The Duke Conspiracy (8 page)

“Yes, yes, Rose, I know the object you are
talking about, please get back to the matter at hand. Quit trying
to avoid the ugly part. I have known you for far too long.”

Rose felt the color rise once again in her
cheeks, acknowledging the truth of his words. She continued, “I
would assume they could not see me, either, or else they would
never have said anything in such a location. I am undecided if I am
glad they did or not. I feel duty and honor bound to tell you, but
I dearly wish I was never involved and that they had never hatched
such a scheme in the first place.”

****

Alex was now over his initial reaction to her
words and was again enjoying her company. He had missed his
friendship with Rose quite keenly. Hearing her now trying to dither
about in order to avoid getting to the truly bad part of her story
reminded him of just how deeply he had enjoyed their friendship and
what its loss had meant to him. He realized he would happily spend
the day listening to her put it off but clearly it was a serious
matter and he needed to get to the bottom of it. He decided to pry
it out of her.

“So, who were the gentlemen?” He thought this
would be a straightforward question, easy to answer.

“You have to remember that despite my
advanced years I am a debutante and have been out of the country
for a couple of years. Unless someone was involved in the Congress,
I really am unacquainted with most people. I had to get Elizabeth
to identify one of the men for me. He was wearing the most dreadful
puce waistcoat. I did not wish her to know about the matter so I
told her that is why I wanted to know.”

“And did that help her to identify the
gentleman in question?” he prodded gently.

“Yes, she explained to me that the poor man
was in mourning for his wife and had lost all his funds and so had
no one to tell him that he should never wear that particular shade.
It was actually a nice color, come to think of it. I think you
would have been able to pull it off.”

Alex could barely contain his grin at her
words but he would not allow her to become sidetracked. “And so
this impoverished gentleman with the not-so-terrible puce waistcoat
was who?”

“It was Lord Austen, Your Grace,” she blurted
finally. “I am so sorry if he was a friend of yours. And if you are
actually seriously interested in his daughter, Lady Anne, I am even
more sorry. But I must tell you, I would really advise against any
involvement with them. The other man, I will not say gentleman
because he is an affront to the title, was Sir Jason Broderick. I
cannot like that man, he reminds me of a snake. Any man who is in
cahoots with him cannot be a suitable candidate for an alliance
with you.”

Alex was taken aback by her words. “Are you
absolutely certain of this?”

“I am, Your Grace,” Rose insisted with simple
sincerity. “Is there a particular part you are questioning?”

“Are you absolutely certain of what you
overheard? And are you completely sure of the identities of the
people in question?”

“I am absolutely certain of what I overheard,
your grace. Sir Broderick was asking Lord Austen if he had managed
to sew you up yet. Lord Austen said it takes time to catch a duke,
but that his daughter was a good girl and knew what was expected of
her. To be completely honest with you, it was your name being
uttered in hushed tones that drew my attention to their
conversation. I cannot tell you what led up to that part of it
because I was caught up in looking about the room at the milling
people. But when I heard Sir Broderick whispering your name, it
caused ugly shivers to run up my spine and caught my attention.”
Rose shivered again in recollection. “As to their identities, like
I told you, I am new to Town so I had to ask Elizabeth about Lord
Austen. But this is not her first Season and she seems to know
everybody. Besides, she said she is friendly with Lady Anne, so I
am quite certain she would know who her father is.”

“How did you know who Sir Broderick was? You
have not said that you had to ask about his identity. And it seems
to me that you recognized his voice from behind you.” He searched
her face waiting for her answer. Seeing a multitude of emotions
warring across her features, the duke held his breath. He found
himself wishing she would drop the formalities and return to the
comfort of their shared childhoods and call him Alex. So few people
did these days.

****

Rose felt like squirming away upon this
question. He was getting rather close to all the particulars that
she did not wish to discuss. She made every effort to steer clear
of them.

“He was in Vienna at the same time as us. We
have been introduced before. I have never liked the man.”

Much to her relief Alex took her words at
face value as he was clearly distracted by other thoughts. “But I
still do not understand why you felt so strongly about it that you
felt the need to break a three-year silence in order to tell me
about it. Unfortunately it is not all that rare a thing for me to
encounter schemes such as this. Ever since I became my father's
heir it has become a fact of my life. Did you not think I could
handle it?”

Rose gave a helpless shrug as she
contemplated her answer. She was discomfited by his reference to
becoming the heir, as it struck so close to her own loss. And she
really had not given thought to the fact that he might be
accustomed to plots such as this.

“It truly was not that I did not think you
could handle it, Your Grace,” she began before pausing. “I am sure
you could handle any situation you might face, Your Grace,” Rose
continued, seemingly thinking aloud. “I just remembered how you
hated artifice and subterfuge so I thought you might not even
realize such plots might be afoot. I will admit to you that I had
not realized that they could be commonplace. Once again, I must
apologize if I have inconvenienced you by arranging to tell you
about it. I thought it was a terribly important thing. You are a
duke now. Someone plotting against you is bigger than just you, if
you don't mind my saying so. You are not just another rich
nobleman; being a duke brings this into a matter involving the
government, would you not agree?”

Now his gaze sharpened as he searched her
eyes. “Are there details you are leaving out about this, Rosie? Did
they say anything about the government?”

“No, no,” she protested, “I have told you
everything I heard. I truly thought you would want to know, Your
Grace.”

“Would you stop calling me Your Grace?” he
blurted out.

“But you are a duke now.” She was aghast.

“But you have known me all your life.”

Rose shrugged again. “It is not as though we
are going to be having many conversations after this anyway. It
would never do for me to become overly familiar with you.”

“Are you trying to tell me that you are just
going to throw this problem into my lap and leave it there?”

“Whatever do you mean?” Rose eyed him,
confused.

“You arranged to meet me to tell me about
this urgent problem. Surely you must have some ideas about how to
solve it.”

“Not particularly, Your Grace. We do not
associate together, how could I possibly help you to solve this
problem? I arranged this meeting to give you the necessary
information. What you do with it is up to you.”

“Even if it is for the good of your
country?”

Now Rose was truly divided. Inadvertently the
duke had touched on the one thing that was sure to gain her
cooperation. Her desperate wish to do something more with her life,
something meaningful, in a grander way than just giving birth to
the next heir to someone's estate. She was sorely tempted to take
the duke up on his offer. Not that she could trust him, of
course.

She still had no idea what to do about Sir
Broderick's schemes in the grander scale. She had no idea who she
could confide in. Never would she tell Alex about it, but if she
remained involved in it with him to a certain extent perhaps she
could gain more information that she would then be able to share
with her father. Still on the fence, she asked some questions of
her own.

“Did you have anything in particular in mind?
I really did not apply myself to coming up with a plan. It was hard
enough trying to figure out how I could meet you in order to tell
you about it.”

“And I assure you I do appreciate your
efforts. I understand you were motivated by loyalty to your country
as well as to our old friendship. But do you think that loyalty
could help you see your way clear to helping me?”

“Perhaps,” was all that she would allow until
she got more information.

The two studied each other for a moment, both
deep in thought. It was as though they both came up with the idea
at the same time.

“Lady Anne,” they both blurted out before
bursting into laughter.

“Exactly,” Alex approved as he got his mirth
under control. “Have you met her?”

“Not yet. What can you tell me about
her?”

“Not much I'm afraid. That was why I was
rather surprised by your words. I had no idea she had it in her to
try to entrap me, nor did I think she had the inclination. We have
exchanged a few words here and there last Season. I partnered her
in a couple dances. That is about it.”

“I wonder how she thought she was going to be
able to entrap you,” Rose mused. “I did hear that you danced with
her a few nights ago.”

“I danced with a number of girls a few nights
ago” was all the duke would say.

“The
on-dit
is that you are hanging
about for a duchess this Season,” Rose made the statement in as
neutral a tone as she could manage, ignoring the flutter in her
stomach at the thought, hoping he would divulge some
information.

“Is it really?” the Duke of Wrentham met her
question with one of his own, not revealing anything. But then the
oafish man turned a grin upon Rose and teased, “I never would have
considered you to be the type who listens to idle gossip.”

Much to her chagrin, Rose could feel heat
creeping back into her cheeks. “It is difficult to avoid, Your
Grace. It seems that is all anyone amongst the
ton
does with
their time.” She continued a touch defensively, “And really, it
would not be so strange for you to be looking about for a wife. No
doubt it is about time for you to be thinking about producing an
heir. How old are you now? You must be six and twenty, surely, Your
Grace.”

Now it was Alex's turn to be defensive. “That
is certainly not terribly old. I am nowhere near my dotage, I will
assure you."

“Of course not,” Rose soothed. “But mayhap
you do not wish to have Lady Anne's plot to be interfered with, as
it would no doubt make matters much easier for you.” Despite her
words, Rose felt sick in the pit of her stomach at the thought of
her Alex being leg shackled to someone who would conspire with the
likes of Sir Jason Broderick, and she had every intention of
interfering, no matter what the duke thought on the subject. Not
that she had any idea how to go about it, but she was quite certain
it would be that much easier if she had his cooperation.

Alex was looking at her as though she had
quite lost her mind. Rose had to struggle to contain her grin. She
had always enjoyed discomfiting him. “Have you been drinking too
much ratafia, Miss Smythe? That is the only possible explanation I
can arrive at to justify how you could possibly think I would
consider it an acceptable solution to be entrapped into marriage.
Not only do I wish to pick my future bride on my own terms, I would
also like to actually look forward to spending the rest of my days
with her. So in answer to your question, no, I do not wish you to
leave her plans undisturbed. Just because I find it hard to believe
she is plotting against me does not mean I do not believe you. No
matter what our differences might be now, I know you would never
lie to me.”

Rose's mouth went dry at these words and she
felt another wave of nausea strike her. While she had not told him
any blatant lies, she was keeping things from him, and knowing him
as well as she did, she knew he would consider that to be the same
as a lie. But she was almost certain he would despise her if she
revealed those details, so she was absolutely stuck between a rock
and a hard place. Refusing to think about those difficulties at the
moment, Rose pasted a smile onto her face and brazened it out.

“So, aside from being surprised to hear that
Lady Anne is plotting your demise, is there nothing you can tell me
about her? She is our best option to try to get more information
and I will be in a better position to pry it out of her if I know
what I am working with.”

Alex looked at her appraisingly. “Do you
really think you could pry information out of someone?”

Rose smiled mischievously but did not bother
replying. She was quite certain the duke would not want to hear
about her experience with just such activities. She had been rather
good at it, if thinking so was not too terribly immodest of her,
she thought with another private grin.

“Never mind about that, we need to make a
plan. We also need to determine our objectives. Do we merely want
to know what the lady and her father have planned for you in order
to mitigate the disaster, or do we want to find out what the
greater scheme is and how it involves Sir Broderick? I know you
hate anything underhanded, so I will fully understand if all you
want to do is ensure you are safe from the parson's mousetrap.”

****

Alex was silent a moment as he regarded Rose
steadily. He almost grinned as he saw her fidget with her
frustration. He revealed nothing of his thoughts on his face as he
considered her words.

She was absolutely right when she said that
he hated all forms of untruth, but he was no longer a green youth.
The lies and deceptions perpetrated by his parents had given him a
deep aversion to falsehood. But in the past three years, since his
brother died and he became the heir to his father's title, he had
learned more than he had ever wished about how the world around him
worked. Unfortunately, at times, duplicity was necessary.