Secrets of a Duke's Daughter (The Duchess's Investigative Society Book 1) by Samantha Holt

Author:Samantha Holt [Holt, Samantha]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Helstone Press
Published: 2021-03-08T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Cogs and little pieces of metal were spread out on the table. Cassie had little idea what any of them were or where they belonged, but Eleanor had them laid out in an extremely specific way. Cassie knew that because she made the mistake of moving one when she sat next to her sister in a bid to aid her with putting back together the mechanical calculator her sister had deconstructed at some point. She hoped accepting Eleanor’s request to aid her would give her a little time to think on Theodore’s disappearance.

And Luke too, she supposed.

Eleanor paused and sighed. Cassie, brow furrowed, ignored her, allowing herself a slight smile. Her sister was never one for subtlety. She sighed once more—so loud that Cassie suspected half the household heard it.

She twisted on her chair to eye Eleanor. “Is something the matter?”

Eleanor set the mechanical calculator on the table, bit briefly down on her bottom lip and fixed her with a potentially sympathetic look.

Why Cassie could not claim it was most certainly sympathetic was because Eleanor was far more likely to offer her some no-nonsense advice or do something practical for her rather than offer her a shoulder to cry on. How they had always been so close, she did not know, but there was something about their vastly different personalities that worked.

Not that Cassie had any intention of crying on shoulders. She’d shed her tears for the future Anton wanted for her and the lack of progress in finding out what happened to Jane’s brother.

Oh yes, she’d shed her tears and then propositioned Luke.

And he’d said, well, nothing.

What she should do next, she was not certain, but she did not regret her request. Kissing Luke made her feel like never before, and whatever the future held for her—whether she persuaded Anton out of this fool notion should he arrange a marriage for her or not—she wanted to explore this more.

She wished to truly understand what it was to be a woman.

Cassie glanced at Eleanor to find her gaze still upon her. It was unfortunate she could not ask Eleanor for advice on the matter but with their mothers long dead, neither of them could claim much knowledge of womanhood and all it entailed.

Demeter would be in ignorance too and the thought of asking Chastity about such delicious sensations made her shudder. Their oldest sister would likely hang Luke up by his entrails if she found out he had kissed her. As much as she appreciated her sister’s care of her, she scarcely wanted one protective sibling let alone two plus Luke imagining he knew what was best for her.

“What is it?” she finally asked.

Eleanor opened her mouth then shut it again. She lifted a finger, frowned, then lowered her hand. “I heard...that is...you know you may confide in me, do you not?”

“Of course!”

“It is just this whole engagement business. Since we found out about it, you have not mentioned it once.”

“Because it will not happen, Eleanor,” she said with more confidence than she felt.

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