Page 76 of It's All About the Duke
Marlena’s heart started beating a little faster. She gave him a teasing smile. “For Justine, I think it feeds the designs she has for you. I think she intends to catch you in a snare.”
The duke’s brow wrinkled. “I think Mrs. Abernathy has sights set on no one but herself.” His frown turned to a pleasant grin. “And a rake can’t be caught unless he wants to.”
“Oh, you must have read my—” Marlena almost choked on the wordmy. She cleared her throat. “That is,mycopy that I gave you of Miss Truth’s book that day you were at my house.”
“No, I haven’t read it yet.”
Marlena’s spirits fell. Why did she keep expecting he would read it? Why did she want him to read the book? She shouldn’t. She should hope he’d never read it.
“I thought perhaps since you mentioned a rake that you might have more insight about them now. But as I said before, there is no reason for you to read it. If anyone knows rakes, it’s you.”
He laughed softly and patted Tut’s head again. “Since you still have your coat and bonnet on, let’s take Tut out to explore the garden. There’s something I want to tell you.”
A feeling of anticipation washed over her. “What?” she asked as they started down the corridor. “Or maybe I don’t want to know. Is it good news or bad?”
“It’s not about rakes or Mrs. Abernathy for sure.”
“Then it can’t be too bad, can it?” Marlena smiled athim, and a shiver of awareness shook her when he returned the smile.
As soon as Rath opened the door, Tut was squirming to be put down. He scampered down the steps and into the garden barking, letting the neighbors know there was a new dog on the street.
Marlena walked down the steps beside Rath looking at the grounds spread before her. Late-afternoon clouds had darkened, and daylight was waning. The chilling breeze she’d felt when she’d entered the house earlier had calmed. But then she remembered she always felt warmer when she was with Rath.
It surprised her that the garden wasn’t much larger than Justine’s. Definitely wider, but not any longer. There were shrubs, plants, and small trees showing their new growth, and the tops of many flowers were peeking from below the ground. In the center of the garden stood a fountain with three cherubs in the middle. Tut sniffed around the bottom of it.
She and Rath started leisurely walking down the stone path that led directly to the back gate. “What is it you want to tell me?” she asked.
“So you are eager to know?”
“Of course I am. I’m hoping you’ve found Mr. Wentfield so we can get Mr. Portington’s money back for the giant reptile eggs.”
“I don’t believe we will ever find that man—not under that name anyway.”
“Well, I must say I don’t believe I’d ever show my face in public again, either, if I’d had the gall to sell someone the supposed remains of a reptile that probably never existed.”
Rath chuckled low under his breath. “The man was shrewd about it. I found out from the Royal Society thatMr. Portington wasn’t the only one tricked by Mr. Wentfield in the last year. There were others.”
“That’s disheartening news.”
“For the few men who were taken in by him. But that’s not what I wanted to tell you.”
They had made it to the back of the garden. Marlena stopped and stared up into his eyes. “So it is something serious then?”
“You might think it is, but I’m hoping not.”
A lump formed in her throat. “What is it?”
“After I left you and Mrs. Abernathy today I went to talk to Mr. Portington.”
Marlena’s breathing became deep and heavy. “Why?”
“A couple of reasons.” He paused. “I hadn’t planned to talk to him so soon. I’d wanted to wait until I had more plans in place, but this afternoon I decided to go ahead and tell Mr. Portington I wanted to finance a museum for him to put his collection in so it could be open for all to see. What he has, most of it, shouldn’t be kept in his home and hidden in crates. I suggested The Portington Museum of History.”
A museum?
Marlena understood what Rath was saying but not why. She searched his face. His dark eyes were looking straight into hers. “That seems as if it would be a tremendous investment.”
“It will, but I have a couple of friends who are dukes that I think might be willing to help me with this project.”
