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“An inn?” Harriet wondered.
Tereford was frowning. “From what Lady Wilton told us about the new earl’s mother…”
“In strictest confidence,” Cecelia interrupted. “She was most insistent about that.”
“Yes,” answered the duke dryly.
Their eyes met. Clearly a good deal of information passed in that glance. Harriet was not party to any of it, and she felt a wisp of envy. These two had a true partnership.
“We must continue our inquiries,” he added. “I will do so.”
In other circumstances, Harriet would have pushed for a role in the search. But now she simply longed to run and talk over this news with Jack. Everything that happened these days made her want to hurry and tell Jack. A good sign, she decided. Of course, she wouldn’t mention that she was delighted he hadn’t lied to her.
Tereford bade them farewell and went out.
“Come and sit,” Cecelia said, going to the sofa.
She expected a quiet, cozy talk. Harriet went to join her.
“I had a letter from Ada,” Cecelia added. “She is in transports over her stonemasons.”
“I heard that, too,” Harriet responded with a smile. Her old school friend and newly minted duchess was deep in the restoration of a half-ruined castle.
“She hoped I could recommend a seller of paving tiles. I don’t know why.”
“Because you have been managing estates since you were in pigtails,” Harriet answered.
Cecelia burst out laughing. “Not quite that long.”
It had been almost that long, Harriet knew. She’d met Cecelia’s feckless father. “Is all going well with the Tereford properties?”
“The London house is nearly cleared. A small army of cleaners has gone to work there, and the workmen will follow.”
The recently deceased Duke of Tereford, great-uncle of the current one, had piled up goods like a dragon of legend. Only his hoard had consisted of broken-down furnishings and ornaments stuffed into every nook and cranny of a sizable mansion.
“I was just getting started on the rest before we came here,” Cecelia said.
“The rest?”
“James’s great-uncle neglected all the ducal estates. There’s a great deal to be done.”
“They’re not all like the London house!” Harriet couldn’t imagine that number ofthings.
“No.” Cecelia gave a small shudder. “I sent inquiries. There’s nothing else like that. But there is much disrepair and…unusual tenancies.”
“The duke is very lucky to have you.”
“He is aware.” The duchess’s small, secret smile affirmed this marriage was going well. “But how are you? Have you…settled in?”
Harriet shrugged. Her friends knew some of her difficult history with her grandfather. And they’d met him, of course. Grandfather did not make a pleasant impression.
“I wish I might invite you for a visit,” Cecelia responded. “But I have no place for house parties this summer.”
“My grandfather would probably refuse permission. He likes to keep us under his thumb.” Harriet had not been allowed to accompany her friend Charlotte home. But if she had gone there, she realized, she wouldn’t have met Jack. So she had her grandfather to thank for her new vision of life. Perhaps she would tell him someday. How he would hate that!
The sound of hoofbeats drifted in through the open window. The crunch of wheels and jingle of harness heralded a carriage.
“I wonder who that can be?” said Cecelia.
