His shoulder blades were still scarred from the sharp looks Mr. Hall, the butler, had sent his way. As for the rest of the servants, in his brief time within the residence, those he had passed either ducked their heads to avoid attention or smiled too brightly.
He was doomed.
This disguise, doomed.
He turned to check on Lady Louisa’s progress, and his gaze followed her finger, trailing over every spine of the books she passed.
She had lovely hands.
There was no diabolical bone in this woman’s body. He couldn’t help but believe her claim that she had only misplaced the book, not hidden it from him or given it to someone else. She truly appeared distressed and frustrated that she could not find the book.
The betting book wasn’t here. Heknewit in his gut. The book wasn’t anywhere in this house. It was gone.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. But how? The duchess? One of her servants? If the duchess’s people found the book, would they know the significance of it? If the book wasn’t anywhere to be found, then its absence itself might hold the answer.
“Unbelievable,” Lady Louisa muttered. She had stopped her progress around the room at the tall windows overlooking the garden.
“I beg your pardon?”
“They are at it again.”
“Who?” Oliver strode over and stopped beside her, following her gaze to where a couple could partly be seen frolicking. They were behind a tree, and while most of their bodies were hidden, you could still glimpse enough from this view to understandwhat they were doing. “Your family certainly employs passionate servants.”
“How laughable! Here we are searching diligently for a book and they are equally diligently romping about!”
He caught himself before he smiled. “When the master’s away, the servants get up to all sorts of mischief.”
“I ought to applaud their bravery, then.”
“Or leave them be. They are up to mischief. We are up to mischief. You could pretend not to see them.”
She threw him a sidelong glance. “You surprise me, Duke. But who can pretend not to see people kissing? Lord, I can’tnotlook.” Her gaze whipped back to the garden. “They are inviting my gaze.”
“Perhaps you are so intrigued because you have never been kissed,” Oliver said, the words rolling off his tongue before he could stop them. Confound it. He’d never been one to speak so boldly to a lady. With her, however, he was constantly challenged. In every shape and form a challenge could take.
Her gaze flew back to him. “I beg your pardon? What sort of remark is that?”
Don’t ask him, he didn’t know either. He rubbed the back of his neck.Ah, you fool. You already started, might as well finish.“A simple one,” Oliver said. “You seem awfully curious about kissing.”
A fierce scowl knitted her brows.
“That’s because I am curious.” She paused. “I was once told I look rather intimidating to men. Perhaps that is why no man has ever dared to steal a kiss and I have been unable to satisfy my curiosity.”
“Whoever told you that is a fool.”
“Tell Leo that when next you see him.”
Of course.He almost laughed. He could imagine the scene. “I daresay once you have experienced the marvel of a kiss, you shall be able to look past lovers stealing them in a garden.”
Her whole face turned incredulous. “The marvel of kissing?”
He froze, cursed himself. “I misspoke. There is nothing to marvel about with regard to kissing.”
“Really?Are you sure? I wouldn’t have guessed that you’d have such a romantic view on the subject. You seem more the sort who would kiss for calculating reasons such as distracting a woman or using the kiss to get something in return.”
Oliver hated how he couldn’t exactly refute that. “You have keen observational skills.”
She grinned. “So I’m not wrong.”
