Charlotte paused, watching her companion carefully. Sarah now had a gleam in her eye. “Perhaps that we had an arrangement for today?”
Sarah sighed again and shook her head. “You are a hopeless liar, Charlotte. I thought I had taught you better.”
“Very well, I suppose I was not listening.”My mind was on a certain duke who I cannot push from my thoughts.“Of what have I forgotten?”
“Lady Norwell and Lavinia Norwell invited us to tea this afternoon.”
Charlotte scratched awkwardly at her sleeve, unaccustomed to having such pressing engagements upon her time. Since her mother’s death, she had often bemoaned her lack of social invitations, but now that she was back in society, she rather resented not having her customary time to write.
“Very well,” she said as Sarah smiled at her fondly. “I shall be ready within half an hour. Have you informed me in plenty of time, as usual?”
“I have. I rather thought you would be distracted this morning. I trust you enjoyed the ball?”
Charlotte felt an infuriating blush rise up her neck, making her feel very hot indeed. She glowered at her friend when Sarah tittered happily and left the room to let her get changed.
Honestly,Charlotte thought tenderly,I do not know why I keep her on.
***
On the other side of London, Colin sat at the breakfast table with his mother, trying to keep his temper in check. The Dowager Duchess had actually written alistof eligible ladies who would be in attendance at their next soiree and had brought the list to the breakfast table.
The cook had created some sort of concoction of diced potatoes and shredded kippers, and he had been enjoying it a great deal until his mother had joined him.
She looked pale this morning and a little tired—never having acclimatized to the late nights of society functions. She didn’t travel well, and they had been required to stop on the way home as she felt very nauseous. As a result, she was in a peevish humour this morning and would brook no argument from anyone.
“Who on earth has made this tea?” she asked suddenly as she took a sip and grimaced expressively. “Hawkins!” the housekeeper was at her side in moments. “Dispose of this and make me a fresh pot if you please.”
Colin waited until the housekeeper had hurried from the room before attempting to admonish her. “Mama, the tea had been sitting at the table for twenty minutes before your arrival. It would have been well stewed. It is not Hawkins’ fault that it was too strong for your liking.”
“Nevertheless, the lady of the house should be brought her own pot of tea as soon as she arrives. That is what your future wife will expect. I believe the servants have become complacent at my presence.”
Colin finished his food and laid his fork down with a clatter, attracting yet another glowering expression from his mother as he finished his own cup of coffee.
“Mama, I thank you for your attentions on the marriage mart—there are few who could be so thorough, but I must beg to return to my work. I wish you a pleasant morning.”
He rose from the table, his mother’s irritated gaze following him out of the room. Closing the door, he breathed a sigh of relief, surprised to be grateful to be escaping to the ledgers upon his desk.
But by the end of the morning, that sentiment was long since forgotten. His hair was sticking up at odd angles, and his eyes were aching from reading and re-reading the number of invoices and letters of account that he had found. The one good thing he could say of his father was that the duke kept almost all correspondence, however small it might be. There were receipts for everything, from carriages to candle wax.
Colin felt reassured by the presence of such trivial items. It suggested his father had good intentions for his business dealings—why else would he have kept the evidence of his wrongdoing if he did not believe it legitimate? Any man who wished to conceal the idiosyncrasies of his filing system would have burned the lot so as to conceal its true nature. Colin would be more suspicious if there were not as much paperwork to be found.
Even still, every item he discovered of a new investment or agreement that did not make any profit, or an amount of money lost felt like the ultimate betrayal. It was becoming increasingly clear that the duke had not maintained his affairs in the way in which he should.
Colin not only felt responsible for resolving it all, as well as paying any debts that were due, but was also conscious of the scandal that could follow. If the late duke were found to have been dishonest or investing in untrustworthy schemes, his own investors might pull their support from Colin’s plans for the estate. He was making some significant but overdue changes and had required capital to hire the equipment and labour. He had sought the money he needed from a variety of long-standing investors who his father had known for decades.
He swallowed; his hands clammy with sweat as he stared at the piles of paper before him. His father’s gaze in the portrait did not help reassure him, and Colin was minded to remove the picture altogether. His father’s face looking down on him only made him resent the man even more.
Papa spent his life reminding me of my duty, and here I find him neglecting his own.
In order to distract his mind, he stared at his father’s visage, trying to imagine what he could replace it with. Perhaps a picture of himself, he thought with a wry smile—would that not be the height of narcissism?
Strangely, the image of the moonlit young lady he had met the night before came to mind. He scoffed at the idiotic notion but found that he was unable to dispel the image. Her sharp, bright features had lingered in his mind for many hours after their short exchange. As he stared at the space above the fireplace, it occurred to him that she would look very well there.
She was so very unusual,he mused, remembering the feeling of calm he had felt in her presence.
Her smile had been quite genuine and came easily. Colin could not remember ever feeling so at ease around anyone in so short an amount of time. The feeling was a heady one for an instant, and he frowned at himself, irritated to have allowed his emotions to get the better of him.
I am in no position to be making the acquaintance of any lady with things as they stand, let alone one so pure and beautiful as she.
