Page 35 of Stolen By the Heartless Duke

Ambrose leaned forward slightly. “It’salwaysabout her when you say it like that.”

“It’s about Evan,” Hector corrected sharply. “And her brother.”

“Mm,” Ambrose said, unconvinced. “And yet you look at Lady Jane like she’s personally responsible for all sins committed since the Treaty of Utrecht.”

Hector’s jaw tightened.

Ambrose took a sip of his drink. “She is quite beautiful, you know.”

That did it. Hector’s gaze snapped to him, a silent warning issuing forth.

Ambrose held up a hand. “I’m not blind. It’s a fact. Society notices things, even when you don’t want them noticed.”

Hector leaned back slightly, tension coiling under the surface of his composure. “This is not relevant.”

“Everything about her seems to be relevant to you,” Ambrose said mildly.

Hector’s voice dropped. “You are mistaken.”

Ambrose studied him for a long moment, then sighed dramatically. “I do love when you pretend you’re made of stone,” he said. “It’s very convincing. Right up until you start acting like a man who is absolutely fallible, like the rest of us mere mortals.”

Hector didn’t respond. But his silence said enough.

The next evening, Jane was halfway through unpinning her hair when Anna knocked softly on her chamber door.

“Come in,” Jane said, distracted.

Anna entered with the careful hesitation of someone carrying something far more important than it looked.

She held out a folded note. “This arrived for you, my lady.”

Jane frowned. “From whom?”

Anna hesitated just long enough that Jane already knew the answer before it was spoken. “The duke, my lady.”

Jane went still. The brush in her hand stopped moving entirely. She set it down carefully, as though any sudden movement might change the shape of the moment.

Then she reached for the note. “Thank you,” she said.

Anna lingered for half a second longer, clearly torn between curiosity and propriety, then retreated. The door clicked shut. Silence returned.

Jane unfolded the paper. Only a few lines.

Midnight. Quiet corner near Wynten House. Come alone.

No signature.

Jane stared at it for longer than she meant to. Then she folded it again. She was very aware of the fact that she was still holding her breath.

“Of course,” she murmured to herself.

Because of course she would go.

For Colin’s sake.

Chapter Five

The night air was colder than she expected.