Page 10 of The Duchess’ Modiste

“I could help you.”

“What?” Benjamin said across the room, nearly dropping Chloe’s notebook.

“Feeling clumsy, Benjamin?” Leo couldn’t help teasing his friend and brother-in-law.

“Put it down to the surprise.” Benjamin met Leo’s gaze firmly. It was as if those eyes were trying to warn Leo of something, but Leo looked away, seeking out Chloe once again.

She was dressed in an ivory gown today, one that contrasted with the darkness of her hair and the bright green of her eyes. She shifted forward, making the skirt of the white gown dance around her knees as she turned her focus completely on him.

“You wish to help me?” she asked, her voice a little breathy.

Leo decided he rather liked it when Chloe looked at him with such intensity. For a change, he wasn’t a fool or a clumsy oaf about to cause more disasters. He was someone else entirely.

“Yes,” Leo nodded with the word. “I have experience with contracts and rental agreements. These are things you will need. I would be more than happy to help.”

“You would?” Chloe’s smile appeared to be growing. “But . . . you are a busy man, my lord. What of your work?”

“What good is all of that training if I cannot help out a friend?” Leo couldn’t resist. As he said the words, he offered Chloe a wink. For a beat, he could have sworn she blushed, but he quickly presumed it was in his imagination. “I have some contacts in London we could use.” Leo couldn’t sit still as he thought. He stood to his feet and began pacing around the room.

“Contacts? What contacts?” Chloe asked, who stood as well and began to follow him. Leo stepped over Nathan playing with his toys, taking extra care not to step on any of the wooden horses. “Nicely done,” Chloe murmured behind Leo, clearly having noticed.

“Thank you,” he said, glancing back at her to match her smile. “I have contacts in Covent Garden, Regency Street, and Bond Street too. I have drawn up contracts for purchases, sales, and rental agreements. No doubt I could find something that is suitable.” He circled the settee, deep in thought, suddenly aware that Chloe followed him all the way, as if she was his shadow, moving at his heels.

“You could really do that?”

“Of course.” He turned back to look at her and promptly bumped a vase with his elbow.

There was a sharp intake of breath across the room from where Maeve was busying herself with Chloe’s notebook. Leo held still, waiting for the inevitable smash, but when it didn’t come, he opened his eyes to find Chloe standing before him with the vase perfectly in her hands.

“You were saying?” she encouraged him on, apparently deciding not to draw attention to the near mishap.

“Perhaps Covent Garden would be best. Or Bond Street.”

“Are they just going to brush over what happened?” Maeve asked her husband. Leo shot a glare his sister’s way, but she didn’t appear to notice. “That vase was nearly destroyed.”

“Thanks to Chloe, it wasn’t,” Benjamin added, with an amused grin.

“Bond Street already has many modistes.” Leo continued around the room, clicking his fingers together as his thoughts raced. He often did such a thing when he was at home in his study, deep at work. The thoughts came quickly with each click. “Perhaps too much competition. If you went to the center of Covent Garden, perhaps near the square, then you would stand out as one of the few modistes in the area.”

“Covent Garden?” Chloe cut in front of him. Leo had to step back, fearful of bumping into her. When he collided with a table behind him instead, Maeve gasped once again as a glass inkwell rolled across the surface.

Both Leo and Chloe went to grasp it, but Chloe got there first.

“My lord, I am not sure I could afford Covent Garden,” she explained as she returned the ink well to the table.

“Are we not going to talk about that incident either?” Maeve asked Benjamin. Once more, Leo sent a glare his sister’s way that went unnoticed.

“I think they are too caught up in their conversation to notice any incident, or the fact we are here at all.” Benjamin’s words may have been said with humor, but there was something in them that caught Leo’s interest.

He stared at his brother-in-law for a second, wondering if Benjamin could read what Leo was trying so hard to keep a secret.

His eyes turned back to Chloe, feeling that familiar restlessness around her.

It is no good. I cannot deny it. Whatever I felt for her before, this feeling I cannot put words to, it is stronger now.

It had culminated in this determination to help her. Like him, Chloe had been born to a titled man who had fallen on hard times. Leo had trained traditionally to be a lawyer to see his family through these hard times, and Chloe had goals of her own. How far she had come in just a few short years impressed Leo more than he could say. That feeling had grown into this desperate need to help her.

I am determined to do it!

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