The memory of Kenbrooks’ “visit” returned to him with unwelcome clarity.
Of course the Duke of Kenbrooks had been furious. Any brother would be. The blow had been swift, decisive.
Julian had not lifted a hand in return.
He had accepted it because, in some quiet and inconvenient way, he believed he deserved it.
Why?
Because some part of him had already known.
If he had looked more closely—if he had allowed himself to see beyond the warmth of her presence and the distraction of her… attributes—he might have noticed.
The carriage of her shoulders. The precision of her speech. The confidence with which she questioned him, challenged him, contradicted him.
She had not been merely genteel.
She had been educated. Assured.
No common miss possessed that sort of self-possession.
But he had ignored all of that.
Why?
After three days in his workshop, Julian still did not have his answer, no matter how many times he turned it over in his head. He was almost grateful when Finch interrupted him.
“We thought you’d like to see this, Your Grace.”
Julian did not look up at first.
Then he saw the pamphlet. On it, the headline read:
A Visit to Ironwood Manor: Observations on Stewardship and Rural Industry
Written by Robert Belle.
Julian stilled as his eyes skimmed the first lines…
The Duke of Kenbrooks, accompanied by his duchess and sister, recently accepted an invitation to visit with an old school friend at Ironwood Manor. What they found was not the savage mismanagement so often whispered about in drawing rooms, but rather a property in active restoration.
Julian blinked.
An invitation?
Savage mismanagement?
He read on.
Under the present duke’s direction, the tenant cottages stand in sound repair, rents are assessed with evident fairness, and charitable funds are discreetly directed toward the widows of the late war.
Not discreetly enough, apparently.
Of course she had charmed it out of his servants. Given time and that disarming sincerity, Rosamund could coax confessions from a saint.
…Though His Grace is not a man given to unnecessary sociability, he demonstrates a practical dedication to improvement—spending much of his time overseeing the estate personally, or in his workshop, where he is said to produce furnishings of uncommon durability.
Julian stared at that line.