Free A Rogue of My Own by Johanna Lindsey Page B

laugh at that?

Chapter Eleven
    A LATE NIGHT FOR YOU?” Nigel asked the following day as he nudged Rupert awake.
    Rupert sat up instantly, furious with himself for having fallen asleep in Nigel’s room, of all places, while he waited for the older man to show up. He couldn’t bear the thought of Nigel standing there looking down at him while he slept, and he had no doubt Nigel had done so.
    The trouble was, Rupert’s current task of investigating the new ladies of the court was simply too easy, which led to boredom. No danger was involved. While he was quite skilled for the task due to his reputation with women, he preferred assignments that involved some risk. He never fell asleep in the middle of the day when he was armed and ready for anything.
    “No,” Rupert answered, and relaxed slightly. “Sitting around here half the day waiting for you put me to sleep. I suppose I could report in the middle of the night, when I can be assured you’re here.”
    “So I must lose sleep when you could have simply left me a note?”
    “There’s the rub, notes in your room are no longer an option,” Rupert replied, unable to stifle a yawn. He shook his head sharply to finish waking up. “Leaving your room open to give me access to it is no longer advisable either, not unless you’re in it.”
    “I’ve been busy, or I would have already had that extra key made for you.”
    “Then keep the door locked until you do. Or do you like having your room searched?”
    The only reason Nigel left his door unlocked was so Rupert wouldn’t have to wait for him in the hall where someone might see him. He didn’t even want the palace servants to link them together in any way. He was fanatic about it. And now Rupert was going to have to confess that someone had indeed found him there.
    But Nigel was amused, drawing the wrong conclusion. “Oh, my, you actually searched my room?”
    “Don’t be absurd. And we might as well get the business at hand out of the way first because the Marly chit is expecting to meet me in the Royal Garden this afternoon.”
    Nigel nodded. “I have another appointment myself, so we can keep this as brief as you like. You’ve drawn new conclusions, I take it?”
    “Yes, two of the new maids are firmly in Sarah’s camp, the same two who fancy themselves in love with me,” Rupert complained with a roll of his eyes.
    “Already?”
    “You expected it to happen?”
    “Don’t be obtuse,” Nigel said. “You know very well women fall in love with you daily. Of course I expected it.”
    Rupert laughed. “A bit of an exaggeration there, eh, old man?”
    “Hardly. Even Sarah Wheeler was in love with you earlier in the year when you turned your charms on her, one of those amazing feats you’re capable of.” Nigel chuckled. “I never understood how you accomplished that, when you said you didn’t have to make love to her.”
    “I convinced her that I found her fascinating in other ways. It doesn’t always have to be about physical attraction, you know. I worked towards friendship. It went on long enough that she began to look beyond that, is all.” Rupert didn’t add that Nigel should know better than anyone else how the stronger emotions could unexpectedly overwhelm a person, which had happened with Sarah. “Friends lower their guard in the same way lovers do, you know.”
    “What about the third young lady?”
    “Constance? She resents Sarah’s ‘errands’ and has taken a firm dislike to the lady because of it. A prime candidate for you, one would think.”
    “There’s a but in that?”
    “Yes, I wouldn’t advise taking advantage of her resentment and trying to lure her to your camp. She doesn’t strike me as very competent. Not much up here”—Rupert tapped his head—“if you know what I mean. As for Lady Elizabeth, I searched her room before she was assigned a new roommate. There was nothing in it but a god-awful lot of clothes. I suppose I’ll have to do so again, now that her