Page 90 of The Dueling Duchess

The baron did not look pleased at such a dismissal, but, thankfully, neither did he seem inclined to make an unpleasant scene.

Cecile turned away from the younger man and glared up at Guy, who was glaring at the baron.

“Why are you still here?” she demanded. “You’ve delivered your message—now go!”

Petty enjoyment and shame swirled in her at the brick-red flush that spread up his neck. He was a proud man and his pride had taken one blow after another over the past weeks. It was cruel to pile more humiliation on him by treating him like a dog in front of a man he knew was her lover.

And yet she could not seem to stop herself.

After holding her gaze a moment longer than any other employee would dare to do and grinding his teeth almost audibly, Guy turned on his heel and strode from the room.

Nathan chuckled. “Really, Cecile. You are taunting a tiger on a leash, aren’t you?” His fingers slid beneath her chin, and he tilted her face until she was forced to meet his bold blue gaze. His lips pulled into a mocking smile. “Just don’t try to keep two tigers leashed, my dear. You might very well find yourself in the middle.”

As threats went, it was far from subtle. If she wasn’t careful, it would be inevitable that two masculine, possessive males would give in to their baser passions and fight. One of them might end up badly injured or worse.

Rather than answer, she merely smiled at her soon-to-be-former lover, easily reading his thoughts on his handsome, arrogant face.

He was young, rich, and women beyond counting had set their caps at him.

Guy was poor, disgraced, and without financial prospects.

No doubt Nathan was confident of her choice.

Cecile doubted that he’d believe just how easy it was for her to decide which tiger to keep, and which to turn loose.

Chapter 16

Guy wanted to smash something—someone—as he strode out of Cecile’s private rooms.

It had taken every ounce of self-control he possessed to leave her in the same room with Whitfield. Everything.

He could not go back to the Fayre without becoming violent.

So, instead of heading back through the corridor that connected the house to the theater, he thundered down the main staircase and snatched his work hat and overcoat off the wooden coat-tree that groaned beneath the weight of untold garments.

He rammed his fists into the armholes as he strode out into the night, only pausing to lock the door behind him.

It was bloody cold and there was enough humidity in the air to suggest there would be rain or sleet later tonight. Well, it was the tail end of winter, after all. He would take his chances with the weather; right now, what he needed was to burn away the anger inside him.

Guy had only gone a few steps down the street when he encountered Cordelia Black and two of her employees. Cordelia operated the Fayre’s harlequinade and shared a large house close by with all eight of her employees.

Her smile faltered when she got a closer look at his face. “Trouble? Should we turn around and go back home?”

He knew she was only half jesting; all the Fayre employees knew to make themselves scarce if Cecile was displeased.

The last thing Guy wanted to do was talk, but he could hardly ignore her. “Francine and Angus.”

It only took those three words to describe the situation.

Cordelia pulled a face, but her shoulders lost some of their tension. “Oh no. Not again?” She laughed. “Angus seems to enjoy bedeviling her more than any of us.”

That was unfortunately true. Angus was smart—Guy suspected he was more clever than Francine Gordon, the Fayre magician—and the raven also had light fingers, or claws and beak, rather. Things disappeared all the time and most of the employees just accepted it and stopped leaving their possessions lying about. But Francine was something of a scatterbrain and couldn’t seem to keep track of her valuables. Not that the thing Angus was accused of stealing—a carved wooden carrot belonging to her rabbit, Henry—was valuable.

“Well, I can’t blame you for running away,” Cordelia teased. “I won’t keep you.” The other two nodded their goodbyes and all three went past.

As Guy strode away it struck him how quickly he’d fallen into his brand-new life. He worked at the Fayre, socialized with Fayre employees, and even lived with several.

In addition to the two housemaids and Cook and her young daughter, there were five Fayre employees living at Cecile’s—six, including Guy.