Page 2 of It's All About the Duke
But why?
The devil take it! He hadn’t meant to frighten her by his sudden and unannounced appearance.
He knew the peerage caused alarm in the hearts of some people. Many, in fact. Rath had met a few young ladies who were visibly shaken by his title, his presence, but he’d never seen one who looked as if she thought he might physically harm her. Even her rosy lips had paled.
That puzzled him. She hadn’t been frightened of him until he said his name. He was sure of that.Miss Truth’s Scandal Sheethad recently called him a notorious rake. Perhaps Miss Fast had read that.
He was so busy assessing her surprising reaction to him that he failed to respond to her, so she spoke up and asked him again, “Why are you here?” She glanced behind him to the street where his carriage was parked while moving her basket from her wrist to grasp the handle tightly with both hands in front of her. Rath had the oddest feeling that she held it as a knight would hold a shield in battle.
“Is anyone with you?” she asked anxiously.
The directness of her questions was understandable, he supposed, so the first thing he needed to do was put her at ease. Perhaps the best way to do that was to remind her that they had met so she would know he wasn’t a complete stranger to her.
“I’m alone,” he assured her, having no idea why it mattered. “Do you remember meeting me? Six or eight years ago?”
“Vaguely,” she answered cautiously, her expression still vigilant.
From her hesitation, he had the feeling she wasn’t being totally honest with him, but he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt since she looked so anguished. He certainly didn’t want to add to her disconcerting attitude toward him.
Rath went on to add, “My father was good friends with your guardian, Mr. Olingworth, when they were at Eton, Oxford, and for the rest of my father’s life. We were visiting Mr. Olingworth at his estate in the Cotswolds and you were there.”
“Yes, but I don’t remember why you were visiting.”
That he could believe without doubt. “I don’t, either. It could have been a business matter between them or just a visit. At the time my father was teaching me about our properties and holdings.”
Her gaze restlessly searched the street behind him again. “Why are you here now?”
That same question. What was he to do? He didn’t want to simply blurt out his reason while standing outside her front door or while she was still so jittery. He wasn’t the most patient of men, but he wasn’t an ogre, either. Though there were some who might disagree with that assertion.
As his father would have expected of him, he gave her a gentle smile, hoping to reassure her he wasn’t up tomischief, and put her mind at ease about him since nothing he’d said so far had. That in itself was unusual for him. He didn’t try to pacify anyone. Concerning anything. But then, he couldn’t remember having ever frightened a young lady to the point of trembling before, either. Apparently he hadn’t made as memorable an impact on her as she had on him that brief time when their paths crossed all those years ago.
Rath was the last person to mollycoddle anyone but, going against his nature, he said, “I’d rather not talk out here, if you don’t mind. May we go inside where we’ll have more privacy?”
She hesitated.
“That is,” he added, “unless you are alone.”
“No. My cousin is inside.”
Rath had only managed to get a little information about Miss Fast from Mr. Olingworth when he visited the man last week. Thin and elderly, he’d been propped against a mountain of pillows on his bed. His voice had been raspy, feeble, and full of fondness for his longtime ward. His hands had suffered from a constant tremble as he’d fiddled with his bedcovers.
It had taken a bit of effort, but Rath had managed to learn that Olingworth had sent Miss Fast to live with her cousin in St. James almost three years ago to start preparations for her debut, which had never happened. Olingworth’s declining health had kept him from joining her in London and presenting her to Society. Hence the reason Rath stood before her now.
“Then you realize you don’t have to be frightened of me.”
Miss Fast gave him a quizzical stare at first, and then suddenly her shoulders squared. Her chin lifted defiantly. He hadn’t understood until now that she hadn’t known her fear of him showed.
“Frightened?” she asked indignantly. “Me?”
“I thought it must be so,” he answered honestly.
“I have no memory of the first two or three years of my life, Your Grace, but I do remember the next few quite vividly. I lived with an aunt and uncle who had five sons—all older than me. I often followed those boys’ romps through muddy swamps, dark woods, and old cemeteries at night when they slipped out of the house. If losing sight of them in those places didn’t frighten me, I doubt you are capable of doing so.”
If that was true—and Rath had no reason to doubt her word—it was impressive for a girl so young and explained why she wasn’t afraid to hold a frog when he’d first met her.
“My apologies. I didn’t know you lived with a family of boys before Mr. Olingworth.”
“Though I am not frightened or desperate, I thinkdisturbedwould be an appropriate word for how I’m feeling right now.”
