A Duchess a Day (Awakened by a Kiss #1) - Charis Michaels Page 0,51

wind through the center of it. They would actually have to chop every tree.”

Declan speculated, “If they must do it—”

“They must not do it,” she insisted.

“Yes, alright, but if they wish to do it, why hinge the thing on the marriage of two unwilling people? Why not simply draw up some agreement between the families?”

“My grandparents, the previous earl and countess, forbade the disruption of the forest, and my father promised not to make any changes when he became earl. After Grandfather died and my grandmother saw the type of earl her son would become, she installed a second fail-safe to protect the forest by willing it to me.

“The loophole Gran could not foresee is, if Lusk is my husband, then the land will be his purview. And he may do as he likes. Or as his uncle likes. My father feels he is getting the profits from the mining agreement without breaking the exact language of the promise to his mother. His conscience is clear. Such a coward.”

“But you are not,” Declan said. Her position was as unfair as the false accusations about Knightly Snow.

Helena’s jaw was set. “No. I am not.” She glanced at him. “Thank you, for siding with me. And telling me about Knightly Snow. I’m . . . I’m sorry I raised Camille’s fears about betraying me. You do not deserve to be doubted, least of all by me.”

“Well, betrayal is afoot. I betrayed the very letter of my employment within hours of being hired.”

“Why? I wonder.” She slid him a shy smile.

“Good question.”

“Because you were immediately persuaded by me?”

“Because . . . it’s a bollocks job. Because everyone has a price, but mine is higher than saddling you with Lusk.”

It was the truth, he thought. Why not admit it?

Helena considered this, and he added, “And yes. Because of you.”

She laughed. “Because I am relentless?”

Now it was his turn to consider. She was relentless and irresistible and, most of all, doing the right thing.

“Aye,” he finally consented. “Relentless. That’s why.”

Declan was still smiling when, scanning the crowd, he caught a glimpse of dirty-blonde hair and a dove-gray hat some five yards ahead. The smile froze on his lips. He pulled Helena to the side and looked again.

Damn! He’d not imagined it.

“Bloody, bleeding hell,” he gritted out, ducking down. He dropped her hand and grabbed her around the waist, dragging her inside a basket tent.

Helena yelped, scrambling to stay upright. “What are you d—”

“Lusk,” Declan whispered. “He’s here. Two stalls down. Quiet, quiet, quiet.” He held a finger to his lips, boring his eyes into hers. “We’ve got to move.”

Lusk is here? She mouthed the words.

He nodded. They were at the rear of the tent and he felt around for a gap in the cloth. When he found it, he ducked and stole the two of them through. The alley behind the stalls was webbed with stakes and rope. Declan picked his way to the end, pulling her by the hand.

He found an opening five yards down and checked the vendor within. A cheesemonger’s stall. He pulled her through and Declan wound them through wheels of cheese and a tethered cow.

At the entrance, he waited, watching the crowd. It was impossible to hop from tent to tent; the rows gave way to the open area of the bonfire. He waited for a boisterous group of musicians to stroll by and fell in with their group. Helena laughed, clapping a hand over her mouth, and hurried to keep up.

“Did the duke see you?” she whispered.

“No.”

“But what was his business here?”

“God only knows,” he said. “He had two girls with him.”

Helena thought about this. “Milkmaids?”

“Probably.”

“Did he look . . . happy?”

“He did not look unhappy.” In truth, he’d looked deliriously happy with two buxom village girls on either side.

“Perhaps I should be interviewing milkmaids,” Helena said. She shook her head. “I could never subject a milkmaid to Lusk.”

Now they’d reached the crackling bonfire. The glowing, hissing stack threw off heat from yards away, and sparks spiraled to the sky. Helena slowed, holding her hands to the warmth, but Declan pulled her along.

“Sorry, sweetheart.” He tugged her from one cluster of people to the next, his eyes always behind them.

When the outermost circle of booths came into view, he picked up the pace, turned left, then—

Lusk again.

He stopped dead and she collided with his back.

Heart thudding, Declan tucked Helena carefully behind him and reversed course, moving them again. A stack of barrels was piled on the edge of a