Page 24 of The Duke of Lies
“I can start now, if you’d like,” Whist offered.
“That would be helpful.” Kit indicated a small stack of journals on the corner of the desk. “Those are the accounts since you retired.”
“Do you mind if I sit here and review them?” Whist asked.
“Not at all. I have other matters that require my attention. I’m to begin construction on a goat pen and shed not far from the stables.”
Whist’s mouth turned up. “For Beau?” He winced. “I’m sorry, for his lordship?”
The man’s familiarity didn’t bother Kit. What he wondered was how familiar the younger Entwhistle had become with Beau—and with the duchess.
“Yes. I believe I have you to thank for igniting his goat obsession.”
Whist chuckled. “That boy loves animals of all kinds.”
“I should return to Bleven House,” Entwhistle said, rising. He gave Kit an earnest look. “Thank you for the opportunity. I look forward to serving you and Beaumont Tower to the best of my ability.”
Kit rose and inclined his head toward the younger man. “I’m confident you will.”
Entwhistle departed, leaving Kit alone with Whist, who was now watching him with a dubious look. The anxiety returned, and Kit wondered if now would be the moment when someone would pierce his ruse. He sat down, but only perched on the chair in case he felt the need to flee at a moment’s notice.
“You’re quite changed, if I may say so,” Whist said.
“Everyone says so.” Kit saw no reason to pretend otherwise. He knew people discussed it. Several times now, he entered a room or the stables to have the staff grow instantly quiet. He supposed it could just be because he was the duke, but he knew better. They looked at him with a mix of fear and distrust. He was desperate to change that. Sooner or later, Beau would hear what kind of man his father had been. Maybe, in the time he had here, he could lessen that blow by being a man Beau could be proud of.
“How?” Whist asked, drawing Kit back to his question. “Where have you been all this time?”
“Sailing. I was impressed.”
Whist’s brows arched. “Indeed? Can’t imagine you on a ship. Did you enjoy it?” He waved his hand as his mouth tipped into a self-deprecating smile. “Of course you didn’t. You’re a duke and were pressed into hard service.” His eyes narrowed as he scrutinized Kit a moment. “I guess that’s why you changed. Or so it seems.”
A tremor of anxiety rattled Kit’s frame. “Are you suggesting I’m somehow dishonest?”
Whist shrugged. “The changes are great. What’s to say you won’t revert to the man you were? I don’t mind saying I worried about the estate under your care. But then, you never would’ve sat for a meeting like this, let alone invited me and my grandson to come.”
Kit winced inwardly. This was nothing he hadn’t already surmised, but hearing it over and over again was beginning to weigh on him. Perhaps that was why he was so committed to ensuring things were set to rights before he left.
The air in the room seemed to thin a bit as Kit’s discomfort grew. He stood once more, anxious to escape the small space. “I am an entirely different person than I was before I disappeared. One might even saythatRufus is dead.”
Whist stared up at him, his eyes dark and flinty in the light filtering from the windows high in the stone wall. “I hope so, because there are many of us who will ensure the duchess and her son are safe from the man we thought we knew.”
Kit sensed the man’s guilt along with his righteous conviction. “No one wants that more than I.” He stepped around the desk and looked pointedly at the old man. “Noone. Take as much time as you need here. If you’re up for it, we’ll visit with some of the tenants this afternoon.”
Without waiting for a response, Kit left the office, closing the door behind him as he stepped into the cloudy spring morning.
He expelled the breath he’d been holding. One of these days, someone was going to call him out on this charade. He’d do well to be gone before that could happen. Perhaps he should go now.
Without the money he needed?
Not only did he have nowhere else to go—and going to work on someone else’s ship was out of the question—he couldn’t turn his back now, not when he suspected Cuddy had been a less than honest steward. If the man had been stealing from the estate, and Kit wouldn’t be surprised to learn he had, Kit would find him and make him return what he’d stolen.
A voice in the back of Kit’s mind asked,but hadn’t you planned to steal from the estate?
It wasn’t stealing if your father promised it to you and reneged.
And he would do his best to leave a positive mark on Beaumont Tower and everyone here. He’d be a duke to remember, for himself as well as them, if only for a short time.
Chapter 7
