She found her voice once more. “It would shame you to have to summon them,” she said. “To admit you were incapable of dealing with a young woman.”
He frowned. Had he taken that seriously?
“I’m unarmed,” she told him. “I’m no danger to you, Your Grace. Why are you frightened of me?”
“Who said I was frightened?” he growled.
Shewas certainly frightened. That wrathful expression on his face! But she held her ground. “If I don’t frighten you, then let me leave,” she said. “It would do you no harm to do that. You’ll never see me again if you do. But if you force me to stay and turn me over, everyone will know that your house was broken into.”
He folded his arms. “Tell me what you’re doing here. If you want me to let you go, you must at least do that.”
She couldn’t. What would she say, that she had come to borrow a book? It sounded like a lie. If she showed him the book, he might believe—but then he would know who she was. There would be no hope of getting out of this with her anonymity preserved.
She was spared having to answer—but immediately beset with a new host of problems—when the door to the library opened.
A man stood there. Agnes thought it was likely she was looking at the butler—he was dressed for that post. “Your Grace,” he managed, looking from the duke to Agnes and back. And Agnes saw the scene through his eyes.
The duke, alone in a room with a woman.
They stood face to face, and there was no hint of the fact that this was any sort of confrontation. The book was still tucked in Agnes’ skirts, and she didn’t dare pull it out, not even to provide context for the encounter.
The duke drew a breath.
He will tell him to get the constables after all. That’s the only way out of this for the duke now. It’s the only way to show that he wasn’t in here with me voluntarily. If he sends for the constables, his hands will be clean in all this. No scandal will touch him.
She waited for her fate.
But the duke turned his back on her. “You’d better get out of here,” he growled. “You’d better be gone by the time I turn back around.
She didn’t need to be told twice.
She turned on her heel and ran.
Out of the library, down the hall—the front door beckoned, and she saw no need to retreat through the servants’ quarters. She hurried to the door and burst through it, running down the lawn to the place where, mercifully, her horse was still tethered and waiting for her. She mounted quickly, thankful for all the days she had spent out riding, getting comfortable on horseback. Those experiences made it easy, now, to throw herself onto the back of her horse and ride away quickly.
Her heart pounded as she reached the road. She allowed the horse to slow to a walk—it seemed safe to do that. Nobody was following her. She had reached safety now, and she was just going to have to get back to her home.
She pulled her hand free of her skirts.
Venus in the Cloisterwas still clutched there.
Agnes couldn’t help it. She grinned.
She was going to read the forbidden book that had captivated her imagination—and what an adventure she’d had in trying to procure it! She had never dreamed of that.
Already, this list is turning out to be a marvelous idea.
CHAPTER 3
Agnes’ pleasure and pride lasted until breakfast the next morning, when the scandal sheets arrived, and she saw her name at the top of the page.
Lady Agnes Langford Engaged in Illicit Tryst with the Duke of Bellmoor
Her breath caught in her throat. Who had reported this? Who even knew that she had been there? The duke had never seen her face. He hadn’t known that it was her.
But he knew now. Her heart sank. He would be able to exact revenge.
She forced herself to read what was written, her heart pounding like a drum.