Undeterred, Mimi straightened her shoulders. “It doesn’t matter. It’s up to me to secure his attention. This was a dare after all. Now I have the challenge ahead of me. I can see it so clearly.” She rubbed her hands together. “This is what the duke dare was all about, Nobi. And you know it.” Mimi reached her hand, palm extended, out into the open air. “The intention was to set your sights on what you wanted and to go after it.” She clenched her hand together forcefully, grasping the empty air. “I’m about to show you how it’s done. You know how much I love a challenge.”
“Really, Mimi. You should have gone into theater.”
“It’s not too late,” Mimi chuckled.
“It may not be too late, but it’s far too scandalous.” Nobi shook her head. “I should love for you to show your older sister how to play the game of love.”
“Don’t you worry. As sharp a shooter as you are, and as accurate an archer as I am, I shall take my aim and I shall not miss.”
Nobi just shrugged. Which, in and of itself should have been considered an innocent gesture, but to Mimi, no, it was not innocent. It was a challenge.
“You don’t think I can snag him?”
Nobi placed her hands on Mimi’s shoulders. “My dear,youngersister, you don’t even know him. How can you think you’re in love with him?”
And even though she hadn’t said the words, she realized that that was exactly what she had been conveying. Being instantlystruck by cupid’s arrow. Smitten. Besotted. Yes, that sounded right. That’s how fate always worked, no?
“Cupid’s arrow doesn’t miss. Don’t you remember Joan and James?” It didn’t seem real that Mimi needed to remind her own sister of the role they had played in Joan and James finding love with each other.
“Of course, but that was completely different.”
“Not even one bit. Mark my words. Cupid’s arrow has struck. Love will abound. It’s fate. And fate has never led me astray before. Not even once.”
Chapter Two
Sam, the Dukeof Cadmore, sat in front of the fireplace waiting for his butler to enter. His jaw clenched so tightly it produced an erratic tick. Chris sat across from him, drumming his fingers lightly on the arm of his chair.
“Are you going to tell me why I’m here? Usually we frequent White’s, not your drawing room.”
“What I have to do, I’d rather not do publicly.” Sam scrubbed his hand down his face. If there were another option, he would like to consider it. But he trusted Chris. This was best. Even if he had to keep reminding himself of it, he would go through with this.
“Mysterious, is it?” Chris chuckled, unaware of the heaviness that would soon befall him.
“You could say that…” Sam let the sentence hang in the air, hoping it would sufficiently fill the silence he craved for a few more moments.
“Can you at least tell me why there’s a fire going in the middle of summer?” It was asked with a smirk, but Sam didn’t notice.
“I felt cold.” True. He felt cold. But not just his body. Something in his soul felt as though it were frosting over, whether for protection or for another reason, he wasn’t sure. He could only hope that this was the right decision.
“Your Grace,” the butler said when he entered the room with a small box in his hands. Making his way to the two friends, he stood stoically, awaiting a reply.
“Bixly. About time. Just place it on the table in front of the Duke of Saxby. Leave it closed and go. That will be all.”
“As you wish,” Bixly murmured blandly, doing precisely what his master instructed. Bixly was loyal to a fault. It’s been said that every man has his price, but not Bixly. He held his duties in his mind with the highest honor, grace, and dignity. His family had been serving Sam’s family for generations, and there was no end in sight.
Once Bixly had exited the room, Chris raised his brows and asked, “What’s this?”
“You know what it is.” He couldn’t bring himself to say it. And he knew that Chris was intelligent enough to figure it out.
Chris’s eyebrows reached for the ceiling. “Really? Here? Why now?”
“My cousin is coming for a visit, and I don’t want him anywhere near them.”
“Rudolph?”
“The one and only,” Sam said in a way that indicated his disdain for his blood relative. It was a wonder the two were related. Then again, familial relations often provided quite the disparity in personalities and values amongst its own. And no two could be further from each other than Sam and Rudolph, who was next in line for the dukedom.
“Hmm…I can see your reasoning. But won’t you be here with him?”
