Page 32 of Rogue Lyon

Feel only him.

She trembled as she turned the corner. A drip of rain landed on her bare arm. She’d left her umbrella behind, but that was a minor detail when she considered she’d also left her morals and her innocence behind.

However would she be able to look at herself in the mirror again?

Chapter Eight

Jules tossed his kerchief aside and buttoned up his pants. He was breathing hard and a satisfying tingle lingered in his balls. But that was where the satisfaction ended. Meredith had taken off as though the Hounds of Hell had been nipping at her heels.

His head spun with confusion. They’d each found their pleasure. There had been no de-flowering, no coercion, so why had she left him?

He called out and then raced after her, but as he reached the staircase, the front door slammed with a thunderous bang that screamed stay away from me.

“Damn and blast.” He kicked at the banister. His emotions were tugging this way and that and he knew full well hers would be. Why hadn’t she stayed and told him how she was feeling?

Women were complicated creatures. This one in particular.

And he knew he’d be thinking about her for the rest of the day.

“Oh, just go after her.” He took several steps toward the front door to do just that but then stopped. Her umbrella was still angled against the wall.

She didn’t want him to go after her. Not now. She needed to work through what had just happened on her own. But that time would pass and then he would see her again.

Tomorrow, he had a chess lesson and an umbrella to return.

He wiped his brow—it was a little hot and damp—and then strode through to the kitchen. The scents of dinner hung in the air and he washed up in a basin and then helped himself to a large bowl of stew.

Once he’d eaten, he paced to each room in turn. He was fractious in a way he wasn’t used to. Meredith had gotten under his skin. She was different to any other woman he’d ever met, who mostly fell into the categories of aloof and distant or demure and boring. Meredith had a mind and used it. If he were honest, certainly when it came to chess, she ran rings around him. What else would she surprise him with as he got to know her?

What did she think of the Tory government? The Arctic expeditions? He knew full well she’d have opinions and he wanted to stay up all night talking about everything with her.

Unable to settle, he packaged up the Turner he’d picked up for Drake at the auction house. He’d deliver that, settle his debt, and get the thugs off his back.

He left the house and turned right. A rainbow arced over the chimney stacks and he smiled as a new sense of optimism gripped him. It wouldn’t be long until he saw Meredith again and then he’d assure her they’d done nothing wrong, nothing that other people who were attracted to each other didn’t do.

Because yes, he was attracted to her.

“Ho! Mr. Habsburg. I beg you to wait right there.”

Jules turned and his optimism burst like a bubble. The Duke of Marlborough was striding toward him, bushy eyebrows pulled low and jaw set tight. He wore a long, black raincoat and carried a pointed umbrella that still held sparkling raindrops.

“Good day, Your Grace.” Jules smiled broadly.

“Not yet it isn’t.” The duke stopped right in front of him, a little too close.

“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.” Jules gripped the painting, wrapped in brown paper and string, a little tighter. He had a feeling this wasn’t going to be a fun conversation.

“My daughter, sweet Eloise, has done nothing but shed tears since you muddied her good name at the ball.”

“How did I muddy her name?” Jules frowned.

“You know how.” The duke wagged his finger. “Everyone at the ball knew you were outside with her, alone, in the dark, on the private terrace. Scandalous, that’s what it was. You should have immediately insisted upon a chaperone.”

“Why didn’t she insist upon a chaperone if she was so worried about being alone with me?”

“Why, you…” The older man’s cheeks reddened. “I always knew you were no gentleman, but—”

“I can assure you I was a perfect gentleman with your daughter.” Jules paused and thought of how only an hour ago, he had been behaving quite scandalously, but that was different, that had been with his Meredith.