Page 38 of The Duke's Indecent Match
“How the devil did you end up in Miss Little’s room?”Christian asked.He was frowning more fiercely than the others, but not in the manner of a man denied something he wanted—more the way Sebastian often frowned at Gregory over Tiffany.He was giving off the distinctive aura of a protective and disapproving older brother.
Exactly what Nathanial needed this morning.
Gritting his teeth, Nathanial shook his head as he made himself straighten up and stop leaning on John footman.
“We’ll talk inside,” he replied grimly, gesturing to his bedroom door.The last thing he needed to do was give the staff even more fodder for gossip than they already had.Especially when he still did not have a good answer… because he did not remember.
Drake gave him a look, but obligingly opened the door, and everyone trooped in while Nathanial thanked the footman and dismissed him.
“Where is your valet?”Matthew asked, looking around as if expecting one to appear out of magic.
“What valet?”Nathanial barked, walking over to his basin.There was water in it, thankfully, though it was probably left over from yesterday.He did not care.He dunked his head into the water as he heard Drake respond to Matthew’s question in acerbic tones.
“He cannot afford a valet.”
Coming back up for air, his hair now soaking wet and some of his wits returning to him, Nathanial heard Matthew make a frustrated noise.
“I wish you would let us give you some funds.It can be a loan.”
“I did not need a loan; I needed a bride.”
Though now he was wishing he’d taken a loan from one of them.It would have needed to be an astronomical amount, and he had not wanted to be a burden on any of his friends.
But he could have taken something.Enough to get by for a bit longer, instead of insisting on taking care of everything himself.He’d still had his pride.
Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.
Well, he had certainly fallen.Right into Miss Little’s bed.He rubbed his head, wiping away the droplets that had begun to run down his brow.
“Well, now you have one,” Gregory observed, sighing as he sat down on the edge of Nathanial’s bed, folding the bottom of his navy-blue dressing gown over his lap.Sebastian sat beside him, similarly robed in dark green.Nathanial glared at Gregory, but at least the other man was not laughing.
“What happened?”Drake asked.“After you went to the library.”
Nathanial rubbed his forehead.
“I overly indulged, which is why I went there instead of joining the ladies.I sat there.Thinking.”About whether he could marry Miss Little, regardless of the issues with her position in Society.A moot point now.Bloody hell.“I think… I think I remember Mr.Little coming in.”
The words came slowly, as did the memories.They were fuzzy.He could not remember what they had spoken of.
Aware of the other dukes exchanging glances, Nathanial took the opportunity to strip off his shirt and go to the wardrobe to pull out his own dressing gown.It was tattered and several years out of fashion, but it was also one of his favorite items of clothing because it was so comfortable.Shrugging the puce fabric over his shoulders and belting it in place, he felt marginally better now that he was no longer standing in nothing but his shirt and small clothes.
“Do you think they deliberately trapped you?”Christian asked slowly.
Nathanial let out a long sigh.“I do not know.”
But he heavily suspected it.A small kernel of anger had embedded itself in his gut, and as he made the admission out loud, he felt it start to grow.
A sharp rap at the door had all of them turning.Standing the closest, Sebastian stepped forward and opened it a crack to see who it was.His shoulders relaxed as he stepped aside to admit Lady Astrid.
It only took her sharp gaze a moment to sweep the room, stopping on Drake in his rust-colored dressing gown for a brief moment before moving on to pin Nathanial with a glance.
“What the devil were you doing in Kalina’s room?”
Nathanial was becoming very tired of that question.
14
Nathanial
