Page 24 of Hunted By the Guardian
“Yes.” Was she judging Violet for calling the duke by his given name?
But there was no judgment on Agnes’ face—in fact, her eyes cleared, and she looked much more at ease. “We have nothing to worry about, Dorothy,” she said, laughing. “I know this duke.”
“You know him?” Violet repeated, shocked. “How do you know him?”
“He’s a friend of Gabriel’s!” Agnes exclaimed. She was smiling now. “Oh, I wish you had told us his name right from the beginning. This should put Dorothy’s mind very much at ease. He’s a decent man, Dorothy. I don’t worry about the situation at all now that I know it’s him.”
“Are you certain?” Dorothy asked, frowning. “I know Gabriel is someone we can trust, Agnes, and I like him quite a bit, but does that trust really extend to all of his friends? What if this one is nefarious? You can’t have known him that long.”
“It’s not a matter of me knowing him for long,” Agnes said. “It’s that Gabriel has. I trust Gabriel’s judgment when it comes to this. He and his friends have known one another for years. They were in school together. They have years of trust. So I know that I can count on his assessment.”
“Have you personally met this Duke of Alderwick?” Dorothy asked.
“I have,” Agnes said. “Not many times, but a few. He’s been over for dinner. He’s fairly quiet, reserved, but when he speaks his words are clever and amusing. I like him, from what I have seen.”
“He is a difficult man,” Violet said. “But he isn’t a dangerous one at all. And I feel sure he has no intention of doing any damage to my reputation.”
“Because if he is trying to take the house away from you, you do realize that’s one way he might do it, don’t you?” Dorothy warned her. “If he found a way to connect you to a scandal…”
“No, I don’t think he’ll use any underhanded means to take the house,” Violet said. “I really don’t. I did think that for a while, but I feel much more confident now. He’s going to go on trying to get it from me, to be sure, but he’s going to do so in upstanding ways, not by being manipulative. He’s hoping to find a way to oust me through legal means.”
“I just can’t understand that, though,” Agnes said. “I don’t know why Jonathan would do such a thing. He seems like a nice man, and a reasonable one at that. He must realize that you need this house—that you have no other place to live. And he knows that it belonged to your aunt, so it’s meaningful to you.”
“He does know all those things,” Violet agreed. “I just don’t think they matter that much to him. He isn’t a monster at all, but he doesn’t care about my well-being beyond what’s appropriate and courteous. He cares more for what he wants than he does for what I want—and honestly, there isn’t any reason he shouldn’t feel that way.” Something connected in her mind. “I’m not any different. I know that he wants this house, but I’m not exactly willing to relinquish it in the service of being unselfish. We are both protecting our own interests here.”
“You’re defending him,” Dorothy said, surprised.
“Not exactly, but I’m being clear-eyed about this. At least, I’m trying to be,” she said. “I don’t want to sit here and act as if I think he’s being out of line in fighting for this property. That isn’t something I believe at all. I think he knows what he wants and he is trying to get it, and he just doesn’t mind if that means I have to make a sacrifice. That would matter if he and I had any personal relationship, but since we don’t, there’s really nothing wrong with his behavior.”
“Well, I’m glad you feel that way about it,” Agnes said. “Personally, I still feel surprised to hear that Jonathan isn’t taking your situation into account.”
“I suppose you don’t know him that well,” Dorothy told her.
“No, I don’t,” Agnes admitted. “Perhaps he isn’t as kind as I believed him to be. But I am glad, at least, to know that he isn’t cruel.”
“Enough about Jonathan,” Violet said decisively. “That man takes up too much of my time as it is. I don’t want to spend this time talking about him too. Let’s have our book club. That’s the reason you came here, after all.”
Agnes nodded and pulled the book they had all been reading out of her bag. “I have to say, this week’s chapter was particularly fascinating,” she said. “I’ve been so looking forward to discussing it with the two of you.”
They settled into their chairs to begin the club meeting—the first that had ever taken place here in Violet’s new home, though she hoped it wouldn’t be the last.
Before they could begin, though, they were disrupted by a knock at the door.
CHAPTER 14
“Is that him?” Dorothy hissed.
Violet shook her head. “He wouldn’t have knocked.” She had a feeling she knew who it had been, and she rose to her feet and went to the door to check.
She was right. There stood Noah, a plate of cookies in his hands. “I found these in the kitchen,” he said. “Do you want to share them with me?”
“I’ll have one,” Violet told him firmly. “And you may have one also, Noah, and then you need to go and put them back, or you’ll spoil your supper. Did you ask Molly if you could take these?”
He looked a little shamefaced. “She always says yes when I ask for treats, so I thought it would be all right.”
“It probably is, but in the future, it’s polite to ask. Take one. And you may offer one to our guests, as well.” She waved him into the room.
Noah’s eyes widened as he noticed the other ladies for the first time. “I didn’t know there were other people here,” he whispered.
