occur,” he said as he leaned in as he had that night at the ball.This time there was no hesitation in Emma. No uncertainty, not in her heart at least. When they were just close enough to feel the gentle caress of one another’s breath, they felt the carriage shift with a weight of boot on the step and managed to retreat to their separate sides before Alistair entered.
Donovan looked to his brother, who seemed quite flustered. “Everything all right, Alistair?” Donovan asked.
Alistair grunted and nodded. “He took the opportunity of having me in his office to bring up some of my outstanding debts. Ones I haven't forgotten,” he grumbled. “Will you be taking me back home? Is this dalliance at an end?”
“We will return you home, brother. I am afraid my role in this investigation has only just begun,” Donovan informed him brusquely, put off by the poor timing of his brother.
“Grand,” was Alistair’s only reply.
