Page 79 of Courting the Wrong Duke

“People are wonderfully predictable.”

He regarded her with open amusement. “You truly ought to write a book.”

“A book?”

“A manual.”

She smiled. “How to Conduct a Perfectly Predictable Courtship.”

“It would become indispensable reading.”

“For whom?”

“Every unmarried gentleman in England.”

Rosalind laughed. “Every unmarried lady would expose the deception before the first chapter had ended.”

William considered that. “Then you will simply have to write a sequel.”

“How to Recognize One.”

“Exactly.”

She laughed again, shaking her head.

It felt wonderfully ordinary.

For a few precious minutes, surrounded by teacups, laughter, and strangers unknowingly performing exactly as expected, she almost forgot why they had come.

William's smile faded first. “There is something else.”

She immediately straightened. “What is it?”

“I received a message from Harding & Sons this morning.”

Something inside her tightened. “The auction house?”

He nodded. “After the last letter, I sent another letter to Harding & Sons. I asked them to make further inquiries on my behalf and to send word immediately if they uncovered anything... or if your father should somehow contact them.”

He reached into his coat and withdrew the folded note. “This was their reply.”

Rosalind watched as his expression darkened.

“The clerk who confirmed your father's payment disappeared during the night.”

Her fingers stilled around her teacup. “What?”

“He abandoned his position. Left his wages behind. Left no forwarding direction.”

Rosalind felt her stomach knot.

Perhaps she ought to begin trusting him, if only a little.

Not blindly. But enough to believe he was as frustrated by this latest setback as she was.

Even so, she intended to ask Nelly to make discreet inquiries among the servants. If anyone knew what had become of the missing auction clerk, the servants' network might uncover it long before a magistrate ever could.

And while she was at it, Nelly could ask about the duchess's curious story as well.