Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Three days had passed since May’s foray into the tunnels. Three days since she’d lost herself in Elias’s eyes.
Now, they avoided each other masterfully. May’s growing restlessness drove her to Lord Spencer’s side as she tried her best to draw him out, even as she knew the pointlessness of the task. This was what she had been hired for; this was what she had been meant to do.
That, and nothing more.
No matter how much she wanted to.
She exchanged no words with her employer, beyond their short greetings and goodbyes, but even those got under her skin. When he bid her a good day, his husky, commanding tone echoed in her mind, promising to bring her endless pleasure.
What would have happened if she hadn’t left?
Three weeks left until Lady Hannah’s nuptials.
Just get through it.
“There you are, Cousin!”
Lady Hannah found May wandering the hallways, and at once seized her arm with a warm squeeze. “I need your help. My brother’s surly nature has finally crossed all limits.”
“What do you mean?” May resisted in vain as Lady Hannah led her to the observatory. There was no ignoring the steely silence that filled the room they stepped into. Elias sat opposite Lord Spencer, their eyes locked, as if they were trapped in an invisible battle neither wished to lose.
“Help me,” whispered Lady Hannah.
As if she could help anyone. Elias didn’t notice her immediately, but when he did, her insides nearly turned to jelly. He blinked, surprised, and the air shifted to a different silence. It was no less charged.
“Good afternoon.” She would have continued to stand awkwardly, but Lady Hannah nearly thrust her into the seat next to the duke before taking a seat herself.
“Good afternoon, Lady May. Are you well?” Elias’s attention did not stray from her. May nibbled at her lower lip. He did not call her “Cousin” this time. What did that mean?
“I am very well, thank you. And you? Are you well?”
What an asinine response. But she waited hungrily for his answer, as if a couple of words could uncover his state of mind. He must have been vexed with her, and she could not blame him.
“I am perfectly well.”
The odd exchange earned them a mystified look from Lady Hannah. It would have gotten worse had she not rung for tea. It arrived most promptly, and once the cups were poured, May leaned in to take hers from the table. Before she could do so, the duke dropped two spoons of sugar in her cup.
Her stunned look caused him to pause.
“Is that not right?”
“It is, but—” She swallowed the remainder of the sentence. How did he know? And more importantly, did he really care enough to remember?
Lady Hannah was left to fill the silence on her own with some light news that entirely escaped May’s notice. She was working up the courage to say something coherent this time when the duke stood up. “I still have some business to attend to. Please excuse me.”
May watched him leave. When the door closed behind him, she dropped her gaze to her tightened hands, where half-moons reddened across her palms. She did not know what caused her to bid her own excuses and trail into the corridor after him.
Only that she couldn’t just let this awkward silence become their new normal. Surely, she could fix it, somehow.
She rushed to his study. Though he was mere moments ahead of her, he was already leaning over his desk, his cravat loosened slightly, a steely focus settled over his features.
“Might you have a moment?”
He frowned at her. “What is the matter?”
It felt wrong to stand before his desk like some awkward schoolgirl, so May drifted to his side, willing herself to be natural. “It is just that I wanted to apologize.”
“You have nothing to apologize for.”
That might have been true, but her regret demanded release. She waved her hand. “I didn’t—” She accidentally knocked the closest stack of papers onto the floor behind the desk. “No, I’ll do it.” She bent down to pick the papers up.
“Just leave it.” He was at her side, exasperated and so very close, when a servant knocked on the door.
“Milord, Lord Frenwick is here to see you. I do apologize, but he’s been most insistent…”
“Do not try to manage me, pup. Where is the duke?” Lord Frenwick’s voice boomed from the corridor.
Elias rose up at once. Mortified, May moved to stand after him, but Elias’s fingers found her shoulder and kept her down. She stilled, concealed behind his enormous oak desk as he walked away to his unexpected guest.
“I have been trying to secure a meeting with you for weeks now, Southam. You were not at the club, nor to be seen anywhere in society. What is going on?”
“I have been right here, Lord Frenwick. What is it that brings you here today?”
“Need you ask? The shareholders are most unhappy. You’ve made this decision all alone, without consulting us!”
The man’s booming voice made May flinch. She peered from under the table as the duke moved forward, posture relaxed yet firm.
“I have the majority control, My Lord. I do not owe you or anyone else an explanation.”
“Listen here, you milksop, this goes against everything your father stood for. You’ve retired his people—”
“My father is dead, Lord Frenwick,” Elias’s chilly voice cut him off, “if I could bring him back to handle you and your vultures’ shite, trust that I would.
Unfortunate as it is, you’ll just have me to deal with, like the rest of London.
If you do not wish to do so, I am more than willing to buy you out.
After all, we’ve seen the biggest return on investment since my father installed his overseers.
Perhaps that change is simply too much for you to stomach.
That is most understandable, since you seem more focused on keeping your family employed rather than people of actual enterprise. ”
“I will not stand here and watch the old duke’s legacy be squandered by a cork-brained cuck! If not for your father preventing your engagement, you would have lost the family fortune to that wily swindler of a wench!”
Wench…?
The duke got dangerously close to the spitting man.
“A very good point, My Lord. My amorous affairs have certainly been a learning experience. Perhaps you could share your advice on how to tell a swindler from a man of quality? Seeing as you seem quite approving of your daughter’s tryst with her footman? ”
“What?”
“I am certain he only has the best intentions. Tell you what. Were you to vouch for him, I could make an exception and offer him a post at the company? We have the positions to fill, after all.” Elias locked his hands behind his back.
Lord Frenwick stumbled away without a farewell, sputtering. The room sank into a silence that went unbroken for what felt like an age. Then Elias was at her side once more, offering his hand to help her up. She took it.
“Will you be all right?” She was not sure he could even hear her, but the purse of his lips told her he did.
“Perfectly so.”
That he stood there, unflinching, in the face of hurled insults too personal to withstand from a peer, was shocking.
But it was the way he handled it that reminded May of who she was dealing with.
The man before her wielded his power knowingly, thoughtfully.
He was the consummate duke, meticulous and calculating.
That thought alone should have sent her running for the hills.
Her body ached for his arms around her instead. Because he was so, so much more than that. Beneath the guarded exterior was a caring, protective man. A man she couldn’t get out of her mind.
“If there is anything I’ve learned, Lady May, it is that one should not trust in that which seems too good to be true.”
Do you include yourself in that list, Elias?
She reached her hand forward, not knowing anything beyond the desire to tell him she understood the pain hidden behind the persona.
She had seen the man he was when he knelt before her in the garden, when he stepped away and treated her like a shining gentleman in the darkest night. He was loving, honorable, and kind.
Elias caught her palm in his, and it was as if she had a direct line to his heart.
“I will not allow a liar to wreck my family again.” His words reverberated through her, an avalanche that chilled to the bone. He did not mean her—how could he?—and yet she felt raw and exposed before him. She was a liar, too.
This was a bad idea. May shouldn’t have been holding his hand. But she couldn’t seem to let go. The urge to explain herself threatened to override what little good sense remained. She could not leave his honesty unmatched. So, the truth that lay at her core slipped out.
“You have a home, and you cherish it. It is as it should be. I look at you, and I wish I had a family like yours. It is most precious; do not lose it out of fear. You must know that Lord Spencer’s affection toward your sister seems most sincere.”
A fleeting shadow passed over Elias’s face. Their hands separated, at last, the spark of emotion retreating behind a familiar mask.
“He might act quite well, but it will take more than that to convince me. Unfortunately, our time runs short. The dinner I am hosting for my sister tomorrow will give you an opportunity to secure proof.”
“As you wish, Your Grace.” May curtsied before heading out. If this was what they were to be now, she could manage it. She would have to. She made it to the door when his voice reached her once more, this time a soft whisper.
“Call me Elias.”
Just when she’d gotten the fire in her almost under control.
She did not reply, her feet hurrying to outpace her caged heart.