Page 22 of The Milliner and the Griffin Rider

Chloe shook her head. “You didn’t see him earlier,” she whispered. “He must have a complete disgust of me now. And once Gannon seizes our store, I don’t know what I’ll do. I’ll probably end up in debtor’s prison!”

“Surely it’s not as bad as that.” Fletcher looked alarmed. “You’re Sage’s chosen partner. Not even His Grace at his most furious would allow you to be thrown into debtor’s prison. He’ll give you a salary for caring for Sage, if nothing else.”

A shudder ripped through Chloe, and she stared at him with horrified eyes. She could think of few things worse than living at the estate, constantly in the presence of a version of Harrison who hated her.

No, she corrected herself. Constantly in the presence of the Duke, who hated her. It was unthinkable.

“You didn’t know him before,” Fletcher said. “So you won’t have seen the difference. But Everard has built walls around himself ever since he came into the title—at least where young ladies such as yourself are concerned. He does his duty to the estate and the town, but his real love is the griffins, and the only people who’ve truly interested him for years have been his squad. It’s made him far too serious.”

Chloe shook her head. Harrison took his responsibilities seriously—that was a strength. But he also laughed frequently.

Ranger’s words from their first meeting came back to her. Was it possible? Did Harrison laugh because she was there? She felt a small spark of hope.

“Everard treats young ladies with icy formality,” Fletcher continued. “And then you fell—” He stopped to laugh. “Literally fell into his arms. I could tell from the beginning that, while he was suspicious of you, he was at least a little captivated as well. And then Sage chose you!” He shook his head. “He’s known girls who were interested in griffins before, and even more who only pretended interest, but one of his griffins actually chose you! Once he’s recovered from his initial anger, he’ll forgive you.”

The spark of hope sputtered and died. If Chloe had only sought to deceive Harrison himself, he probably would forgive her. But Fletcher kept pointing out Harrison’s dedication to his griffin flock, and Chloe had come into their midst with dangerous intent toward the griffins. Harrison wouldn’t forget that as easily—as he’d already demonstrated. Chloe had made the one mistake he couldn’t overlook.

Fletcher approached, clapping her on the shoulder, as if she was one of the men of the squad. “I’ll talk to him.”

She tried to protest, but her sluggish, overwhelmed mind processed his words too slowly, and by the time she had formulated a response, he was already on his way out of the mews. He merely waved over his shoulder, leaving her to once more slump against Sage.

But a moment later, she straightened, glaring at the griffin. “You must have known he was the Duke! All the griffins must.”

Of course.

“You didn’t tell me!” she cried, outraged. “How could you not tell me?”

Sage gave a shrug of her eagle shoulders. You didn’t need to know.

“I didn’t need to know!” Chloe spluttered. “Aren’t griffins supposed to be incurably truthful?”

I never lied. Griffins don’t use human titles.

Chloe groaned, knowing that was true. “But you’re my griffin! You’re supposed to be on my side.”

I am on your side, Sage said, entirely unruffled.

“Of all the outrageous—!” Chloe stomped off, heading for the opposite end of the stables to Fletcher and Harrison—the Duke, she had to think of him as the Duke.

Her mind spun endlessly around her misunderstanding as she walked back into the town. It seemed too fantastical to be possible. But everything made sense.

Maddie must have known the truth, and no doubt knew the Duke’s first name as well. But Chloe hadn’t clarified which lord Maddie was pointing out to her. And when Chloe had spoken about him, she had referred to him only as the captain. Even when she had swapped to calling him Harrison in her own mind, she had always referred to him as the captain to Maddie, trying to pretend a distance she didn’t really feel. So Maddie had thought they were two different people.

And Harrison himself…

Chloe’s mood shifted slightly, her eyes narrowing as she considered the Duke’s behavior. For all Chloe’s mistakes and deceptions, the Duke had been practicing some deceptions of his own.

He must have realized her mistake almost instantly, and he had intervened more than once to prevent someone calling him by his title in her presence. He had also been careful to keep her away from anywhere where he couldn’t control their environment—the party, even the manor house itself. Anywhere where there was sure to be someone who would refer to him as Your Grace before he could prevent them.

And while he had offered to have her escorted home, he had never offered to do it himself. Even when she had been sure he would do so, he had carefully avoided walking into town in her presence. In fact, she hadn’t seen him in town once since the first time she fell into his arms from that rocky outcropping.

She had attempted to deceive the Duke of Everard, but in the end, he had been the one to deceive her. And now all her plans were in ruins, and her heart along with them.

As she approached her beloved store, the truth became clearer with every step. She still had much to lose—and she would lose it—but she didn’t care about any of it compared to the reality that she had lost Harrison’s heart forever. Captain Harrison might have cared for her on some level, but the Duke of Everard never would.

Eleven

Chloe knew she would have to tell Maddie the truth about her utter failure, and soon. But she couldn’t bring herself to do it immediately. Instead, she pleaded a headache—a very real one pounded at her temples—and buried herself in the backlog of hats that needed trimming. Their business was about to fail, leaving both of them in massive debt. Would Maddie’s suitor disappear when she went from successful businesswoman to destitute and in debt?