Page 2 of The Duke and his Muse
He closed his eyes a moment. His life was getting progressively tangled by the minute. Opening his eyes, he asked, “Is there anything else I should know, Mrs. Deals?”
“No, yourGrace.”
Without another word he exited the room and returned to the entry hall where he donned his beaver hat and took up his walking stick. He did not speak to the footman loitering nearby as he exited the house into the cool air.
The estate manager’s office was in the same building as the stable block. The man had an office and an adjoining large room for his bedchamber and sitting room. Graham knocked at the door and strode into the office without waiting for a reply.
“Your Grace!” Binns jumped to his feet from behind a battered oak desk. “We didn’t expect you until tomorrow.”
Graham stood ramrod straight, indignation filling him. “Had you hoped to come up with a reasonable explanation by then?”
“Your Grace?” The man looked suitably cowed by his employer’s rough tone.
“As to why you never once mentioned my son or inquired after my mother’s supposed medicalconditionin any of your correspondence.” He was seated on the hard-backed chair in front of the desk, adopting a relaxed posture. A posture quite at odds with the irritation he was feeling.
“The duchess assured me she had written to you of such matters,” the man blurted out, his face turning pale.
“Did she?” he smiled tightly.
“It was by her direction that she and only she was to discuss your son and mother with you.”
“And your loyalty was to my wife.”
Now the man turned red. “I… I respected her wishes.”
“You work for me. Your loyalty should have been to me.”
Binns dropped into his chair behind the desk. “You’re right, your Grace. It was a mistake.”
“A mistake you repeated for years.” He rose to his feet. “I’d like to see all of the estate ledgers in my study in one hour.”
“Oh yes! Of course, Your Grace!”
Graham exited the building, a grim smile on his face. The manager had looked relieved upon hearing his employer’s request.
He shouldn’t be.
Chapter Two
Jane was well aware her expression was disposed to reflect her every thought. Such a display of her inner musings had caused no small problems several times in her life.
When her solicitor’s clerk had suggested a liaison, she was sure her surprise and revulsion had been apparent on her face. The young man was thin, pale, and oily.
“Now that you are all alone in the world, Miss Hayward, you need a man to protect you.”
“I do?” she’d asked in reply, knitting her brows.
“You have a monthly stipend and your own home. You might well become a target of fortune hunters and other unscrupulous men.”
She’d smiled kindly or hoped her smile was kind and not condescending. “I am not so naïve as to befriend those of the wrong sort. Your employer, Mr. King, has ensured my estate is quite secure. He would never let me align myself with anyone who would take advantage of me.”
She stressed the last statement to remind the clerk of whom he worked for. Mr. King suffered no fools. If the young man didn’t watch himself, he would soon be out a position.
“Very good, Miss Hayward. I thought only to assist you in your time of need.”
Jane had nearly laughed then, biting her lip. She was sure her amusement showed on her face, as the clerk excused himself and stalked out of the lobby of the solicitor’s office and down a corridor away from her.
She turned on her heel and exited the office of the only solicitor in the area, to find her maid waiting outside the establishment.
