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Alaric wasn’t about to let her gain the upper hand. ‘I can be more difficult, if you wish.’

‘I don’t see how that’s possible.’ She tried to pull away, but he kept her hand firmly in his grip.

Simply to rile her, he answered, ‘We needn’t wait three weeks.’ To underscore his words, he raised her hand to his mouth and brushed a kiss on the back of her hand.

She turned crimson and snatched her hand away. ‘Or we could wait four weeks instead.’

He held back a laugh as she strode away to do her shopping. He didn’t doubt that she would buy him itchy socks, just as she’d threatened.

But then, he supposed he needed to buy Charlotte gifts as well. It was expected of him. The last time he’d bought a present for a woman was for Lenora’s birthday. He’d given her a sapphire bracelet that she’d worn often.

Until she’d sent it back, shortly after her wedding. He’d put it with his mother’s jewels, unable to look at it.

Alaric reasoned that he could buy Charlotte packets of flower seeds or new gardening gloves. But the sudden image occurred to him, not of socks—but of buying her fine silk stockings. What would she think of such a gift?

It wasn’t a good idea, he told himself as he left the dining room and walked towards his study. He shouldn’t be thinking about his wife’s legs or what she would look like wearing the stockings.

But he really ought to find out what she liked. Alaric rang for one of the servants, and when the footman arrived, he ordered, ‘While Her Grace is out shopping, ask her maid to find out what she wants for Christmas.’

The man inclined his head. ‘Yes, Your Grace.’

After the footman departed, he pulled out his father’s ledgers and began making a list of debts to be paid. He’d begun paying back wages to all the staff and settling the unpaid bills from local merchants.

It appeared that his father had taken out loans of a sort—and not from banks either. It wasn’t clear whether any of the loans had been paid back.

The more he dug into Nathaniel’s financial disasters over the next few hours, the worse it got. There were piles of unopened letters asking for money, and the thought of going through all of them was overwhelming.

Charlotte had suggested that he hire a secretary, and he wondered if he should bring back Thompson. He’d never really liked the man, and he wondered now if Thompson had done anything to try and dissuade Nathaniel from making bad business decisions. Or, more likely, his father hadn’t listened.

With a sigh, Alaric opened his desk drawer to pull out a pen, and his fingers grazed the last note from Lenora. He didn’t know why he’d kept it. It was only a tangible reminder of his failure.

Abruptly, his mood darkened, and he crumpled the note back in the desk and closed the drawer. It was better to look ahead at the marriage he had instead of the marriage he’d once wanted.

He stood and went to stand by the fireplace hearth to warm himself from the winter chill. On the mantel, he saw garlands of pine with pinecones and a strand of red ribbon to make it festive. And it did look nice.

He didn’t know what to think of his new wife. She had spirit and an unyielding cheerfulness that contrasted against his own dark moods. He couldn’t deny his physical attraction to her, but he had no intention of letting any emotions come between them. This marriage would remain a practical arrangement, above all.

Alaric decided he’d done enough for the day. After Christmas, he would travel to London to speak with Thompson and determine what other business decisions the former duke had made in the past year.

But as he passed the drawing room, he saw Charlotte seated across from his brother, Thornton. He stopped and peered back into the room. ‘What are you doing here?’ Wintermere was a few hours west of Severn.

Thornton smirked and leaned back in his chair. ‘Having tea with your wife. Her Grace is so much more polite than you are.’ With a lazy smile, his brother added, ‘Can’t you greet me with a good afternoon or a how are you?’

‘Hello, Your Grace,’ Charlotte greeted him. ‘Won’t you join us for tea?’

Was it that late already? Alaric vaguely remembered eating luncheon somewhere amid the ledgers. He chose a seat beside Charlotte and cast a wary look at his brother. ‘Why have you come to Severn?’

‘Am I not allowed to pay a call upon my own brother?’ Thornton nodded to Charlotte. ‘I wanted to see how you both were settling in. I must admit, a dry roof is a welcome sight.’

‘I don’t know,’ Charlotte mused. ‘I might miss the buckets of water lining the hallway. They added a touch of whimsy.’

Thornton roared with laughter. ‘I like you, Duchess. My brother needs to be less gloomy.’ To Alaric, he added, ‘You made a wise choice of wife.’

‘He did, didn’t he?’ Charlotte laughed, taking his hand in hers. ‘Just as I made a wise choice of husband.’

Her words utterly disarmed Alaric as she laced her fingers with his. It was unexpected to have a woman show him affection so openly. He ought to pull his hand back, but…he found he didn’t really want to.

Instead, he continued to hold her hand, ignoring his brother’s knowing smile. ‘What really brings you to Severn, Thornton?’