Page 61 of Noble Scoundrel

If thinking of it in such a way kept her brother from being fearful, perhaps she shouldn’t discourage it. She offered a smile. “I see your point. Unfortunately, I believe the next move is his.”

“We’re ready,” Hale assured.

Though she was starting to believe him, it didn’t prevent the cold sense of unease from settling into her bones.

“Well, I’ve got a project I’m anxious to return to,” Frederick said as he rose from the table.

“Are you still working on a new maze?”

“I’ve finished that actually and started on something new.”

“Oh? What’s that?”

Her brother’s expression turned a bit sly. “I’d rather not say quite yet, but I’ll show you once I’m a bit further along.”

Katherine smiled. “I look forward to it.”

When Hale didn’t immediately rise and follow her brother from the room, she hoped it was because he had some news about the man from the park. Waiting until she was assured Frederick was out of hearing distance, she quietly met Hale’s unabashed stare. Green eyes sharp and glinting, mouth softly curved though not quite smiling.

“I assume you have something to share with me?” she finally asked after a few moments.

“That I do.”

She huffed a breath of annoyance. “And? Did you discover the identity of the man from the park?”

“I did, but you should prepare for a bit of a shock.”

She rolled her eyes. “Just tell me.”

“He’s the Marquess of Warfield.”

“No, he’s not.” She frowned. “Warfield is in his seventies. He couldn’t possibly be the same man we saw in the park.”

Hale smiled. “He wasn’t.”

Was he intentionally trying to irritate her? “You are making no sense.”

“After my man followed him to his residence, we discovered the address is that of the Marquess of Warfield. I checked in with my investigator, who advised that he’d uncovered some rather interesting news about your great-uncle.”

Her irritation slid away to be replaced by a wary curiosity. “Go on, Mr. Hale.”

“Mason.”

“What?”

He tipped his head toward her. “No need to be so formal. Not when it’s just the two of us.”

Her chin lifted stubbornly. “I’ll start calling you Mason when you stop calling me duchess.”

He chuckled. “Fair enough.”

“Now, will you tell me what you learned or not?”

“The marquess—or at least the man you think of as such—died in a Venetian bawdy house a few months ago. The titled passed to his estranged son.”

“A son?” A strange sense of dread passed through Katherine as she uttered the words. After rising to her feet, she strode to the window. “I had no idea he even had a son.”

“Not many people do. Apparently, he was the result of a scandalous relationship between the prior marquess and a woman of the servant class. Though the old marquess married her to make the child legitimate since he was already aging and had no prior heirs, mother and child were hidden away to be essentially forgotten by society.”

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