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“Everything is right in my world, for the first time ever,” the viscount admitted. “My daughters are home, and my oldest son is ready to take my title someday.”
“How is your younger son adjusting to that?” The younger son had been groomed for the title as well as the life of a lord, but Marcus, as the true oldest son, would now inherit both.
“Oh, that’s a story for another day,” Ramsdale said with a groan. “I asked you here to talk about marriage settlements.”
Finn nodded. Not to accept any gift Ramsdale offered him would be rude, but he truly was wealthy in his own right. He held successful lands with prosperous tenants, and he had invested at Robin’s insistence in various other opportunities and had done well with them all.
Ramsdale passed a sheath of papers to Finn. “Here you’ll find information about the funds I’m placing in trust for my grandchildren—and for my daughter in the event that something untoward happens to you.”
“Yes, sir,” Finn said. “I’m sure that whatever you have decided will be beneficial.” He wanted to bite his tongue over his choice of words.
Ramsdale leaned back and scrubbed his chin, regarding Finn warily. “The only thing that worries me is your occupation.”
He knew about his occupation? “What part of it worries you?”
“You place yourself in danger on a regular basis. When you have children, you’ll want to assign the more dangerous cases to your hires, won’t you?”
Finn hadn’t given it much thought. “I suppose I could.”
“Give it some thought. I want my daughter to be happy for a lifetime, just like her mother and me.”
“I’ll give it a lot of thought.”
“Can I give you a suggestion?”
Could Finn stop him? He doubted it. “Of course.”
“Give her room to fly.”
Give her room to fly? What the devil did that mean?
But the viscount was already getting to his feet and reaching out to shake Finn’s hand. When Finn took it, Ramsdale gripped it fiercely, until Finn was forced to look at the man. The raw and naked emotion on his face was startling. “Listen to me carefully, Finn.”
Finn nodded. The viscount didn’t let go of his hand.
“If you ever hurt my daughter, I’ll hunt you down and shoot you.”
Finn gulped. “I understand.”
“Have a lovely day,” Ramsdale said as he sat back down and began to shift through his papers.
Finn hesitated for a moment. But then he jumped in. “Would it be all right with you if I took Miss Thorne for an outing?”
“What sort of outing?” Her father’s brows drew together.
“She said she would like to buy some new hair ribbons.”
Ramsdale looked back down at his papers and said absently, “Take Margaret with you.”
Finn’s heart dropped. “Margaret?”
“Her maid. Claire’s a lady. It wouldn’t do for her to be seen without a chaperone.”
Finn wanted to groan but held it in. “I agree completely. Thank you for your time.” He turned and left Ramsdale’s office as quickly as he could, before the man changed his mind and sent the cavalry with them, instead.
Twenty-Three
Finn looked absolutely miserable in the coach, with Margaret seated across from them. His thigh pressed hard against Claire’s, like with that simple action, he could tell her how very much he wanted to touch her. Margaret cleared her throat and he nearly jumped out of his skin. But he did move his leg away from Claire’s.
