Page 123 of Courting the Wrong Duke

Rosalind nodded, though she hesitated before continuing. “She has been making inquiries among the servants. Maids, footmen, coachmen. Anyone who might have heard something that never reached the drawing rooms.”

William knew enough of London households to understand the wisdom of that approach. Servants might be expected to remain invisible, but very little escaped their notice.

“What did she learn?”

“There are indications that Papa may not have left London in the manner everyone assumes.”

William straightened. “What indications?”

Rosalind’s gaze remained fixed upon his face.

Something about the intensity of it caught his attention.

She was not merely telling him what she had learned. She was watching him.

William resisted the instinct to glance away. “Rosalind?”

She hesitated.

“There are a few details I would like to confirm.”

She was choosing her words.

More than that, she was watching him while she chose them.

William had spent enough time with Rosalind by now to recognize the difference between her ordinary caution and the particular look she wore when she was trying to learn something without asking the question outright.

“You know more than you are telling me.”

Her brows rose. “Do I?”

“Yes.”

“That is a rather serious accusation.”

“You are weighing every word before you say it.”

“I always choose my words carefully.”

“Not with me.”

The answer escaped before William could consider it.

Something flickered across her face, and he realized with a small jolt that it was true. Rosalind observed nearly everyone around her, measuring reactions and storing away details others scarcely noticed. Somewhere during the course of their investigation, however, she had stopped guarding herself quite so carefully with him.

Or perhaps he had simply learned to recognize when she did.

Her thumb moved absently against the side of his hand.

“I don’t know enough yet,” she admitted. “But Nelly may have found something important.”

“Something you do not trust me enough to tell me?”

Her eyes widened. “That is not what I said.”

“No.” William held her gaze. “It is not.”

For a moment neither of them spoke.