Page 30 of The Duke of Seduction
He couldn’t keep from smiling in return. “Yes, quite.” Sobering, he wanted to convey one important thing before she left. “I trust you to keep my secret. I ask that you not tell your friends about me.”
She blanched but nodded. “I’m glad you told me. Your secret is yours and not mine to tell.”
He inclined his head in appreciation. “Have a good evening, Lady Lavinia.”
She picked up her hem and swept from the room. Suddenly, the space seemed darker, or at least far less alive.
Alive?
He had to acknowledge that Lady Lavinia carried a certain vibrancy that electrified every room she entered. Her eyes moved, despite the fact that she couldn’t see very well, or maybe because of it. She was constantly seeking and learning and storing information. He suspected she was collecting data, as a scientific mind might. He, on the other hand, obtained thoughts and feelings, emotions he might bend and transform into words or music. They were, in some way, rather alike.
And now they would help each other. He’d been loath to tell her the truth, both because he’d wronged her as the Duke of Seduction and because he hadn’t wanted anyone to know his secret. Now she was the only other person besides Gage who did. That put her in a very specific and small class of people—those he trusted.
It was an alarming realization along with the way he’d enjoyed holding her hand. Those were not things a rake with no interest in marriage should think about.
Then he simply wouldn’t.
