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“I did not ask you here to take care of the matter for me, my lord. This is my family. I will look after it. I wanted your opinion on the matter, not your interference.”
“As a gentleman, I cannot allow you to involve yourself in a potentially dangerous situation,” Alex countered.
“How do you think to stop me, my lord?” She asked the question with such a sweet smile that it almost belied the steel in the tone of her question.
“Let us not be at loggerheads,” Alex finally answered, realizing she wasn’t wrong. There was really nothing he could do to stop her. And she was right to care for her family. “The thing is, I am concerned.”
She stared at him expectantly with her head tilted slightly, like an inquisitive little bird, or like the kitten he kept thinking of in her presence. She was obviously waiting for him to elaborate, and he grew uncomfortable.
“I’m not certain if you’ll recall when I was here the night before the children took ill, I mentioned my need for a new steward.” He watched as Lady Grace’s intelligent gaze sharpened upon his face, and she nodded as though in agreement. “Rathnelly was kind enough to arrange for two of his clerks to present themselves to me before he rode off to Town. They both were acceptable, and I hired one of them.”
Lady Graciela continued to nod as she listened attentively but didn’t add anything to the conversation. A small frown of concentration had formed on her forehead. Alex found it charming but ignored the thought and continued.
“He has turned out to be quite an asset already, and I’m surprised Rathnelly would so willingly part with him. But that is not the point. While we were discussing my future plans, Nicholas mentioned something that he didn’t think was important, and I didn’t really give heed to at the moment, but now, added to this, I think you are right to see those notes as a threat to Rathnelly.”
This was the point that he hadn’t wanted to bring up with a young lady. He doubted she would be able to cope with the possibility, and he had no patience for hysterics. But much to his surprise, Lady Grace merely sat there and watched him for a moment.
“And you are confident that you have fitted the pieces of your puzzle together correctly? Is it not perhaps possible that whatever your Nicholas has told you is completely unrelated and there is nothing to be concerned about in the least?”
“It’s possible, but not probable,” he answered with a small smile, surprised by her frowning but thoughtful nod.
“Very well, my lord. You had better tell me what your concern is and together we can figure out what is best to be done.”
Alex stared at her for a brief moment, wondering how to reply. He had never confided in a woman since he had grown old enough to stop thinking every maid in the house was his maternal substitute. That had probably been when he had been sent away to school when he was six years old. He wasn’t certain he would be able to do it. But she was gazing at him expectantly, and he really did owe it to Rathnelly to do whatever he could.
“My apologies, my lady, but I am struggling with the rightfulness of telling you.”
Now, the young woman’s gaze turned cool.
“You mean, you doubt a female can grasp the depth of whatever the problem might be, my lord?” Her tone was as cold as the deepest part of his lake in early summer. “I had hoped that wasn’t the case but suspected as much. If it is concerning the estate or some sort of business dealings, would you rather I have the steward or butler called for?”
“You aren’t going to have me tossed out on my ear for my disrespect?” Alex was only half joking. It was obvious he had offended the young woman’s sensibilities.
“As tempting as that might be, I am the one who summoned you, and if there truly is a matter of concern for my sister’s household, I cannot allow my own feelings to sully the waters. It needs to be dealt with. And if you are too lily livered to deal with a woman, I am willing to step aside. I shan’t leave the matter be, mind you, but I won’t force you to deal with me.”
Alex couldn’t prevent his estimation of her from growing. He had never met a woman like her. He bowed to her.
“My sincere apologies, Lady Graciela. I shouldn’t have implied it couldn’t be discussed with you. If you are certain we are sufficiently private here, I will tell you what I can, and you can decide who you think we ought to inform, and how best to proceed.”
She barely blinked and didn’t nod or speak; she merely stared at him while she waited for him to elaborate. Her proud bearing filled him with admiration even as his respect for her grew. She didn’t gloat over getting her way. And she didn’t seem terribly interested in whatever he had to impart. She seemed merely resigned to take care of whatever needed to be done.
“It would seem your brother-in-law is a secret business titan,” he began. Again, Lady Graciela merely gazed at him without speaking, but one of her eyebrows did rise slightly as though questioning where he might be going with his statement. Alex cleared his throat and continued.
“I had heard about his horse breeding enterprise the last time I purchased a horse. I had no idea it was something he didn’t wish to be known. But according to my new steward, Rathnelly is involved in various enterprises and wishes to keep the matter hidden from Society.”
Again, Lady Grace didn’t add anything. Alex was beginning to grow uncomfortable with her silence. He carried on, nonetheless.
“Anyhow, according to my new steward, there have been several instances of people trying to learn more about the duke’s activities and attempts to interfere with his progress.”
“This is interesting, but I’m surprised. If Rathnelly wants to keep it so very secret, why would his former clerk share such details with you? I also don’t see what this has to do with the threats here. What makes you think the two are connected? I would think, if this clerk has told you about the many attempts to learn of the duke’s ventures, Rathnelly himself must also know and has surely looked into it. And wouldn’t the servants have known to inform the duke about these threats, no matter how idle they seemed? Did your man tell you who the duke suspects is behind whatever the troubles might be?”
Alex was impressed with the intelligence of her questions. But there were so many of them. He answered the simplest one first. “Nicholas said the duke suspects it might be your cousin that is behind it.”
Now the lady finally reacted. “My cousin? Lord Griffiths, do you mean? What would he have to do with anything?”
“There is also some suspicion of Lord Bertram being involved.”
“So, which one is it, my lord? Griffiths or Bertram? And why would either of them have any wish to interfere with Rathnelly’s interests?”
