Read Online Malia Martin by The Duke's Return - Free Book Online

was stuck. Stopping, hediscreetly lifted the man’s arm, helping him back to an upright position.
    “Much obliged,” Filbert said curtly, and hobbled off.
    Trevor watched the man for a moment, then turned back to the drawing room door. Sara stood staring at him, her plump bottom lip caught between her teeth, and her brows drawn together. “Filbert is rather deaf,” she said.
    Trevor huffed, then chuckled, then buckled over, his hands across his stomach, and laughed so hard his cheeks started to hurt. When he finally began to calm, he straightened and realized that Sara had laughed with him. The woman sat on a chair, her head thrown back, a hand against her chest as she giggled.
    “I like Filbert,” Trevor said, when he had re-covered sufficiently.
    Sara smiled, her full lips lifting so that he could see her small white teeth, and Trevor found himself remembering their kiss.
    “I love Filbert,” she said. “He is quite a character. I will have to introduce you correctly later. He probably will not even recognize you.”
    “I am that forgettable?” Trevor asked, going to stand near Sara.
    “Filbert is that blind.”
    Trevor laughed again.
    Sara pushed up from her chair obviously tin-aware of how close he stood, for her shoulder grazed his chest with her movement. He heardthe quick intake of her breath and felt what she must have, the tingle of awareness that went straight to his loins. Would it be so terrible to take the woman in his arms and finish the kiss they had started in his kitchen?
    Sara moved backward quickly, her hand nervously touching her hair, then going to press against her stomach. Yes, it would be ill advised, Trevor concluded. He still was very unsure of the woman’s stability of mind—although he now realized that the Duchess’s insanity had probably been a story made up by Stu to keep Trevor from taking Sara seriously. He would have to see exactly what state the finances of Rawlston were in, then make his conclusion. And that would not be easy.
    Sara had begun fishing among her skirts for something. Trevor watched as her hand came up holding his watch. She held the timepiece out to him.
    “Here is your watch, your grace, as I promised. I am glad you have come.”
    “You play a dangerous game, madame.” Trevor took the watch from her, their fingers brushing and causing Sara’s chest to rise with quickened breath. “Stuart wanted to have you committed, with that letter as evidence of your instability.”
    “And you?” she asked.
    Trevor ran a thumb over the smooth front of his watch, then clicked the latch and stared at its face. “I want to see what you are so desperate to show me.” He snapped the watch closed and shoved it into his pocket. “Is there something truly wrong here?” he asked looking into Sara’s wide brown eyes.
    She stared at him for a moment, then nodded. “Come with me, please,” she said, leaving the room. Trevor followed her across the hall, through large double doors and into another smaller room. He looked about at the towering bookshelves, dark furnishings, and huge desk piled high with papers.
    A cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
    Sara gestured toward the desk. “I have been taking care of this since John died . . .”
    “Why didn’t you send it to my lawyer?” Trevor asked, as he crept toward the desk.
    “I did, actually, in the beginning.” Sara scowled. “But he never paid any of the bills, and he certainly never dealt with the correspondence. It was horrible.”
    “And what of your steward?” Trevor finally stood abreast of the desk, but he only glanced at the intimidating work piled there. His palms started to sweat, and he flattened them against his thighs. Bloody hell, it was like being back in school. He had spent his entire school career wiping his hands against his pants.
    “My husband’s steward left even before John’s death,” Sara shrugged. “Truthfully, we could not pay him, and I was not going to get rid of any of the