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Fraser stretched and scratched his goatee. “How did you know I was down here, Letty lass? There’s still time for me to be abed with a pretty lad, you know.”
“I know how much you enjoy your Saturday mornings to yourself in the workroom. And you’ve been complaining all autumn about the lack of lads in your life. I think you’re still pining over Marcus.”
“Aye, but he’s a damn fool who needs to come to his senses. You thought to raise my spirits with breakfast? If you were not my favorite friend before, then surely you are now.” He took a mug and pressed a quick kiss to her cheek.
“Yesterday’s Chelsea buns, from the pastry shop up the street. Robert and I are at outs again, and this was meant to be a reconciliation but of course he’s turned up his nose at it.”
“First time in that boy’s life that he’s refused sweets.” Fraser shook his head and took a hearty bite, then licked excess sugar andspice from his thumb. “He’s another one acting the fool these days, if you ask me.”
Letty plopped herself down onto a rocking chair. “You seemed happy enough in the summer with Marcus. Why are you on the outs again?”
“Because he thinks with his prick, that one does.”
Letty laughed. “And you don’t? I saw the way you were winking at those waiters at Swann’s. You were acting like your eye was in danger of falling out.”
“Sometimes a man wants more than a twist in the sheets.” He scowled at his coffee. “Marcus needs to come to his bloody senses and realize we could have something good together if he could stop tupping other men.”
“Neither of you ever stopped and thought twice before pursuing a pretty face before.” Letty was surprised. In all the time she had known them, Fraser and Marcus had been involved in a casual way, always circling their way back to each other.
“I want more these days, I suppose. We’re not young anymore, carousing around the molly houses until dawn, foxed until we fall down in any bed we could find.”
“I didn’t think you were considering settling down.”
He shrugged. “I suppose I’m not, if Marcus refuses to hear a word about it.”
Fraser’s face was still dark as a thundercloud, so she decided a change of subject was in order. She ran her hands over the satiny smooth arms of the chair. “This is nice work. Is it a new piece?”
He glanced up at her from where he had gone back to work on sanding down a table leg. “That is more thannice work,” he said in injured tones. “Do you not see all the detail I put into the Renaissance revival carvings? Did you not notice the painted panel upon which your derriere now rests?”
She grinned and propped an elbow on the chair arm. “I admit, I did not. But I trust that it is in impeccable taste, as always.”
Fraser snorted. “It’s a custom piece for one of our more aggravating customers. We have an architect who chooses to do business with people who have the worst taste. This one is for ashipping magnate who has insisted on having dragons carved into the chair legs. And fruit. And flowers. The more, the better, in their opinion. Looks atrocious, but worth a mint of my time at least.”
Letty laughed. She loved spending time with Fraser in his workroom, tucked at the back half of the first floor. The front half was the showroom and shop, and the second and third floors were split between her and Fraser’s apartments. Fraser’s business partner, Wynn, had originally lived above the shop but had moved upon his marriage. When John had died, the lease on Letty’s townhouse expired with him, and Letty had been happy to move here, eager to be close to friends and to stay in the same neighborhood. Fraser and Wynn even allowed her the use of the smallest room at the back as her own workroom.
“There is certainly no accounting for taste,” Letty said with feeling. “The renovations at Hawthorne House are still stalled as I await the duchess’s final verdict on the floors.”
Fraser took a sip of coffee. “Haven’t you been working there for over a month now?”
“Yes. And every day, it’s something different. First she wanted to consider replacing the floors, but when I had someone come in to take a look at them, she changed her mind. Then she thought maybe we should put down tiles. In a duke’sbedroom. I could not quite condone it, but one doesn’t say no to a duchess, so I went and brought back tile samples and a work estimate. She has now decided that the original floors are fine, but wishes to be presented with carpet samples on my next visit.” She blew out a breath. “Do not get me started talking about the paint options for the walls.”
“She sounds like a pain in the rear. I’ll stick with the shipping magnate, dragons and all.”
“The housekeeper says she isn’t acting like herself. Apparently, the duchess is usually very decisive. The butler has started to give me sympathetic looks every time I arrive at the estate. Probably because he sees the frustration on my face when I leave at night.”
“It must be difficult for the duchess to have her husband come back to England after so much time away.”
Letty frowned. “I know that George told us that the duke and duchess are at cross ends, but that isn’t what the duchess conveys. She appears intent on perfecting the duke’s bedroom for his triumphant return.”
“Married life is a mystery, Letty lass.” Fraser set the sanding aside and picked up his whittling knife, using it with more force than necessary on the table leg as he scowled at it. “It’s one that we may never know ourselves.”
“Fraser, you’ve never seen such a mess. I have excess furniture crammed into almost every available bedroom, and there are makeshift shelves of samples and fabrics and papers lining the entire hallway, because Her Indecisive Grace cannot choose among any of them. Why, a whole floor of the estate is in total disarray. It’s professionally embarrassing. If anyone saw, I should be disgraced and would never work again.”
“You work for the highest of the high now. A duchess has every right to be as picky as she chooses. She can well afford it, after all. Is she cruel?”
“Far from it. She’s the epitome of serenity. If she wasn’t so aggravating, I’d like her.”
The issue was that there seemed to be two Annes—the duchess, and the woman. The duchess was aggravating and arrogant. But the woman looked at a slice of lemon cake like it was a lover. The woman had stood up for her against the housekeeper when Letty had revealed that she had an illegitimate child, which would spare her any difficulties with the rest of the staff. The woman was concerned about late hours and carriage rides.
