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While Annalise was entertaining visitors, he sprigged the carriage and went to the florist. He spent an extravagant sum on Annalise’s surprise and settled against the carriage seats with a happy grin on his face. Annalise wouldn’t be free from her obligations yet, so there was no hurry to return. Instead, he decided to follow up on one of his leads regarding his disappearance.
A few moments later, he was admitted into a spacious drawing room, filled with pink and orange furniture and wallpaper. He scoffed, looking around. Was he even in the right place?
“Don’t scoff at my mother’s decorations,” the duke said in a gravelly voice from behind him. “She loved this room.”
Blake whirled around and stared right into the frosty gray eyes of the Duke of Kensington. “I didn’t hear you come in,” he said, eyeing the man curiously.
“You were too absorbed with your surroundings, I believe.” Kensington indicated the wallpaper, and Blake just raised a brow. “Would you like some tea? Biscuits perhaps? I hear my cook bakes the most splendid biscuits, although I’ve never tried one, and they always go to waste.”
“A pity,” Blake said dryly. “However, this is not a social call.”
“How peculiar.” Kensington frowned but indicated a couple of chairs by the window. They settled into too-small chairs on either side of a tiny decorative table, looking like a couple of giants. Blake squirmed uncomfortably, but the duke sat still, watching him like a predator, waiting for his prey.
“Let’s get right to business then,” the duke said calmly. “What brings you here if not social niceties?”
This was it. He needed to be very careful to get the truth out of the cunning duke. Blake was certain Kensington was not about to spill the beans regarding his involvement with either Annalise or his capture. How he approached this could cost him the truth.
“Well, first off, I’d like to offer my sympathies since you’ve lost a duchess to your dukedom.” Blake watched Kensington for any reaction, but the man just looked at him, his eyes hard. “It must have been difficult, planning everything for so long and then to have it all fall apart just before the betrothal announcement could be made.”
“The betrothal announcement had been made. Just a moment before you sauntered into the ballroom,” Kensington said dryly. “Nevertheless, it was no hardship, really. As long as Annalise is happy, no harm was done.”
“Lady Payne,” Blake gritted through his teeth.
Something about the duke’s choice of words didn’t sit right with Blake. Did Kensington know how unhappy Annalise had been in their marriage prior to Blake’s disappearance? Had she confided in him? The thought sent a wave of rage through his body, but he kept himself under control.
“When did you propose to her?” he asked instead.
The duke raised his brow. “Didn’t she tell you? Or have you not discussed that part?”
“We didn’t do a lot of… talking.” Blake deliberately made it sound like an innuendo. There was no way he was admitting his true state of marriage to a pompous duke.
“Ah,” was all he said.
“So? When was it?”
Kensington eyed him curiously. “And why do you want to know?”
“Why won’t you answer me?” Blake raised his eyebrow in return.
The duke let out a short sniff. “About a sennight after your disappearance.”
Blake had not expected that answer. In fact, he wasn’t sure what he was hoping to hear, but whatever it was, it was not this. “A sennight?” he repeated, outraged. “Seven bloody days?”
“I don’t understand what you’re trying to accomplish with these questions, Payne. More to the point, why you won’t ask your wife? They are innocuous enough.” He narrowed his eyes for a moment and then sat back. “Unless you are not speaking to one another. Now that would be curious, wouldn’t it? It would explain your jealousy.” He smoothed his cravat and looked out the window, seemingly bored.
“My marriage with Annalise is none of your business. Your hasty proposal, however, makes you a prime suspect in my disappearance.”
The duke let out a hoarse laugh. Not a joyous one. It was bitter and angry.
“How dare you?” Kensington finally gritted out.
“How dare I?”
“Yes, Annalise was—”
“It’s Lady Payne to you!” Blake’s fist came down on the table with a loud thump.
Kensington observed him dispassionately, then frowned. “You don’t know, do you?”
