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Chapter Thirteen
The carriage pulled up to the townhouse, and Eleanor breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe now the Duke of Winnett would go home. He had spent most of the time at the museum telling her about the people in the portraits. She realized he had done that to include her in the conversation. And while that was a nice gesture, she preferred it when his attention wasn’t directed at her.
Her father seemed to be oblivious to her unease. He talked with the Duke of Winnett as if everything was wonderful. The only thing stopping her from going into a panic was knowing her father hoped to have other gentlemen come by to visit her. The Duchess of Ashbourne had been so pleased by Eleanor’s performance at the ball that she had assured her that it was only a matter of time before she received suitors. She prayed the duchess was right.
Eleanor was making no effort to attract the duke this afternoon. She went back to being the wallflower. It was a shame the tactic didn’t seem to be working because he leaned toward her and gave her a pat on the hand before saying, “This was a most enjoyable afternoon.”
It took all of her willpower not to recoil from him. Was it her imagination, or was he looking at her the same way a cat might look at a mouse that was pinned in a corner?
“The afternoon was enjoyable,” her father spoke up. “Want to play a game or two of chess, my friend?”
The duke nodded. “I’d be delighted to.”
They waited for her to leave the carriage before going with her into the townhouse. She had hoped that they would go off to their gentleman’s club. Did this mean she had to be around them? She turned to face her father to see what he would tell her to do.
Thankfully, he told her, “His Grace and I will be in the den. Why don’t you rest? It’s been a busy day, and you haveLadies of Gracecoming by tomorrow.”
“Oh, I forgot,” the Duke of Winnett said.
For a horrifying moment, Eleanor thought he was going to direct the next statement to her, but he turned to her father. “I brought over something Mr. Jasper gave me at White’s. It has to do with a promising investment. Let me get it from my carriage and bring it to you.”
“All right. I’ll be waiting in the den,” her father replied.
Eleanor waited to see if either of them would speak to her, but since the duke headed for the front door and her father headed off toward his den, that meant she was free to do as she wished. Relieved, she hurried up to her bedchamber. Thank goodness that was over. She didn’t know what she would do if she had to spend any more time with the duke.
She spent the next two hours reading a book. The quiet activity helped to settle her nerves. It had been a difficult day. If she could figure out what bothered her about the Duke of Winnett, then she could understand her aversion to him. There had been times when she’d wanted to whack Byron on the head, but she hadn’t felt as if she might vomit if he touched her.
A knock came at the door. She marked her place in the book before she went to answer it.
“Mr. Tumilson has requested to see you,” the maid told her.
Recalling that he had been passing by the townhouse earlier that day, she set the book aside and followed the maid down the stairs. She went to the window and was glad to see that the Duke of Winnett had left. She turned and approached Byron.
He stood in front of the settee, his eyebrow arched. “Is there a reason why you ran to the window as soon as you entered the room?”
“I wanted to make sure the Duke of Winnett was gone.” She sat with him on the settee and poured tea into their cups. “He was here much longer than I thought he’d be.”
“And that displeases you?”
“I don’t want to marry him. My father gets along so well with him that I worry he’ll make me marry him if I have no other suitors. So far, no one has requested to pay me a visit.”
He accepted the cup from her. “I’m sure you won’t have to marry the Duke of Winnett. Your father wasn’t excited about that prospect when I talked with him last evening at the ball.”
“You talked to my father about the Duke of Winnett?”
“It wasn’t much of a conversation, but you’ll be relieved to know that your father would rather you to marry someone else.” He took a sip of his tea.
At once, she felt immensely better. It was one thing for her father to tell her he was hoping someone else would come along, but if he said this to Byron, then he meant it.
“I have more good news for you,” Byron said as she sipped her tea. “I have concluded that Stacey is no longer a suspect.”
Eleanor gasped, set down the cup, and hugged him. “Thank you!”
He jerked in surprise and spilled some tea on himself.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” She released him and gave him a cloth napkin. “I was just so excited that I wasn’t thinking about what I was doing.”
“Yes, I know.” He gave her a smile to let her know there were no hard feelings and wiped the tea off of his pants. “I knew you’d like that news.”
