Page 18 of The Mister I Married

Shoving the deflating thought aside, Alex stepped into the entrance hall and handed his hat to his aunt’s butler, Givens, a slender man of middling years and thinning red hair.

As he turned toward the drawing room, intending to follow the ladies inside, Givens’ quiet voice stayed him.

“Sir?”

Alex turned back with a questioning flick of his brow. “Yes, Givens?”

“This arrived for you while you were out, sir,” he replied, holding out a folded square of vellum, sealed with wax.

Alex’s brow knit as he reached out to take the proffered letter. He murmured his thanks and then Givens bowed before leaving the entrance hall for an unknown destination.

Alex inspected the unopened letter for a moment, the unfamiliar seal in red wax, his name and address scrawled in neat, swooping script that suggested a feminine hand.

Curious, he broke the seal and unfolded the vellum, sweeping his gaze swiftly over the brief message inside.

I must speak to you on a matter of great importance. Please call upon me tomorrow. Noon. Come alone.

Emmy

Alex frowned. A matter of great importance? What on earth could it be? He read the cryptic words again, searching for answers but finding none. Was she in some sort of trouble? Did she need his help?

The letter’s tone was serious, yes, but nothing in it suggested danger of any kind. And even if she were in trouble, surely she would turn to her family instead of him, a man she’d met only a week ago.

“Alex? What are you doing out there?”

His sister’s voice interrupted his reverie, and quickly he folded the letter and slipped it into his coat pocket before answering her.

“Coming, Tess,” he said, smoothing his expression as he headed for the drawing room.

He had no idea what Emmy wanted with him, but she’d instructed him to come alone tomorrow, which suggested a desire for secrecy.

He would keep this mysterious business to himself for now. And try to think of something else while he waited for tomorrow to come.