Chapter 2
Two
Chloe slipped out through the back of the store, entering High Street from a narrow side alley.
She had barely extracted herself from Maddie’s last-minute attack of qualms, and she couldn’t afford to be late.
Her initial meeting with the Duke of Everard was the most important, so she had put a great deal of thought into it.
But for her plan to succeed, it needed to be timed perfectly.
She couldn’t help a swell of amused affection for Maddie, though.
Only someone as painfully shy as the seamstress could possibly find the Duke so terrifyingly intimidating.
Chloe herself was far more worried about successfully appearing awed and impressed by him.
She was going to have to use every ounce of acting skills she possessed.
She hurried through the streets in the direction of the sprawling manor that sat atop a hill to the north overlooking the town.
It had vast grounds that housed not only various outbuildings for the human staff, including a barracks for the members of the griffin squad, but also stables, kennels, and mews for the griffins themselves.
The manicured gardens and walking trails near the buildings extended gradually into more natural grounds which formed an extensive buffer between Everard and the surrounding farmland.
It was in these stretches that the nobles walked and rode and the griffin squad trained.
Even the townsfolk were welcome to make use of the walking and riding trails, as long as they didn’t hunt within the duke’s lands.
Any game on his lands was reserved for the griffins, who preferred to hunt their own prey.
Chloe skirted around the buildings, lingering within view just long enough to see a group of nobles gathering in the gardens of the manor. When the group set off toward a walking trail that led through the soft rolling hills to the east, she nodded in satisfaction. Her information had been correct.
Hurrying on a shortcut across open ground, she bundled her skirt almost to her knees, not wanting to risk it becoming muddied. When she fell into the duke’s arms, she needed to present the perfect picture.
And her plan was, quite literally, to fall into his arms.
She had walked the duke’s preferred route in advance and found the ideal spot for her plan.
Partway along, the path skirted a small hill, and at the path’s narrowest point, a rocky outcropping loomed over it.
The outcropping stood above head height, but it could easily be reached on the other side from the grassy hill, and Chloe would have no problem positioning herself on top of the rocks.
She carried a small book clutched in her hand—the supposed reason for her presence on the outcropping—and she had even had the forethought to locate a compact edition of the title, Griffin Nesting Habits.
When the Duke retrieved her dropped book for her, they would have an extra topic of conversation to keep them talking.
Obviously she would feign both interest in and ignorance of griffins so she could ask him a great many questions.
Everyone knew the Duke was greatly interested in the topic—although his physique and garments indicated that his interest was more academic than practical.
Unless the griffin affectation was entirely about image and prestige.
Not that it mattered either way. He had the look of someone who would enjoy lecturing her on the subject.
Finding a comfortable position to sit while perched on the edge of the rocky outcropping proved harder than Chloe had anticipated.
Eventually she gave up. She only needed to look comfortable, not actually be comfortable.
She had heard more than one exasperated mama in their shop tell her daughter that beauty is pain.
It wasn’t a philosophy that Chloe generally subscribed to, but there was another well-known saying about desperate times, and this was certainly that.
Once perched in position, she opened the book, her eyes sliding sideways to check the path, and her ears straining for the sound of voices.
Once the walking party followed the path around the curve of the hill, arriving unexpectedly upon her, they would be sure to notice her and exclaim.
That would be the moment when she feigned surprise and executed a perfectly timed tumble directly into the Duke’s rescuing arms.
But the Duke and his entourage of local nobles must have been moving at an extremely leisurely pace because the minutes ticked by with no sign of them.
Bored, Chloe couldn’t help actually reading the words in front of her, and she was soon absorbed in the pages.
She had never had the time or interest to study griffins—never having encountered one in her remote home—and the book proved more fascinating than expected.
And while she was absorbed in the words, she managed to temporarily forget about the discomfort of the hard stone beneath her rear end.
Unfortunately, she also forgot about listening for approaching walkers, and when she heard a cry of “I say! A young lady!” she was totally unprepared.
Startled for real, she whipped her head up and immediately lost her balance.
She had purposefully positioned herself precariously, but that forethought now worked against her.
She had only the briefest second to take in the group beneath her, the nobles all staring up at her in surprise as she sought desperately for something to grasp hold of.
Her efforts were in vain, however, and she tipped off the rock, plummeting toward the ground below. Despair flashed through her brain.
It didn’t matter how pretty a picture she had worked to create, the Duke wasn’t going to be charmed by her landing on top of his head—or injuring herself for real by colliding with the ground at his feet.
But just as she was bracing herself for impact, a dark figure lunged forward. She landed securely in a pair of strong arms that absorbed the shock of her fall, pulling her firmly against a hard chest. She gaped upward, a momentary surge of hope extinguished.
The face that looked down at her with an impassive expression was the most handsome she had ever seen. Deep brown eyes met hers, complemented by a stern, straight nose, sharp cheekbones, and carefully ordered brown hair. But it was not the face of the Duke.
“Th…Thank you,” she managed to gasp out. He had saved her after all.
He didn’t move to put her down, however, and her expression turned into a frown.
With every second that passed, she was more and more aware of the strength and firmness in his chest, the breadth of his shoulders, and the ease with which he held her weight.
His handsome face was far too close to hers, and she couldn’t afford the distraction of this man.
The thought that he must be crumpling her dress terribly made her start as she finally struggled against his hold.
“Put me down, sir!” she exclaimed when his strong arms still didn’t move, holding her firmly in place despite her attempted thrashing.
With a slight smile, he lowered her legs to the ground, continuing to support her back until she took a decided step away from him, glaring at him as she went.
“I was merely making sure you weren’t feeling faint after your fright,” he said with perfect civility.
Her eyes narrowed. Was that a gleam of amusement in his eyes? Was he toying with her?
She straightened and shook out her skirts, assuming as formal and frosty a manner as she could manage.
“I am quite unharmed, sir, thanks to your intervention. I assure you I am not so weak as to faint merely because of a small fall such as that.”
His brows rose slightly, but he merely gave a shallow bow of acknowledgment, the corners of his mouth still giving that disturbing twitch.
Chloe opened her mouth to deliver a sharp retort only to be overtaken by dismay. She was supposed to be appearing confused and delicate so as to arouse the Duke’s protective instinct! This man was already proving a most burdensome distraction, just as she had feared.
She spun to look at the rest of the group, only to find they had continued walking, not even stopping to check on her well-being. The man who had caught her had held her for so long that she had missed the group entirely.
She gaped after the retreating Duke. Clearly she had been using the wrong approach when she tried to arouse his chivalry since he didn’t appear to have any at all!
When she looked back toward her rescuer, her eyes flashing with suppressed wrath at the ruin of her careful plans, he was watching her with a gaze that had turned cool and assessing. For the first time she was able to take in the full effect of his appearance.
He looked nothing like the Duke or even the other nobles. Whereas the Duke wore colorful, ostentatious outfits, designed to seize and keep the gaze of others, this man wore almost entirely black, the lines of his clothing simple and clean.
But while the Duke’s elaborate clothing was designed to hide a figure that clearly enjoyed no greater exercise than gentle walking, the well-cut clothing in front of her highlighted a tall, strongly muscled form. For all his simplicity of garb, her rescuer was the more striking man.
Chloe ground her teeth together. Everything had gone horribly wrong, and however unfair it might be, she couldn’t help directing her irritation toward the man in front of her.
It hadn’t been his fault she had gotten distracted and fallen for real, but he could have put her down immediately!
If he had, she might still have salvaged the situation.
She looked away from him, finally noticing the two men who lingered at his back.
Her heart sank as she took in the similarities in their appearance.
With the leather bracers all three wore around their forearms, they looked like a strange cross between gentlemen and guards, and Chloe immediately realized their identity.