Page 36 of A Duke for Adela
“He will act quickly if his proposal is rejected by the Royal Society. We ought to ask the Duke of Lotheil to give you fair warning before Runyon is told of their decision. If he loses that source of income, he won’t waste a moment before rushing off to sell your book.”
“I will take care of it, Adela. Don’t worry.”
“But I do worry. How can I not? I think your Bow Street man ought to search Runyon’s residence again. He would not leave that book lying out in the open. But with Runyon gone, this is the best chance your man will have to conduct a thorough search. Perhaps the wretched fellow has it hidden under a floorboard.”
“Mr. Barrow is most capable. He would not overlook something that obvious, but I will ask him to search again. He may even be doing so as we speak.”
She nodded. “It is also possible Runyon squirreled it away in the Royal Society building. We ought to stop there after the jeweler’s and ask to search the place. I have a few other ideas where it might be. I know Runyon’s habits. He and this Hollingsworth fellow have a favorite tavern they usually go to for a drink not far from the Royal Society. It is called The Red Drake, and–”
“How do you know this?”
She cast him a guilty look. “They are not discreet about anything they do. It is not the first time Runyon has attempted to steal my notes. After he tried the first time, I thought I had better learn a little more about him, so I followed him to the tavern one afternoon after a lecture.”
Ambrose did not want her doing this again. This Runyon fellow was not a good character and he did not want his future wife following wretches like him into any seedy drinking establishments. “You are betrothed to me now, Adela. Promise me you will not run off on your own again.”
She frowned. “Will I never be permitted to leave Eloise’s house? Or yours after we are married?”
“You may come and go as you please, so long as you have two footmen to accompany you at all times. I am serious about this. You are to be my duchess. You are no longer Miss Adela Swift, penniless bluestocking.”
She gasped in indignation. “My family is not penniless.”
“I do not mean…” He groaned. “What I wish to convey is that you are now a potential ransom prize. A desperate fool might think it is a good idea to abduct a duchess.Myduchess. Do you understand this? Keep a sharp eye out, that is all I am saying.”
“Ransom? Abduction? All right. I had not thought about that part of becoming associated with you.”
“More than associated, I should hope. We are to be husband and wife.” He sighed. “All I am saying is that you must take extra care in what you do.”
“And also watch what I say, for certain.” She pursed her lips and nodded. “I was also thinking about the teas, charities, and ladies societies that might require my time once we married. My thoughts were on how to manage those obligations and still go on about my research. But as you point out, there is a darker side to becoming your duchess that completely escaped me. I had not given thought to how much my life would change once we exchanged vows.”
He moved over to sit beside her. “The change will mostly be for the better. We’ll have each other from this day forward. You’ll also be free to pursue your animal bones. The only difference is that you will do it with guards discreetly watching over you.”
To his relief, she seemed to accept this very significant intrusion in her life.
“We have not discussed a wedding trip,” she said after several minutes of their riding in silence. “If we must keep guards about us, then is travel overseas not made more difficult? Would you be averse to spending our holiday exploring my Devonshire caves?”
“And dig up those ancient animal bones you are determined to find? Sounds quite romantic.”
She laughed. “Your sarcasm is duly noted. I suppose it is rather ghoulish to spend our first month of marital bliss in a dank pit, digging up dead things.”
“Would you not prefer traveling to Italy? Or France? Greece? We could spend the entire year going wherever you like.”
“With an entourage at our beck and call? What would you like to do, Ambrose?”
He leaned closer and took her hands in his. “I have already seen much of the world. The choice is yours, Adela.”
She arched an eyebrow. “A year seems a very long time to be away, especially with all your business responsibilities.”
“My brothers will take up most of the slack, Julius mostly because Octavian is still in the Royal Navy and I doubt they will allow him an entire year off to attend to the Huntsford interests.”
“If the choice is mine, and you are not going to be angry about it, then I choose the Devonshire caves.”
“Truly? Of all the beautiful places in the world, this is where you would most like to go? Ah, because your true heart’s desire is to get that footnote in a book.The Duchess of Huntsford, the former Miss Adela Swift, was the first to discover the massive bones of an extinct, as yet unidentified creature, in a cave not far from the Huntsford estate.” He sank back against the squabs and regarded her affectionately. “It means the world to you, doesn’t it?”
She nodded. “It is my dream. I don’t wish to give it up.”
He gave her cheek a light caress. “Nor shall you. Devonshire it is.”
CHAPTER 8
