She blinked at Tony’s clear dismissal of the duke. “Uh…yes. I found it. I found a lot of them,” she finished lamely.
Tony bent down and filled his arms with the assorted array of art books. “Very well, then we should be on our way.”
The Duke of Aubrey claimed her hand in his.
She gasped at the unexpectedness of his touch, shriveling against Tony’s side. Logic told her the Duke of Aubrey wouldn’t harm her; at least not in a public bookshop. Yet twenty years of living with her father had ingrained certain truths into her—one of them being, men had the ability to inflict pain. Something told her this man was not to be trusted.
At her silent reaction, Tony’s body seemed to turn to granite. Even the usually smiling lines at the corner of his eyes had gone hard.
The duke continued to hold Georgina’s hand far longer than was appropriate. He raised it to his lips, seemingly unaware of the internal battle she waged to stay calm in his presence.
“Again, Mrs. Markham, I must insist you read my selection.”
Georgina allowed Tony to lead her to the counter and make her purchases. “What was that about?” he whispered in her ear.
She shook her head. She could feel the duke’s intense sapphire-black eyes boring a hole into her back. This wasn’t the place.
With the exception of a single leather volume that she insisted on holding onto, she allowed the shopkeeper to bundle her large purchase. Tony steered her from the shop and into their waiting carriage.
“Now, tell me, what was that about?” The carriage lurched forward.
Georgina played with the fabric of the curtain covering the window, clenching and unclenching her hands. She lifted a single shoulder. “I don’t know.” And she didn’t. The Duke of Aubrey was a perfectly lofty stranger who’d seemed in possession of many details about her marriage along with suspicious statements and questions. “I dropped my books and he happened to be present to help me.”
Tony snorted. “The Duke of Aubrey doesn’t help anyone.”
Another frisson of unease raked her spine. A silent voice whispered that maybe Tony was right and there was more to the duke’s interest. Her exchange with Jamie flitted through her mind and she tried to determine how much the powerful nobleman had overheard.
She took the curl Jamie had ripped at only a short while ago, rubbing it between her fingers. “I don’t know, Tony. He was there. My books fell and he helped. That’s all there is to it.” She desperately hoped that was the case anyway.
“Adam won’t be pleased when he finds out,” Tony murmured.
She dropped the strand of hair and whipped her head around to look at him, letting the red velvet curtain flutter back into place. “Who is he?”
Tony’s brow furrowed. “Who is…oh, you mean the Duke of Aubrey.” It was his turn to shrug. “Most eligible bachelor in London. Quite the rogue. The ladies adore him. Not that I can understand what they find so appealing,” he said sullenly.
Georgina managed a weak smile. “Do he and Adam not get along?”
He scratched the top of his head. “Why would you think that?”
She pointed her eyes to the top of the carriage ceiling. “You said that Adam wouldn’t be pleased…”
“Because he’d be jealous.”
Georgina felt like she was being twirled in dizzying circles. “Why is he jealous of the Duke of Aubrey?” The carriage lurched to a halt, nearly sending the forgotten book on her lap tumbling to the floor. She caught it before it fell.
Tony leaned over and gave her errant curl a tug. “He’ll be jealous that Aubrey was flirting with you.”
A warm flutter fanned out in her belly but logic quickly doused the embers of happiness his words elicited. In order to be jealous, Adam would have to feel something more than casual regard for her.
The groom opened the door to hand her down. Holding on to her leather treasure, she took Tony’s arm with her free one and climbed the stairs just as the butler threw the door wide.
“You’re wrong, you know,” she said. “Adam wouldn’t mind.”
“I won’t mind what?”
She gasped and tripped to an awkward stop. Tony righted her and nodded at his brother.
Adam ignored him. He stood silent, at the bottom of the winding staircase, arms folded across his chest. Georgina’s heart sped up at the sight of him, all tall, lean, muscular elegance.
Then his question registered.
Tony responded. “The Duke of Aubrey’s interest in your wife.” A sparkle glittered in his teasing eyes.
Adam’s body stiffened and he looked at her through hooded lashes.
Georgina pointed her eyes to the ceiling. “There is no interest.”
Tension dripped off her husband’s frame; his palpable jealousy, a life force that breathed hope into her that Adam did in fact care for her—even if just a little.
Tony laughed, saying something to Adam, then bent low over her hand. He made his farewell to Georgina and was gone, leaving her alone with Adam.
The six feet between them seemed a chasm as great as the English Channel. It represented an impenetrable breach their marriage could never close. She shifted back and forth on her feet.
“What did Aubrey say to you?” he asked, a ferocious gleam in his eye.
“No.” She gave a brusque shake of her head, dislodging a curl. Georgina brushed it back. “Tony has been perfectly gentleman—”
“I referred to the duke.”
Oh. Yes. Well that made far more sense. She clamped her lips closed. The duke had said a great deal and, at the same time, nothing at all.
“Georgina?”
“No. He didn’t say anything.” Which was not an untruth. “Do you know him well?”
Adam looked over her shoulder. “No.” He tightened his jaw.
Something about that “no”; the slightest hesitancy in the one word utterance, gave her pause.
Then before she could ask questions on it, her husband turned the conversation. “Are you prepared for your introduction to Society tomorrow evening?”
She recalled her dismal failure amidst the merchants in Bristol. Confronting a room of nobles would be the equivalent of facing a pit of poisonous snakes. “Uh…yes.” Though in truth, she’d rather confront a sea of those slithering serpents than the two-legged sort.
Adam’s lips turned down at the corners. “You needn’t be fearful. You’ll—”
Uncomfortable with his confidence in her efforts amidst his world, she thrust her recent purchase into his hands. “I got this for you,” she blurted.
Adam studied the title and then met her gaze. “What is…?” He fell silent.
Georgina shifted awkwardly on her feet. His inscrutable expression gave little indication as to his thoughts. She’d expected he would be pleased with her gift. “Did I have the wrong title?” She bit her lower lip. “Do you not like it? I thought it was this one but—What…?” A little squeak escaped her when he swept her into his arms and proceeded to carry her up the stairs. “Adam,” she protested. Her gaze darted around for nosy servants.