Page 110 of Courting the Wrong Duke

A faint smile touched his mouth. “You have an irritating habit of making complicated things sound remarkably simple.”

“I consider it one of my better qualities.”

That drew the first genuine laugh from him all morning.

It was quiet and brief, but Rosalind smiled at the sound, and William found himself absurdly grateful for her.

Then guilt followed almost immediately.

“I should not have summoned you.”

Her smile disappeared. “What?”

“I wasn't thinking clearly when I sent the note. I had just left the library, had not slept, and all I could think was that I needed to speak to someone.” He hesitated. “Apparently that someone was you.”

Something flickered across her face.

William continued before he could examine it too closely. “You have enough to contend with without carrying the troubles of my family as well. I regret burdening you with them.”

“You haven't burdened me.”

“Rosalind—”

“You have not.”

Her answer was so immediate that he fell silent.

She held his gaze. “I am glad you sent for me.”

Something warm tightened unexpectedly beneath his ribs.

William had spent the morning feeling unmoored from nearly everything familiar. His father was no longer entirely the man he remembered. His brother had carried a secret pain for most of his life. His mother had helped conceal it, and even Augusta had known truths William had somehow been spared.

Yet Rosalind stood before him holding both his hands as though there were nowhere else she particularly wished to be.

He realized, with uncomfortable clarity, how much he liked having her there.

The courtship might be false. The comfort was not.

William's gaze lingered upon her face before he remembered another reason he had wanted to see her.

“Last night,” he said. “You told me you thought you saw Algernon in the gardens.”

Rosalind's expression sharpened. “Yes.”

“I asked him about it.”

“And?”

“He denied being at the ball.”

Her brows drew together.

“He said you must have mistaken someone else for him.”

Rosalind looked away toward the passing carriages. “Perhaps I did.”

There was enough uncertainty in her voice to tell William she was not entirely convinced.