Page 97 of How Not to Marry a Duke

“It’s everything I’ve borrowed, plus more. It’s all I have, Mr. Slade,” the man said.

“You knew the terms of the loan. This does not cover the interest. I’m afraid I’m going to have to—”

Warwick slammed the door.

Slade’s brows snapped together in irritation. “Who the devil are you?”

“Someone you’re going to want to speak with alone,” Warwick said.

Slade leaned back in his chair and the two front legs lifted an inch from the floor. “How’d you get past Peetie?”

“Your guard stationed outside? Peetie must fear me more than you.”

Warwick hadn’t fought the man. He saw no reason to enlighten the moneylender that Peetie took a bribe.

Slade threw back his head and laughed. “Arrogance is appreciated if it can be backed.” He glanced at the pale-faced man standing in front of him. “Get out.”

Needing no encouragement, the man sprinted past Warwick, yanked open the door, and closed it on his way out.

Slade shrugged, humor evident in his eyes. “One cannot always choose their business partners, can they?” Slade stayed seated. “Go on. Continue to amuse me.”

“My name is Warwick.”

The front legs of Slade’s chair smashed against the floor. His expression hardened and he pointed a finger at Warwick’s chest. “You are the one who is standing in my way.”

“Since we’ve never met, I believe you are mistaken.”

“There is no misunderstanding. I want Lady Adeline Cameron. It took cunning to get her brother squirming, and he assured me her hand in marriage. Then you interfered.”

It took effort not to reach across the desk and yank the moneylender to his feet. He’d take great satisfaction in smashing his fist into his scrawny face.

His henchman took a step forward. Slade waved his guard back.

“If it’s the lady I’ve taken, then you are right,” Warwick said. “I am standing in your way and will continue to do so. I suggest you find another debutante to serve your needs. There’s time left this Season.”

“I don’t want another. Her brother made me a promise. Unlike with you aristocrats, a promise, for me, is an unbreakable vow.”

Warwick grit his teeth, his gaze never leaving the moneylender’s. “Then it’s good I never made you a promise. Stay away from the lady.”

Chapter Eighteen

Adeline tossed a bucket of scraps into a trough where a black-and-white pig waited. If he could wag his curly tail, she surmised, it would be vigorously wagging. “I missed you, Henry.”

The pig looked up from his meal, oinked once, then went back to his food.

Two hunting dogs trotted to her side. Their tails wagged, and their brown eyes looked up at her, eager for affection. She took time to stroke their ears and smile at each of them. “I missed both of you, too, Remus and Romulus.” Their owner hadn’t returned for them, and Adeline decided she would keep them. She could never turn away an animal in need.

It was the end of a long day, and she was tired. Along with Hasmik, she’d scrubbed the cottage from top to bottom and rearranged furnishings to turn the spare bedroom into a sickroom. Other repairs had come along.

A week had passed and Warwick hadn’t returned to Kent. Her treacherous heart leaped every time she heard a coach pass by the country road. Insecurities arose with each passing day, and her heart ached a bit more. He’d said he would return. Still, he never came.

Silly, Adeline. It was better this way.

When would the ache in the center of her chest begin to ease? Her head told her what she needed to do, but her heart was a different matter entirely. She walked to the end of the road to catch a glimpse of his country home. Not surprisingly, she could see no movement. She turned away just as the crunch of wheels on stone and the snorting of horses drew her attention farther up the road.

A coach was arriving. Not just any conveyance. Sunlight glinted off a black lacquered coach and the shiny coats of matching bays. Her heartbeat quickened as the coach turned the bend in the road, and a moment later, the duke’s crest was visible on the black lacquered door. Without rational thought, she ran the remaining length of the stone drive to his home. She halted, a bit breathless, just as the driver hopped down to open the coach door.

Warwick stepped out. Adeline suppressed the urge to run into his arms.