Page 6 of The Duke on Her List
“And I can’t tell you what a true relief it is,” he said fervently. “You see…I have a niece who will be ready to marry in a few years, and in order to ensure her prospects, I must continue to attend society events myself. But for my own part, I have no interest in marriage whatsoever. And the unfortunate thing has been that other members of society don’t realize that. Every time I step out of my house, I’m surrounded by mamas looking for prospects for their daughters. I’m tempting to them, I know that.How could I not be? Who doesn’t want to see their daughter married to a duke? And yet, no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to make them see that I’m not the person they’re looking for.”
“And…I’ve helped you with that?”
“Very much,” he told her. “When I went out this morning, on my way here, everything was different. As my carriage passed through town, people turned away. No one wanted to speak to me. For once—for the first time, really—I was left in peace, and that’s just what I’ve wanted.
Agnes didn’t know what to say. She nodded slowly.
“What were you doing in my house, Lady Agnes?” the duke asked, leaning forward. “Surely you’ll be willing to give me a straight answer now.”
That surprised her. “Do you not know?”
“How could I? You didn’t tell me when I caught you there.”
“I assumed you would know because of my letters.” She frowned. “Didn’t you receive my letters?”
“I didn’t read any letters you sent me.”
“You didn’t? Why?”
“Well, why would I?” he asked. “I receive letters from ladies looking for courtship or marriage all the time. It would be improper to open them, even more so to begin any sort of correspondence. I burn them unopened, and you ought to be thanking me. You ought to realize the harm it could do to you to be writing to a man like that. What if I had been untrustworthy? What if I had opened those letters and shared them with people? Are you foolish?”
She lifted her chin. “Of course not. I knew I was taking the risk that you might not be an honorable man.”
“But you risked it anyway.” He shook his head. “And then you broke into my house.”
“I did it to get a book that I knew you had.” There seemed to be no more reason to keep this a secret from him. “Venus in the Cloister. I wanted very much to read it, and it’s not available in any of the shops.”
He squinted at her. “You broke into my house to steal a book? If this book is so hard to come by, what made you think you would find it there?”
“I heard from a friend that she had seen it in your collection.”
“Which friend?”
Agnes shook her head. “I’m not willing to get anyone else in trouble here,” she said. “Let it be enough that I was the one whoactually took the book. But it was always my intention to give it back to you after I had read it.”
“And why would you want to read this book so badly that you would break into a stranger’s home to acquire it?”
She shook her head. “You wouldn’t understand.”
“Try me.”
Agnes sighed. “I have a list.”
“A list of books?”
“No. A list of…oh, why am I telling you this?”
“You broke into my home,” he reminded her. “You might as well deal honestly with me now. You might as well tell me the truth behind why you did it.”
“It’s a list of…things I’d like to do,” she said. “I call it my List of Improper Ideas.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound very ladylike.” His lips twitched in obvious amusement.
“That’s the point,” she said. “I don’t want to bevery ladylike.I can’t think of a bigger waste of my time than to spend my whole life trying to be ladylike.”
“I see,” he said. “And this book you took from me…it’s improper?”
“You haven’t read it?”
