Free A Duke to Remember (A Season for Scandal Book 2) by Kelly Bowen Page A

road. “Who is John Barr?”
    Noah took a deep breath, trying to find his equilibrium again. “John? He’s a smith. And one of the best. Nothing he can’t fix. Ploughs, weapons. He’ll shoe your gelding for you too, if you need. He’s a fair hand with even the most fractious of horses.”
    Elise was shaking her head. “No, I mean, who is John to you? You said his son was like family. Are you related?”
    It was a completely reasonable question. He answered carefully. “He is my family. Not by blood, but family all the same.” Out of the corner of his eye, he saw her smile.
    “Ah.” There was understanding in that single syllable.
    “Do you have family?”
    Her hazel eyes were on him again. “I do. A brother by blood. And a sister. Not by blood, but family all the same.”
    He found himself smiling along with her.
    “Do you have brothers or sisters?” she inquired.
    His smile evaporated. “No.” It was the immediate, safe response, but memories of Abigail’s gentle eyes and her fearless heart flooded his mind.
    “I’m sorry,” Elise said from beside him.
    “I beg your pardon?”
    “I didn’t mean to bring up painful memories.”
    Jesus, had he been that transparent? “I had a sister once,” he found himself admitting. And then he couldn’t bring himself to say anything else.
    “What was her name?” she asked.
    “Abby,” he said, realizing that he hadn’t spoken his sister’s name out loud in over a decade. “Her name was Abby.” He felt Elise’s hand on his arm, a light, fleeting touch. She looked as though she wanted to ask him another question, but then reconsidered.
    Bloody hell, it was just as well that they were almost home. Another mile in this cart and he’d be confessing every deep, dark secret about his past to a woman he barely knew. It was terrifying, how easily small truths slipped out of him in her presence.
    “We’re almost there.” He turned his mare down the familiar lane that wound through a copse of trees.
    Elise wriggled again, presumably against the discomfort of her wet clothes. “Thank goodness.”
    A sentiment he shared wholeheartedly.

Chapter 5
    E lise had found Noah Ellery.
    The dawning of that fact had left her reeling. It defied the odds. Approached the realm of the bloody miraculous. Elise still struggled to believe that the gods of fate could have chosen to amuse themselves in such a fashion.
    She hadn’t prepared any sort of a plan, which in hindsight was appalling. And embarrassing. And unprofessional. But in her defense, what Elise had prepared herself for when she rode into Nottingham was an arduous search for John Barr in the hopes that he might offer a clue to the whereabouts of Noah Ellery. Well, John Barr had certainly done that.
    He had hugged her, introduced himself, and then insisted she have dinner with the next Duke of Ashland.
    On the ride back, Elise had interrogated the man who called himself Noah Lawson. Subtly, using every ounce of cunning and care that she had ever learned; and the coincidences had started stacking themselves up like so many pieces of driftwood until they formed a wall that was impossible to ignore. And Elise had long ago learned that there were no such things as coincidences in the business of Chegarre & Associates.
    Noah had lied when he said he’d never been to London in the summer. That had been easy to read. He had a sister named Abby. That revelation had been luckier. Elise had wanted to press further, but the shuttered look on his face had made it clear he would not say more on the subject. At least at that time.
    I mix up my words.
    That remark had wiped away her lingering disbelief. His confession had both touched her and relieved her beyond measure. Aye, he did that when he was flustered, that much had become obvious, though he seemed to think it an insurmountable flaw. Elise had dealt with many men and their flaws in the time she’d been with Chegarre & Associates, and compared to the dangerous and