To his surprise the duke had left instructions with a footman to have him shown immediately to a small study in the rear of the house. The room radiated masculinity, done in warm walnut with pieces of heavy, old-fashioned furniture and prints of birds and game on the walls. The fireplace grate stood unlighted, the odors of cold ashes, leather and ancient pipe smoke lingering in the air. Of Jeannette he’d seen nothing on his way to the room, despite her whispered admonition that he not talk to her brother-in-law until after she had spoken to him. But what was there for them to discuss? They’d been caught, discovered in the most compromising situation possible. Mother Mary, he’d been standing between her legs, tugging at his breeches’ buttons when the whole crowd of them had shuffled in. He could only imagine the bawdy sight he and Jeannette must have made, putting on a show fit only for a house of sin. And whether or not they’d actually completed the act made no matter, especially considering all they’d done beforehand.
