Page 30 of A Duchess to Fight For
“If you think you heard something, order a private dining room. We’ll discuss it. The Duke wants me to hang around Louisa to keep her from him so I won’t be able to come early and eavesdrop myself.”
Kent laughed. “The Duke handed you full and complete access to your dream come true, and he didn’t even know it.”
Percy gave him a scathing look. “Shut up, Kent. You don’t have any idea what you’re talking about.”
*****
Afternoon tea had been different from before Frederick talked with Percy about Barton. Louisa looked at him guardedly, as she did the first time he came back to the parlour after the talk.
Frederick and Percy agreed to say Frederick wanted to talk with him about his position on upcoming key votes in the House of Lords.
When Percy caught Louisa looking at him, he smiled. She looked at him as if he just killed her puppy. It was clear she didn’t like there to be secrets between him and her father.
Mendon announced Jack, and they all rose. The women curtsied, and Percy bowed. Jack bowed. He looked as if he were about to cry.
Percy tried to gauge whether or not Jack wanted him to leave. At first, tea was served, and Jack contributed to the conversation, albeit in a muted way. Then he began looking at Percy.
Jack was becoming more and more uncomfortable, moving in his chair, preoccupied, tired. Percy thought it best to leave so the poor man could break it off. Percy wanted to say goodbye to him; he did like Jack, but he could only bow and excuse himself.
At the front door, he turned to Mendon and said, “The Duke may want to know that Jack is here. The talk is probably happening right now.”
Mendon bowed, “Your Grace.”
*****
Percy thanked Mendon and walked down the stairs of the townhouse onto the sidewalk. He stood there for a moment, looking to his left, then his right. Ever since Frederick had told him about Barton’s threats, Percy had been working out longer in the morning.
Today, he still had too much excess energy. He couldn’t possibly go home to his empty townhouse. He looked up and found himself at White’s.
He grabbed a newspaper and moved to the corner of the main room. He turned the large, leather seat to face the wall.
When the waiter arrived, he asked for a whisky and an ottoman. Both came. He got comfortable in his seat and opened the paper.
After Percy had been there for well over an hour, his newspaper was still open in front of his face, but he had long since finished reading it. He didn’t want to lower the paper then have an acquaintance drop by to say hello. He wasn’t in the mood.
All he could think about was Louisa. Her heart was probably breaking. Percy knew she planned to marry Jack. She would have to put on a brave face and start all over in the middle of the season. Or would she wait and start over next season? It would probably depend on if she could handle starting over or if she needed months to heal.
Percy courted for six weeks and got dumped. It stung. Meaningless as it was, it took him time to recover. He didn’t tell Cecil and Kent that, but it took some time. What she would go through would be a hundred times more difficult.
Two men sat near him. He couldn’t see who they were because his chair was turned, but he could hear them order drinks and sit. Great. He would spend his time trying to block out some inane conversation. He was enjoying his privacy.
“How did he take it?” the man behind Percy asked.
“How do you think? Between his ghost-like face and sheen of sweat covering his body, he didn’t take it well at all. I told him to leave town immediately, or I would ruin him. I should ruin him.”
Percy drew the newspaper closer to his face. They were talking about Jack. Heknewthey were. One of them had to be Barton.
“Leave the kid alone. You broke him and sent him packing. That’s enough,” the man said. Who the hell was that man?
“What are you going to do with her once you have her?” the mystery man asked.
“Lower your voice,” Barton said. “He’s going to try to turn this on me. We need to be very careful.”
Barton’s voice was barely audible. “If he looks into me, he’ll find you. We both need to be careful. We need to do this without the horse trading getting caught up in it.”
Percy’s eyes were bulging out of his head. The newspaper was unreadable because he had fisted both sides, but he didn’t dare put it down.
Percy had to strain to hear Barton speak, but he was practically whispering. He couldn’t hear every word, but he heard enough to understand.
