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Disappointment shot through her, but she pushed down the regret that wanted to surface. “Is there so much to do?” she asked curiously. “I didn’t realize so much had happened during the few weeks my sisters and I had been in London.”
He offered her a tolerant smile. “I fear that even though there is no one here to do the work, it does not take a break from getting done.”
“Of course.” She realized she must seem rather foolish, but then, if any of her sisters might have assisted their father when it came to business, it would have been Isadora. She had a particular talent for tallying up household expenses and finding a way to bring in more revenue. She was also very interested in the age of industry, which was growing each day.
He sighed. “I hope I didn’t sound harsh just now. I certainly didn’t intend to.”
“Not at all,” she assured him. She started to back away. “Since you are busy, I’ll just take my leave—”
“I have been pondering something.”
She paused. “Which is?”
He reached into a drawer in the desk and withdrew a small item, which he held up to the light. It reflected the sapphire gemstone in the dainty setting of the ring. “This.”
Olivia walked forward curiously, accepting the offering from him. “Hmm.” She inspected it closely but couldn’t find any discerning marks on it. “It doesn’t look familiar to me, but perhaps one of my sisters might recognize it.”
She started to hand it back to him, just because it seemed like the thing to do, but he waved a hand. “Keep it. It could be a prized heirloom that someone has been searching for. It just struck me as odd that it would have been tucked into a secret compartment in the desk, rather than secured in a safe somewhere.”
Olivia thought the same thing, but she didn’t voice her opinion aloud. It might cause undue speculation around her father, and she didn’t want anyone to picture him in an unfavorable manner.
She decided it would be best to just change the subject. “How is your hand faring?”
He glanced down at the bandage, as if he’d quite forgotten about it. “It doesn’t give me any trouble.”
“Good.” She nodded her head. “A few more days and it should be safe to take out the stitches.”
He tapped a finger almost thoughtfully on the top of the desk. “Perhaps by New Year’s Day.”
“Er, yes,” she murmured. In all of the excitement since Christmas, she had quite forgotten it was still the holiday season. Then again, it hadn’t felt like it ever since she had left her sisters behind in London. She reached up and touched the pendant that Mr. Stone had given her when her eyes abruptly began to sting. She reminded herself that it had beenherchoice to leave, so she had no one to blame for this recent bout of melancholy.
And staying certainly hadn’t been an option. For one, she didn’t want to feel as if she had been thrust upon any man when it came to marriage. While she didn’t plan to ever wed, she would hope that it would be something stronger, like affection, when it came to her choice husband, not one who had been chosen for her. As much as she might be beholden to the Duke of Gravesend for saving her from the icy Thames, that didn’t mean she would willingly become any man’s chattel.
“Lady Olivia?”
The raspy voice broke through her trance. She dipped into a slight curtsy. “Good day, Mr. Stone. Perhaps I shall see you at supper this evening.”
Chapter Twelve
Miles leaned back in his chair with a heavy sigh at Lady Olivia’s departure. He had yearned to comfort her, for the mark of upset that had crossed her face had sent pain soaring through his chest.
A knock came at the door and the butler appeared. “Yes, Edgerton?” He walked in with a silver salver that held a letter. “This just arrived for you by messenger, Your…er, Mr. Stone. I sent the lad downstairs for some refreshment as he was instructed to await a reply.”
Miles gave him a look of reproach but accepted the offering. He imagined it had something to do with the tenant that he had seen the day before, but the flowy, feminine script across the front could belong to no one else but the Duchess of Gravesend, his mother.
His jaw clenched. Equal parts guilt and frustration assailed him as he broke the seal and read.
My son,
I hopethat you have a good reason for disappearing from the ball I had held in your honor. It was a veritable crush and I daresay you would have been swept back into the welcoming arms of society. Unfortunately, the lady I had hoped would join the party has your penchant for absence, for she had remained behind due to a megrim, so perhaps it was fate intervening after all.
I won’t pretend that I’m not distressed with your decision to leave, and I had the feeling you would not return to Gravesend Manor, but rather head for Marlington Hall so that it could become a new place for you to hide from your troubles. I do pray that someday you can put those troublesome days of your past at war behind you and live with some semblance of normalcy. I know you are weighed down with the duties of this second inheritance, but I trust you will do remarkably. I only wish you had someone there to share your burdens with, rather than trying to face them all on your own.
I have decided that I won’t allow you to evade me any longer, so you can expect to see me at Marlington Hall for the New Year. Besides, it will be nice to avoid the chaos of town for a change and absorb some of the silence you are so accustomed to enjoying.
Your lovingmother
Miles droppedhis hand to his lap. Things had just gone from bad to worse.Muchworse. There was no way he could continue to keep up the pretense of being common, Mr. Stone, when the Duchess of Gravesend arrived. That gave him precisely four days to decide the best time and manner in which to approach Lady Olivia about who he really was, along with the reason he had ventured to Marlington Hall.
