“You look as though you have seen a ghost, Rochdale.”
Shooting a look at Duke, Roman straightened his shoulders. He hadn’t told Duke about the occurrence with Clementine, and he had no intention of doing so either. The deeper that remained buried, the better.
He motioned to the door leading to the dining room. “Shall we dine then?” He tapped his pocket where the weight of his watch sat. “I have plenty to do today.”
“I’m in no hurry.” Duke gave a languid smile as if to prove it. “And we only need to hash out the details of this new deed. It will take but moments.”
“We could have dealt with this at your office,” Roman said, his gaze straying to Clementine and her sister.
They remained by one of the large windows, sunlight dripping about her and highlighting her coppery curls. He swore if he stared long enough, he might be able to make out her figure underneath the pale muslin, but it had to be an illusion.
Or a hope.
Fists bunched at his side, he turned his attention fully to Duke. Any fool could see the man was a handsome chap but Roman would far rather be staring at Clementine and imagining touching her waist, the curve of her hips, or recalling how her breasts had been crushed against his chest. His friend was no match for that. Even as he tried to focus, he felt his gaze slipping away.
“Haven’t seen the Musgrave lady all week, have you?” Duke said, a quirk dashing over his lips. “Shall we go make ourselves known?”
“I have no need to speak with her.”
“I thought she was doing all this work for your aunt.”
“She is, but I would know if she had found anything.”
And as far as he could tell, she hadn’t spotted him yet. Either that or she was doing a fine job of pretending he didn’t exist. He would not be disappointed by that. It merely meant she was cleverer than him—not a hard thing to be, he had to admit—but after their kiss, it would be safer not to acknowledge each other at all.
He had every faith his aunt would keep him updated on the situation, so he had to assume nothing new had been found. No more intruders had been spotted either and Roman kept in close contact with the men watching the house. It seemed the danger might even be over.
“Well, your aunt has spotted us.” Duke waved at the three ladies currently sipping glasses of the warm water.
Roman loathed the strange smelling, unnaturally warm stuff and didn’t think it did anything useful. His father had tried dozens of ways to ‘cure’ his inability to read properly and he’d spent many a day drinking healing waters from all over the country. The water in Bath was only slightly less disgusting than some of the concoctions of mineral waters he’d drunk.
“You waved first,” Roman muttered as the women came over.
His aunt leaned in and gave him a kiss. He bent to accept it.
She smiled broadly. “I did not know you were coming here today.”
“Neither did I,” Roman admitted. “Duke decided we should dine here today.”
“Well, that is funny, Sir Marmaduke,” Clementine’s aunt said. “When I saw you earlier in the park, you said you were heading back to your office.”
Roman gave his friend a sideways glance but Duke’s expression betrayed nothing, he merely tapped his stomach. “A man cannot work on an empty stomach.”
“How true.” Mrs. Knighton gestured to Clementine and her sister, and Roman did not miss the brief tussle as Clementine’s older sister tugged her arm and dragged her over. “The girls and I were planning to have lunch, too.”
“We were?” said Violet. She blinked a few times, her expression twisting from confusion to understanding as she stared at her aunt. “Oh yes, I forgot.”
“You forgot?” Clementine lifted a brow and stared her sister down.
“Yes, do you not recall? We said we would take the waters then dine here.” Violet smiled so sweetly even Roman almost believed her.
He could understand the unusual Mrs. Knighton trying to engineer some meeting between her two nieces and eligible bachelors—after all what spinster aunt did not want her nieces to make matches—but he could not understand why Duke seemed so intent on meeting with the Musgraves.
He’d witnessed a little flirtation from Duke’s side toward the quietest of the sisters a few weeks ago but nothing to make him believe Duke had any intention of spending more time with them. The man was about the biggest rake Roman knew after all and far too smart to dabble with innocent ladies of rank.
More evidence of Roman’s own stupidity. Duke would never be so foolish as to kiss a Musgrave.
Duke motioned to the dining room. “Come, let us get some food before I waste away.”