Because if he had, that would make her future plans a great deal easier.
Granted, she still needed to decide what she would do with herself. She couldn’t just sit in this house all day but that was a problem for another time, not the middle of the night as she attempted to steal away from London.
Then a new thought occurred to her. “Does His Grace intend to tell everyone that I travelled with him and Isabella rather than you?” She’d decided to go, and she would. It was clearly a case of safety. But the plan was made all the better if it involved her permanent removal from the marriage mart. And if the Duke of Devonhall had already made plans to secure her reputation…well, that would mean she might need to marry still. Or find another way out.
Silence met her question, but she kept moving, entering her room, and leaving him in the hall. She’d ask again after she’d dressed.
She turned to begin instructing the maid. Avery had fully expected Ivinhart to wait outside, but as she spun, she found him in her room. “My lord.” She stopped, freezing where she stood. “What are you doing in my room?”
He grimaced. “Helping you to pack a few essentials.”
“But I need to dress.”
He shrugged. “There’s a changing screen. Just step behind that.” And then he crossed over to her armoire and began pulling out articles of clothing.
The man had lost his mind. She was about to travel with a madman.
Noah Graves, the Earl of Ivinhart, could feel her eyes on his back as he opened the clothes press and pulled out stockings from one of the drawers.
“My lord,” she admonished behind him. “Are you touching my under—” She stopped short, not finishing the sentence.
The corner of his mouth twitched. She was too much a lady to say the rest, but he wished she had.
Avery Bright was strong and practical. She’d been a bit hardheaded at the start, but that was to be expected. Admired even. What sort would she be if she’d just agreed to leave with a stranger? He didn’t yet know if she was pretty or what her figure might look like under that dressing gown, but at least she wasn’t foolish or silly, dimwitted, or prone to bouts of emotion.
All in all, her calm and intelligent demeanor was a relief.
It wasn’t every day that a man agreed to marry a woman sight unseen.
He winced at the idea. Because he’d yet to actually tell her that part of the arrangement he’d made with Bash, the Duke of Devonhall, was that he’d wed Miss Avery Bright once they arrived at his country estate.
On the one hand, telling her might explain a great deal. Why Bash had given his permission for the two of them to travel alone and why Noah would be furnishing her wardrobe. On the other, it would surely bring up a great many questions he wasn’t quite ready to answer.
Questions like, why would you agree to marry a woman you’ve never met?
He cleared his throat. The answer to that was…complicated.
Noah and Bash, along with a few other lords, owned a gaming hell together called the Den of Sins.
With the duke’s marriage, he’d lost interest in the club. He’d offered Noah his shares in the business if Noah married Avery.
How did one tell a woman her dowry was an illegal club?
Not to mention that her husband-to-be was such a known rake that even as an earl, he’d have a difficult time getting a woman of quality to marry him.
Or at least he thought he might have a hard time. To be fair, he hadn’t tried.
And he didn’t really want to.
He knew he needed a wife at some point. But a man with his past didn’t exactly rush into marriage. In fact, he’d looked at the state of matrimony with a fair amount of dread.
But Avery seemed the practical sort and he was certain she’d be willing to come to an agreement of sorts with him. He could continue on with the club and his life and she’d have the protection afforded a countess. They’d both benefit.
So why did he not wish to tell her?
He turned to see Avery still hadn’t moved. She stared at him through the veil.
“If you could begin changing… We really must go.”
She made a squeaking sound as though she’d tried to speak but then stopped. “You’re not going to leave the room?”
The maid covered her mouth with her hands, eyeing Avery with wide eyes. The women exchanged a look. He’d best stop them before they started putting up more barriers. He and Avery needed to leave posthaste.
“I saw three men loitering out front when I arrived. I had my driver drop me three streets away and then I snuck through the neighbor’s garden to get into the house through the kitchen. Forgive me, Miss Bright, but time is of the essence.”
That seemed to spur her on, and she spun and marched behind the screen, the maid following.
He saw the veil drape over the screen first and he had the most ridiculous urge to see what her face looked like.
It didn’t matter.
And besides, they really did need to hurry.
He supposed it was natural for a man to want to see his future wife but her looks were of no consequence. The honest truth was this was a business arrangement. One where he was provided an heir and she received a future as a countess, and he avoided having to participate in society for a season to find a wife.
But telling her all that now would only delay their departure.
He packed the essentials into a satchel and then turned to find her dressed in a simple gown of black, the veil back over her face. He frowned. “You’re going to travel in your mourning weeds?”
She shrugged. “It has the added advantage of hiding my identity.”
He raised his eyebrows. That was true and damned smart if one cared about hiding one’s identity. Not
