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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