Page 47 of No Duke of Mine

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Algernon regretted offering to make Maggie his secretary at precisely six o’clock the next morning, because she woke him early and had bullied Sims into action, too, announcing that Algernon was to ride in Hyde Park.

He would also be making a call to his intended bride.

He rolled his eyes but complied, dragging himself from his warm bed. This was more the Maggie he knew.

He was dragging his feet on the matter of making a call to Lady Kent, since she was likely in Town already. He should have made it a priority to call on her sooner, but Maggie had needed him, and he had needed to be needed, too.

But now Maggie was making it her priority, and he would have to as well.

He rode for an hour in Hyde Park and returned to watch her bustle about the town house, moving purposely from morning room to study to library and back again, glad to see there were no tears in her eyes that morning.

Keeping busy had always helped him banish any black moods, and it seemed to work for her as well. Watching Maggie take charge of his town house, servants, carriage, and belongings was both fascinating and amusing for him.

He ate his breakfast alone but kept an eye on proceedings through the open doorways.

Maggie seemed to have a role that challenged her finally, though it was one that might never come her way in any other place. He was only slightly less worried about her future this morning. With her father gone, she did have to support herself somehow.

Maggie brooked no tardiness among the servants but listened to them with patience and respect. She seemed to be in her element ordering them about, and he knew he’d done the right thing for everyone’s sake when the staff responded favorably.

When she finally returned to the dining room, hands on her hips, he pushed back from the table and stood. “Shall we discuss the day ahead?”

She put her hands behind her back. “Yes, Your Grace.”

He held out his arm. “We’ll adjourn to my study.”

“His Grace should go first,” Maggie murmured.

“Ladies first,” he countered, leaving his hand extended, refusing to be ignored.

“I’m but your humble secretary,” she insisted, stepping back from him. “I will follow behind you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous.” Algernon barked out a laugh and grabbed her arm to thrust her ahead of him. He set his hands on her shoulders and pushed her all the way into his study.

However, he was not amused by her attempt at deference still. It did not sit well with him not to offer her any of the courtesies of a proper lady. When Maggie sat herself down on the chair before the desk, it seemed a misplacement yet again.

Sims arrived and sat close beside her, presenting all the correspondence he’d been carting about for Algernon since they’d left Ravenswood, acting in the role of secretary.

He began to describe the most urgent matters at hand, passing over the appointment book and other valuable papers Algernon had brought with him on this trip.

As the whispering continued between them for longer than he deemed necessary for the task, Algernon ground his teeth that he was excluded from the conversation. In fact, he suspected he could leave the room and neither would notice he was gone.

He had never imagined that making Maggie his secretary would deny him her conversation. Hadn’t she, just two nights ago, clung to his body and asked to be kissed?

Of course, he shouldn’t have kissed her then, and he silently vowed to do nothing else to bring about her ruin. She’d been disappointed in him, of course, but it was for her own good. And now he could hardly make love to his secretary. How would any work get done?

He sat behind the large desk, determined to suppress his irritation with the new situation he’d brought about, and opened a book to read while he waited for the pair to finish their discussion. They talked together exclusively for another half hour, and then fell silent.

When he looked up, Sims was gone, and Maggie was watching him. “Are you enjoying that book, Your Grace?”

“You should know I would, you read it last night.”

“Yes, but I did not attempt to read it upside down.”

Algernon snapped the book shut and threw it aside.

Maggie moved around the desk and sat on the edge. “You have changed your mind about hiring me already, haven’t you, Your Grace?”