Page 136 of Courting the Wrong Duke

William almost turned around.

A quarrel would have been considerably easier.

Rosalind was not merely irritated with him. She no longer knew whether trusting him was safe, and after everything William had learned about his own family in the past day, he could hardly blame her.

He entered the house and crossed the hall, trying to decide what to do next. Thinking had accomplished very little. Confronting his family while angry seemed even less likely to produce anything useful.

What he needed was someone outside it.

Someone who had no reason to protect Algernon, excuse him, or decide which truths William ought to be permitted to know.

Gabriel.

The answer came with an immediate sense of relief.

Gabriel could be ridiculous where Isabella Hartwell was concerned, but William trusted his judgment when it mattered. More importantly, Gabriel had no reason to defend Algernon or condemn him. He would look at the facts and tell William what he saw.

William changed his coat, sent a servant to have his horse saddled, and returned downstairs scarcely ten minutes later.

He was halfway across the courtyard toward the stables when movement near the side entrance caught his attention.

William slowed.

Augusta stood beneath the narrow overhang beside the stable yard.

She was speaking to one of the footmen.

There was nothing particularly remarkable in that. Augusta had lived at Aldermere long enough to know most of the household servants by name, and William would ordinarily have continued walking without giving the exchange another thought.

Then she glanced around.

William stopped.

The movement was quick, almost casual, but there was something furtive about it that immediately put him on alert.

The footman stood with his back partly toward William, obscuring Augusta from view. William could not hear what she said, but he saw her reach into the folds of her dress and withdraw a small folded paper.

She pressed it into the servant’s hand. The footman closed his fingers around it as Augusta said something else, low and urgent. Then she turned and disappeared through the side entrance.

William remained where he was.

Only yesterday, he would have thought nothing of it.

A note entrusted to a servant. An errand. Some household matter that did not concern him.

Today, he found himself watching.

Augusta disappeared through the side entrance while the footman crossed the stable yard in the opposite direction, the folded paper tucked discreetly into his coat.

William remained where he was for another moment.

He had no reason to believe the note meant anything.

Then again, twenty-four hours ago, he had possessed no reason to question his brother either.

The thought settled unpleasantly in his stomach.

William continued toward the stables.