Page 29 of No Duke of Mine

CHAPTER NINE

“Does Her Grace wish to venture an opinion on this book?”

“I trust your opinion, Your Grace,” Maggie replied, keeping her face lowered. She’d never been a wife before, let alone a stand-in duchess, and she was highly embarrassed about that omission of Algernon’s most of all.

It felt like an insult.

At first, it had been quite the lark, the idea of being an appendage to a husband who hid his identity as duke, and hers as well, on their journey. But now her mood had soured considerably, since he was openly referring to her as his wife and duchess while he intended to propose to someone else soon.

A wife was something she would never be. She’d always known that without money or great beauty, it would take exceptional circumstances to make a man offer for her. She had accepted she’d forever be a spinster.

But Algernon was known to many shop owners here, and the bookshop proprietor knew all about her before she’d set one foot through the door. Gossip in this town had spread like wildfire. The bookshop owner was practically rubbing his hands together at the thought of all the money he might make from the duke.

Maggie did not know how Algernon ignored the greed in the man’s eyes, to be honest or the suspicious looks thrown her way due to her lack of finery. It had been hard to keep a civil tongue in her head as the man fawned over them both, though. Algernon was no man to be fleeced by any merchant who overpriced his books.

But when Algernon walked into a room, all eyes followed him. And because they did, Maggie on his arm as duchess was no longer invisible to others. She’d become someone worth noticing, too, much to her consternation.

The years she’d spent alone had not been easy. She had given up so many of her dreams. Yet no one had expected her to be anything other than what she wanted to be.

And now, because of Algernon, she was forced to play at being a duchess, albeit temporarily, and nothing in her life had prepared her for that development.

She glanced across at Algernon now, leaning against a bookcase, skimming a book that had caught his eye. He was a duke from the top of his head to the high shine of his polished black boots. No one could mistake him for a man of low importance.

He pushed away from the bookcase and showed her what he was reading. “You’ll want this one, too.”

She started to read and, after a few passages, took the heavy tome from him. But his hand settled under the book, covering hers.

Maggie found his proximity a trifle disconcerting, knowing what she did about his intentions toward another woman. But she read to the bottom of the first page, enthralled by the vivid descriptions.

Algernon’s other hand curled about her waist and gently pulled her toward him. “Well? What do you think, wife?”

She wet her lips, struggling against the pull of need for more of his touch. “This is enough.”

His fingers slid up and down her back. “What about the others I showed you?”

She looked at the short pile with longing, then shook her head firmly. “One and one only.”

His hand dropped from her back. “I will buy them all,” he announced. “A present for my beloved wife.”

The wife he didn’t have yet. The one he was on his way to court. Not really for her.

Maggie pressed her lips together, irritated with him anew and the ruse he played. She was no longer Maggie but some figment of his imagination. A wife was a creature she’d no chance of ever becoming.

Algernon’s ongoing generosity was vexing and embarrassing. He should not waste his funds on her. She could not ask or expect her father to reimburse him for so much.

“Honestly, Your Grace,” she complained. “I cannot accept any more of your gifts.”

He ignored her words, settled the bill for all the books with the proprietor with a stack of coins, and handed the heavy books to the valet to carry.

He offered his arm.

“That was high-handed of you,” she hissed, refusing his escort and tugging her hood closer to her head, despite the warm day.

“I’ve heard that before from you,” he countered, smiling broadly despite her snub.

Algernon directed her outside and asked her to wait with Sims for a few moments while he went into another establishment alone. Sims had been shadowing them all afternoon, but he hadn’t said a word to her directly since they’d arrived at this village. He looked uncomfortable, and she knew why.

Algernon had involved his servant in their lies. Maggie hadn’t asked for help but was guilty of playing along with the duke’s scheme to ensure her reunion with Papa happened quickly.