The Duke Meets His Match (The Infamous Somertons #3)(33)

The butler watched her, a peculiar expression on his normally impassive face. Chloe resisted the urge to reach up and smooth her hair. She’d been careful to fix her hair in the hackney ride home, but without a looking glass who knew how successful she’d been?

“Lord Sefton. I put him in the drawing room.”

Chloe managed a weak smile. “Thank you.”

Her relief was short-lived and her heart began pounding anew in her chest. Henry was here? A feeling of dread swept over her. She hadn’t thought of him since she’d left Vauxhall Gardens last evening. She certainly hadn’t thought of him when she went to the duke’s home this afternoon.

She didn’t want to see him. Not now. Not after the exquisite afternoon she’d spent in Michael’s arms. She had to turn him down, but how? She couldn’t tell him the truth. She’d have to explain how she felt about him, that she thought fondly of him, but as a friend.

She took a deep breath. Best get the unpleasant business over with. “Please inform Lord Sefton I’ll be there shortly.”

Chloe waited until the butler closed the door before addressing Alice. “Quick. Help me change my clothes and repair my hair.”

Half an hour later, Chloe opened the drawing room door. Henry was looking out the window at the gardens below. Arms folded across his back, he looked handsome…and young. At the rustling of her skirts, he turned. His lips curled in a brilliant smile as he approached and took her hand. In her haste, she’d forgotten her gloves and he brushed his lips across her knuckles. He must have given his own gloves to the butler, and his fingers were smooth and cool, so different from the calloused, powerful hands of another.

“Chloe, you look lovely as always. Thank you for seeing me. I was told you’d returned from your afternoon visit to the orphanage.”

“Yes,” she lied. “There is a sick child I’ve grown very attached to. I look forward to visiting Emily as much as she anticipates my visits.”

Henry’s brown furrowed. “The orphan is ill? Perhaps you shouldn’t see her. You could contract her illness.”

“It’s not like that. No one who has cared for her has become ill.”

“Still, I worry for you. I admire your charitable activities, but there are plenty of healthy orphans who could benefit from a lady’s visit. I suggest you visit others.”

Annoyance prickled her spine. Didn’t he realize how much Emily meant to her? They shared a bond and Chloe wasn’t about to let anyone dissuade her from seeing the child.

If she married Henry, he’d have a say in all her activities. He could prohibit her from visiting Emily. He may mean well, but she couldn’t imagine not seeing Emily. Her hands twisted in her skirts.

Henry’s expression grew serious. “I couldn’t stop thinking of you after last night at Vauxhall Gardens. Our time alone was too limited.”

His complexion was pale, not tanned from spending hours marching outside with fellow soldiers. His skin was smooth, without the distinguished fine lines around his eyes that came from worldly experience. He was pretty, not strong or virile or ruggedly handsome, and she knew that she could only think of him as a friend, never a lover.

Not for the first time, she wondered what Henry would think of her if he knew the truth about her past. Surely he would cease his pursuit. He’d think she was just like her father, the infamous forger and thief. He wouldn’t be wrong, would he? She’d often feared the tainted blood that ran through her veins.

What would Michael do if he knew the truth…the entire truth? She hadn’t just stolen trinkets and handed them to Mr. Allenson at the apothecary. She’d had to go elsewhere for the coin the chemist had required.

After hearing Michael’s story and learning the extent of his tragedy and that his best friend gave his life to save his, she believed he’d react differently to her past.

Either way, she knew what she had to do. She may be unsure about her future, but she couldn’t lie to Henry. He deserved better than to believe there could be a future between them.

Henry took her hand. “Chloe, you must know how I feel about you, and I sense you feel the same about me.”

Her mouth felt like old paper, dry and dusty. She needed to tell him…had to tell him that things had changed for her. “Henry, I must tell you—”

He placed a finger to her lips. “Shh. I know.”

She blinked. “You do?”

“I know you feel the same, and I plan on speaking privately with Huntingdon.”

There was only one reason for Henry to speak privately with her brother-in-law: he planned to ask for her hand in marriage. Even though she was over the age of consent, without her father’s presence, Henry thought to act honorably by speaking with Huntingdon.

Her stomach dropped. “No! That’s not what I wanted to say. There’s someone—”

Just then the door to the drawing room opened and Eliza stood in the doorway. “Lord Sefton! What a wonderful surprise. We were just speaking of you.”

Chloe chewed on her lower lip. Of all the rotten timing.

“I hope it was in a positive light,” Henry said.

“Of course,” Eliza said, her green gaze glittering with excitement. “Huntingdon and I are hosting a small dinner party Friday evening and would love for you and the duke to attend. A few other guests will be present as well.”