Page 46 of When He Was a Duke
White’s expression shifted, confusion mixing with wariness. “What’s the girl got to do with Talbot?”
Sebastian realized he’d made a mistake. He was supposed to be here about the smuggling business, not protecting Rose. Think. Think. “She’s connected to this estate. This estate is connected to your operations. Everything’s connected, like I said.”
It was thin, but White seemed to accept it. “So what now?”
“Now you keep your hands off her. And you tell Wentworth that his guest workers are watching.” Sebastian stepped back, lowering the shears but not putting them away. “Any problems with that arrangement?”
White straightened his coat, his face a mask of barely controlled fury. “You tell Talbot he’s playing a dangerous game. Wentworth’s not going to stand for this interference.”
“Then maybe Wentworth should have thought of that before he started expanding his business into territories that don’t belong to him.”
White’s jaw worked silently for a moment. Finally, he gave a curt nod. “We’ll see how long your employer’s protection lasts, boy.”
He turned and stalked away, moving with the stiff dignity of a man who’d been humiliated but wasn’t ready to admit it.
Sebastian watched him go, his hands shaking now that the confrontation was over. What the hell had he just done? He’d threatened a baron, impersonated some criminal named Talbot, and somehow convinced a smuggler that he was a spy.
The shears felt impossibly heavy in his hands. He’d been ready to use them. The realization made his stomach churn.
But Rose was safe. For now.
He sank onto the swing, trying to process what had just happened.He was in far deeper than he’d ever intended, and he had the sinking feeling that this was only the beginning.
*
Sebastian didn’t seeRose again until just after noon. The men had gone off to their shooting party by then, leaving the women to do as they pleased for the afternoon. However, when he casually walked by the patio where the women had gathered to paint, he didn’t see Rose among them.
He figured she was probably upstairs in her room, recovering from the trauma of the morning. The memory made his chest tight. He couldn’t shake a feeling of dread. Had he made everything worse with his lies and threats? White was no fool.
Mrs. Carter had asked him to pick some of the dessert apples for her cheese platters, so he went out with his bucket to the orchard, his mind churning with everything he’d learned. His instincts to protect Rose seemed to be overriding everything else lately, including his resolve to prove her father a murderer. He couldn’t understand what was happening to him, only that she was never far from his thoughts—and that had definitely not been in his plan.
He conjured images of his siblings, hoping they would remind him of what he was truly doing there. His duty was to them. He mustn’t forget it.
When he reached the orchard, he spotted Rose sitting with her back against the trunk of one of the larger trees. She had her knees pulled up and her face in her hands, her shoulders shaking with quiet sobs.
He approached cautiously, not wanting to startle her. When he was a few feet away, she lifted her tear-stained face to look at him. “Hello, Sebastian.” She wiped her eyes with a handkerchief—his handkerchief, he realized with a jolt, not her own delicate lace variety.
“Lady Rose.” He knelt beside her, keeping a careful distance. “Are you all right?” The sight of her red-rimmed eyes made something violent twist in his chest. White deserved worse than threats.
“I am fine.” Her voice sounded hoarse from crying. She patted the grass beside her. “Will you sit with me?”
He glanced around to see if anyone was about. Thorncroft and his staff often took their midday rest during the heat, dozing under trees with water and fruit. Still, he sat several feet away, far enough to explain their presence as innocent concern if they were discovered.
“I wasn’t sure you’d still be here,” she said quietly. “I was terrified they’d run you off or called the authorities. The thought of never seeing you again was too much to bear.” Fresh tears spilled down her cheeks.
“I am still here. I made sure of that.”
“What did you do? I saw you with the garden shears, and then I—” She flushed. “I hid behind a bush. I thought you might hurt him, and if the constable came…” She shuddered. “I ran before I could see too much. In case they questioned me later.”
Sebastian’s stomach knotted. She’d been protecting him even while terrified. “I found a way to handle it.”
“I would like to hear about it, but first I need to tell you something.” Rose was quiet for a long moment, her fingers clenched in her lap. “Last night, my friend Arabella gave me information.” Her voice caught. “About my father.”
“What about him?”
“She says he’s a smuggler.” The words came out in a rush, as if she couldn’t bear to hold them any longer. “That Baron White is his partner. That my failed Season, all those empty dance cards—it wasn’t because I was awkward or shy. It was because of the rumors about my father’s true business.”
Sebastian’s heart began to pound.
