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He looked surprised by the question. “I do not believe she has ever been married.”
Grace had guessed as much, knowing that very often, housekeepers took on the status of being addressed as Mrs.. “Then can you possibly be attempting to matchmake between her and James Stanley?”
“I simply thought it best if Mrs. Howell knew the reason for and did not take offense at some of Stanley’s behavior,” Alaric defended.
Grace nodded gravely. “I see.”
He levelled his dark gaze upon her. “What do you see?”
“That you are not as ruthless as Society believes you to be.”
He huffed. “Let us wait and see if you still feel that way after our conversation later this morning.”
After he had asked his questions, Grace realized.
The threat of that interrogation completely robbed her of her appetite, but at Alaric’s urging, she did manage to eat a piece of toast, along with drinking several cups of tea, as she inwardly considered the contents of the letter she was going to write to George. Alaric had told her she would be writing exactly what he told her to, but surely there must still be some way in which she could alert George to her having written the letter under duress?
“Have you eaten enough?” Alaric queried all too soon. He placed his used napkin on the small table in the warm and sunny dining room.
“I have, thank you, Your Grace,” she answered politely, very aware that the attentive Mrs. Howell was once again in the room tidying away the dishes they had used.
“Then we shall go to my study,” Alaric stated before smiling at his housekeeper. “I am sure that once he knows I am here, Mr. Morgan will wish to discuss estate business with me. Could you ask him to call at four o’clock this afternoon? I do not wish to be disturbed for any reason for the next hour or so, if you please, Mrs. Howell.”
The older woman bobbed a curtsey. “Very well, Your Grace.”
Grace rose to her feet. “Breakfast was delicious, thank you.” She managed to smile at the housekeeper before preceding Alaric from the room.
But inwardly, she was concerned as to exactly what the two of them would be doing in the duke’s study for the next hour. The letter Alaric insisted she write to George would surely only take a few minutes of that time…
Once they were alone in the book-lined room, a huge oak desk and chair dominating the space, Melborne wasted no time in telling her exactly what they would be doing.
“First, you will write the letter to your erstwhile lover,” he bit out with a slightly disdainful curl of his top lip. “Then you will answer the questions I have already mentioned I intend to ask.”
Grace frowned. “George is not my erstwhile anything,” she snapped. “Nor do I see any reason why I should answer your questions simply because you have stated it is your intention to voice them.”
Dark eyes narrowed to glittering slits. “I advise you not to test me on this subject, Grace.”
Her chin rose. “Why not?”
“Because for every question you refuse to answer, or I sense you are deliberately answering incorrectly, there will be consequences.”
“How will you know if I am answering incorrectly?”
His mouth twisted. “I will know.”
“What sort of consequences?” Grace didn’t trust or like the intensity of Alaric’s expression.
His smile turned feral. “I haven’t decided yet.”
“That is hardly fair,” she protested.
He gave a hard and humorless smile. “I do not recall ever claiming I intend being fair in any way on the subject of your…arrangement with George Harper.”
Grace frowned. “Whatever that arrangement is, it has absolutely nothing to do with you.”
“Grace.” He took a several steps forward, forcing her to arch her neck back in order to meet his gaze. “Last night, I became your lover.” One of his hands moved to cradle her cheek, the soft pad of his thumb stroking over her slightly swollen bottom lip. “I might not have penetrated you with my cock yet, but never doubt who and what I am to you. Who you now are to me,” he added huskily.
She knew Alaric must be able to feel how her cheeks burned from the bluntness of his statement. “And if I do not share that opinion?”
