Her sister’s gaze narrowed. “Perhaps a falling in?”
Violet sucked in a breath. “How could you know?”
Ivy gave a slow, smug smile. “We have all been watching you and Duke flirt for the better part of a year. The only trouble is, Lilly shall win the wager if you wed before Christmas.”
“My own sisters, wagering against me.” She shook her head. “And we were not flirting.”
“Well, it certainly looked like flirting from where I was standing.”
“You are sitting,” Violet pointed out.
Ivy rolled her eyes. “You know very well what I meant, and do not think you can distract from the matter by teasing me.”
Violet tightened her grip on the back of the chair and let her shoulders drop. “Duke thinks he loves me.”
“Thinks?” Ivy shook her head and made a tutting noise. “Did he say hethinkshe loves you?”
“Not exactly. In fact, he was quite emphatic on the matter.” She allowed herself a tentative smile. “He said his heart belongs to me.”
“Oh, Vi.” Ivy grinned. “I think I am most certainly going to lose this wager.”
Violet pressed her lips together. She suspected her sister might well be right.
∞∞∞
Duke inched open the door to his father’s bedroom just as Aunt Sarah flung her set of cards upon the small table between her chair and the bed. “Are you certain you are not cheating, William?”
His father straightened against the pillows. “Never!”
Aunt Sarah narrowed her gaze. She glanced about the room then looked to Duke as she dealt out another hand. “Is there a mirror behind me?”
Duke shook his head and grinned. “No mirrors, I’m afraid. My father is just that good at cards.”
He eyed his father who seemed to have come away with nothing more than a few bruises and some nasty marks on his wrists from where he was bound most of the time.
“You are looking well indeed, Pops. There are few people who would come away from such a situation looking so hale.”
His father shrugged, tossed down a card and forced Aunt Sarah to issue a hissed curse. “Thoroughly unpleasant men but mightily stupid,” he declared. “From what I could gather, they hadn’t planned much and expected you to roll over like an obedient puppy the moment I was taken.”
Duke grimaced. “Forgive me for that. I could not in good conscience work for that man. We were working hard to ensure your release, though.”
His father waved a hand, his attention remaining on the cards in his hand. “Nonsense. I raised you better than to take the cowardly way out.”
“I still hate to think of you in the hands of such men.”
“There was one who was soft on me.” His father looked to him, a sly smile crossing his face. “I reminded him of his father apparently. Made my time with those blackguards a little easier.”
“And ensured your escape no doubt,” Duke murmured.
“It always helps to make friends in all situations.” He winked at Aunt Sarah. “Do you not find, Sarah?”
She looked between Duke and his father. “Goodness, I never realized how alike you two are. Cannot resist a moment to charm, can you, William?”
Duke chuckled. It used to be that whenever he met people who knew his father but had yet to meet him they’d declare how similar they were both in manner and looks. As a boy, it irritated him, but if it meant he would survive an ordeal like kidnapping from a well-known criminal gang, he was grateful to be blessed with such similarities.
“Well, I’m glad to see you are back to your old self, Pops.”
“Sarah here tells me the Musgrave girls were aiding you in finding me.”