A Duke's Keeper (The Dark Dukes Book 2) by J.M. Diedrich

Author:J.M. Diedrich [Diedrich, J.M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dragonblade Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2024-04-16T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty

Camille looked down at the note the servant had handed her a moment ago, the words so mangled and such an eyesore, the sender had to be Renard. She glanced at the partygoers around her in their ridiculous, cheery patterns and top hats and searched for one particular man with fair hair and desert eyes.

Syd’s scrunched face appeared over her shoulder, telling Camille her friend had had no luck reading Renard’s message, either.

“Did a child write that? Is it code?” she asked.

“Code for what, exactly?”

“Another lawn game, or a clue to a scavenger hunt . . . or perhaps directions to a secret rendezvous from a handsome duke? No use feigning shock.” Syd put a hand on her hip. “You should realize by now I know everything that goes on with you. I knew Mr. Lover was here the minute you returned last night and didn’t balk when I ate the rest of the food on your plate. Did he follow you here?”

“It is a coincidence.” Though it felt anything but.

“It’s fate!” Syd’s younger age made an annoying appearance as she clutched her chest in a dramatic gesture of adolescence. “It’s a love letter? What does it say?”

Camille bit her lip and shook her head. “I have no idea.” Really, this message was more illegible than the last he’d written for her to read.

“Never mind.” Syd nodded towards the treeline. “I caught a glimpse of fair hair heading in the direction of the lake a minute ago. Go. I’ll cover for you.”

Camille glanced around at the dozens of elegantly dressed ladies in their wide-brimmed hats, and then at herself and Syd, hatless and in simple day dresses.

“You sure you’ll be all right ‘rubbing elbows with the elite’?”

“No need to worry, friend.” Syd’s grin was not comforting. “I’ve always wanted to shoot a bow and arrow at a crowd of peacocks.”

Camille groaned. “Be civil, please.”

“I’m always civil when threatening fowl.”

Camille headed off in the direction of the lake, fearing a very real conversation with Pops on why his daughter had been detained by the local magistrate for misuse of sports equipment.

Following a well-trekked path in the lawn, Camille came to the lake in no time and used the shade of a large willow to survey the lakeside for Renard. Short cattails framed the lake’s edge, and she leaned against the tree’s trunk and breathed in the country air. He must have taken a less direct route.

The breeze was slight, leaving the lake’s surface glassy as it reflected a sky of cloudless blue. A pair of iridescent green-and-blue-headed mallards splashed in the shallows, ducking their heads under the water and sticking white feathered rear ends in the air.

Camille watched in wonder, the brilliance of color like nothing she’d seen in the city—aside from some rather ostentatious gowns and vests worn in the newest fashions.

“Enjoying the view?”

Camille pushed off the tree, expecting to find Renard. But when she turned, it was to find a different gentleman, the golden curls on his head wild when he tipped his hat.

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