“You ruin her at your peril, Elsmore. I value my association with you, but a duke is as a duke does. Eleanora has worked for years to establish herself as a decent woman. You take that away from her, and I will remind you that I am one of the few men who can and will call you out.”

“Will you stand up with me when I speak my vows? Will you welcome my wife and me under your roof when I marry a duchess polite society shuns? Will you offer hospitality to Eleanora when she’s no longer an employee who serves you well?”

Rex was gratified to see he’d caught the almighty Duke of Walden by surprise, though His Grace recovered quickly, and his smile put Rex in mind of the duchess’s hound.

“Of course you and your duchess will be welcome under this roof. Her Grace of Walden wouldn’t have it any other way, and she counts many other well-born ladies among her acquaintances. I sincerely hope you have the chance to enlist their aid.”

That was the second ray of sunshine to penetrate Rex’s day, the chat with Mama having been the first. “Then I’m off to France.”

Walden resumed his preening before the glass breakfront. “Try Dieppe,” he said. “If you’ve no other place to start.”

“Why?”

“Just a suggestion. Dieppe is a quiet town but not too far from Paris. Mail and English travelers reach it quickly.”

“Thank you.” Rex strode for the door but had to leap back as a blond footman opened it from the corridor.

“Mrs. Eleanora Hatfield to see Her Grace,” the footman said. “Excuse me, Your Graces. I thought the lady would like to wait in here for the duchess to come down. I did not know the library was in use.”

He had a slight accent, Scandinavian or German, and Eleanora stood behind him with the hellhound panting at her side.

“Take Wodin,” Walden said to the footman. “I’ll leave Elsmore to keep the lady company, and I’ll be across the corridor should anybody have need of me.”

Walden paused to whisper something in Eleanora’s ear before pulling the door closed, and then Rex was alone with his beloved. All the flowery speeches he’d spent half the night rehearsing, all the clever arguments he’d concocted, flew out of his head at the sight of Eleanora looking pale and for once, uncertain.

“If you want to move to France,” he said, “we’ll move to France. I’d rather your parents move here to England instead, but even more than that, I need to know that you’re safe and happy. Tell me how to make that happen, and if it’s within my power to bring it about, I’ll do it.”

Eleanora stalked past Rex, whirling only when she reached the poetry shelved across the room. “Who told you about my parents?”