Page 10 of Love, the Duke
She seemed to be trying to burn him with her eyes she stared at him so hard. “I will clear Winston’s name with or without you. Your help will make it easier. And quicker. I don’t have much time given the vicar situation, but the clock is ticking.”
Surprisingly, she looked sane and sounded sincere. She was strong, defiant, and blessed with a beauty that couldn’t be hidden by her disguise. There was no doubt she was passionate about this, but it was unachievable in his estimation. Hurst gave another short snort of laughter.
“How do you plan to do that with no assistance from me, Miss Stowe? Do you plan to use some secretivemeasures you learned from abookor the extreme tactic you used tonight to sneak into every titled man’s home in Mayfair?”
A flicker of unease flashed across her eyes. She glanced away from him and stared into the lowering fire for a moment again before saying, “I’m not sure of it all yet. Because my brother considered you such a fine man and dear friend, I have been hoping for your assistance. No matter. I will find a way. Time is short, but I am determined to succeed.”
Her shining eyes were steady. She was serious. She actually thought she could find this thief in a place as big as London.
This idea was foolish, but Hurst found himself asking, “Why not just hire a runner from Bow Street to find this chalice for you?”
“You sound as if you think I have unlimited funds to do with as I please as you do, sir. The trustee for my inheritance and Maman’s holds on to every penny as if it were our last. He wouldn’t even release enough money for me to buyDebrett’s Peerage and Baronetageof English peerages. He said it was too expensive and, as a lady, not something I needed. I couldn’t tell him why I wanted it. If I could get my hands on that book, I could look at the crests for the coat of arms and possibly narrow my search to the one that was on the thief’s carriage door. Besides, how could a runner get into such homes of earls, dukes, and viscounts?”
“Probably easier than you, Miss Stowe.” He purposefully mumbled the words with a breath of frustration, knowing he could have handled this better if he weren’t so attracted to her.
“But not you?” she responded pointedly. “With your title, you can be invited into their homesandinto theirbook rooms. While you were there, no one would think it odd for you to look over the bookshelves to see if there was one filled with artifacts, and maybe a chalice.”
“And then what would I do, Miss Stowe?” he asked, his voice growing louder at what he considered absurd reasoning. “If I saw the chalice you are referring to, would I just grab it and run like a thief myself? I don’t think you know what you are asking.”
A wave of surprised innocence flashed in her eyes. “Did you raise your voice to me?”
“What?” Did he? “No. A little. Maybe. What you want me to do is preposterous.”
“Is that any reason to show anger in your tone?”
“Anger? No. Frustration.” He shifted his stance as regret gathered in his chest. He didn’t want to scare her. For some insane reason he was drawn to her and wanted to protect her from this ridiculous idea. “I didn’t mean anything by it. Sometimes I might raise my voice a little when I’m irritated with unreasonable people.”
“My brother never elevated his voice to me no matter the subject we were discussing or how angry he was with me.”
“I’m not your brother, Miss Stowe,” he said quietly. “My upbringing was different from Winston’s. Every time my father came home from being out all night and I discovered he had gambled away all his allowance again, I was upset. Time and again we were left with nothing to eat in the house but old bread and cheese and in danger of having no place to lay our heads until payment of his allowance came around again. So yes, sometimes we raised our voices to each other, and I need no reprimand from you about it.”
“Oh, I see,” she said softly, seeming reluctant to meethis eyes, but clearly understanding why he argued differently. “Yes, I suppose all families are different.”
Hurst struggled, suppressing the need to say more about her outlandish idea, and wishing like hell he hadn’t revealed so much as a nugget of his past to her. That wasn’t something he usually revealed to anyone no matter how angry he got, and why he had to her he wasn’t sure. It wasn’t something she needed to know. He didn’t talk about his father to anyone, and he had no idea why he had blurted anything about his unsavory past.
He shoved thoughts of the days with his father out of his mind and concentrated on the lady in front of him.
“There’s no one else I can go to, except—”
She looked deeply into his eyes and Hurst felt as if he heard the breath swoosh out of her lungs. He felt a strong pull toward her once again. The passion inside her was almost palpable. She spoke with such fervor and courage that he wanted to help her but couldn’t possibly consider what she asked. To make matters worse, he hadn’t been able to shake his attraction to her.
Miss Stowe hesitated and Hurst could tell that a sudden thought had come to her. That she studied over it so carefully worried him. “Except what?” he asked, pushing down the sense that he wasn’t going to like whatever it was that just entered her mind.
“I suppose I could try other peers. It’s possible one of them might be more agreeable than you even if they didn’t know Winston.”
Her brows furrowed slightly as if she were truly considering that idea. Her mettle was extraordinary.
“That would be useless,” he answered tersely. “If I thought you might seriously consider contacting someone else about this madcap scheme of yours, especially in thesame manner in which you came to me, I would alert your trustee to put a stop to this madness.”
“How dare you be so unkind.”
“For your protection against such a scheme I would do it. I owe it to your brother.”
“You owed it to him to come see him,” she responded quickly.
“But I didn’t,” he snapped back.
Her hands jerked to her waist, flaring the coat away from her body and emphasizing the gentle roundness of her hips. “Just because you don’t want to help me is no reason others of the peerage can’t judge my circumstances for themselves. I came to you because I thought you might have a soft spot in your heart and want to help your old friend.”
