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“Mind if I take a look at one of the chairs?” Byron asked without waiting for him to notice him.
The duke jerked and turned to him. “Pardon?”
“I happen to know something about making chairs. When I was a lad, I helped my father make furniture,” Byron explained. “I can check the chairs to make sure they are sturdy.”
The duke frowned. “I don’t need your help.” He paused then added, “Thank you anyway.”
Interesting. Was there something about the other chairs that the duke didn’t want him to discover? “I meant no harm in the offer. These chairs are obliviously expensive. It would be a shame to get rid of them. If any are in need of repair, I can do it. Most of the time, these things are a simple fix.”
“The answer is still no. Now, if you don’t mind, I have a ball to host.” He gestured to the room where the guests, for the most part, had gone back to enjoying the evening.
Byron’s gaze followed the maid as she carried a couple of pieces of the broken chair out of the side exit of the room. It would be difficult to inspect the chairs once they were out of this room, but it wouldn’t be impossible.
He scanned the room. The chairs on the other side of the room weren’t being removed. That was interesting. Out of curiosity, he went over to one of those chairs and sat on it. Nothing happened. He wiggled, but the chair was sturdy. He tried another chair and noticed the same thing.
The Duke of Winnett approached him. “What are you doing?”
“I’m making sure the other chairs are safe for your guests.” He went to another chair and tested it. “These three are fine.”
“You can’t mean to test all of the chairs in this room.”
Ignoring the irritation in the gentleman’s voice, Byron asked, “Do you want another person to suffer humiliation here this evening?”
“Of course not.”
“Then you’ll be happy that I’m willing to make sure another chair doesn’t break tonight.”
The duke glowered at him. “I don’t find this amusing.”
“I’m not trying to be amusing.” Byron went to another chair and tested it.
The duke reached forward and yanked him to his feet. “These are my chairs. Not yours. I don’t want your help.”
Byron resisted the urge to shove him away. That would only arouse the duke’s suspicions. “Fine.” Byron pulled away from him and straightened his dress coat. “I only wanted to help. If you want me to leave, just say so.”
“Leave.”
He put his hands up in the air. “All right, I’m leaving.”
The duke, most likely, was watching him, so he headed directly to the doorway. He waited until he passed through it before looking back. The duke returned to the section of chairs the maids were taking out of the ballroom. They were only taking six chairs from that side of the room. Byron bet those chairs had been compromised. It was the only reason why the duke would focus on removing those.
Well, this turn of events was a lot more promising than his search through the townhouse or following the duke around London. He wished he had been watching the duke this evening, but he didn’t think the duke would try to do anything at his very own ball. But then, he did do something at the theatre, didn’t he?
Quite possibly. He’s still a suspect, Byron. It’s too soon to conclude anything yet. You need proof. Without proof, you can’t convict someone of a crime.
Byron needed to get his hands on one of those six chairs. Making sure the duke still wasn’t paying attention to him, Byron headed down the hall to see if he could find those chairs.
