Page 6 of The Duke's Impossible Deal
He took the oiled pouch from his coat and pulled out the letter that had been delivered to him only a few hours before. His fingertips brushed against hers as she took the paper from him with shaking hands.
Her eyes widened and then darted to the letter in her hands. She cleared her throat and began to read the words he already knew by heart.
“My dear Rothwell, if you are reading this, then I am dead (or there has been a terrible mistake, but let us assume it is the former).” Lady Rowen shook her head. “James, you fool, you cannot even take your own death seriously.”
“I believe he called it his light touch on life.” Tobias felt a pang beneath the numbness.
Lady Rowen swallowed and continued to read, “You are the one man I trust with this task: look after my sister Rowen and my niece and nephew. I have done what I can for them. Her bas—” She blushed, cleared her throat, and continued, “Of a husband left them with little, and I have supported them as much as I can. But if I am dead, that will stop. Though I have willed what I can to her, most of it is entailed. Please, Rothwell, look after them. Oh, also give me a good send-off. I expect whiskey and champagne, old boy, and pretty women by the armload!”
She wrinkled her nose, and Tobias quickly grabbed the letter from her. “You need not read the rest.”
His eyes lingered on his friend’s untidy scrawl and the lines requesting what he wanted his wake to be like.
Once we have confirmation from the authorities, I will arrange everything as he has requested.
“Has he named you the executor then?” There was a catch in Lady Rowen’s voice that Tobias could not quite place.
“I am to split the duties with his solicitor. Of course, we can do nothing until we have something official from the authorities, and that will take some months.” Tobias massaged his jaw. “With the war, there are all sorts of administrative delays, and the government loves nothing more than paperwork for the sake of paperwork.”
“You seem to have rather a herculean task before you, and my brother has only added to it with a silly request for you tolook after us. Honestly, as much as I love him, he does live in a fantasy land sometimes. Or I suppose he did.” Lady Rowen’s bottom lip trembled, and she gave her head a little shake before turning to the fire.
As Tobias tucked the letter back into the pouch and then his pocket, he studied her face. Her grey eyes watered, but no tears fell. Her jaw was clenched tight, and her hands shook slightly. Her shoulders were practically by her ears.
“Your brother put a huge amount of trust in me, and I would not begrudge any request he made of me.” Tobias took a step towards her, his voice sounding distant to his own ears. “What he asked was born of his love for you and your children.”
“I do not doubt that, but it does not change the reality of our situation. My brother was my financial lifeline, and now… Well, now he is gone. I have my children to think of, a crumbling estate, and the added embarrassment of my sweet but foolish brother sharing the direness of my financial situation with someone who cannot even remember what I look like.”
Her cheeks flushed at the last words, and Tobias bit back a wince.
“I would not take my forgetfulness personally, My Lady. Call it military training and a somewhat singular focus.” He shrugged, flashing her a small smile that felt strange on his face.
She arched an eyebrow at him. “The fact remains, I would rather not have the world know about my misfortune.”
“I am hardly the world, just one man,” Tobias argued.
“When all you have left in this world is your pride, even one man knowing of your shame is one too many, Your Grace.” Lady Rowen’s lips quirked into a half smile, though it did not meet her eyes. “I cannot afford to look weak or incompetent, not when so many people already expect me to fail.”
Her words were like a knife in his chest, cutting through the fog around him.
“People are swift to pounce when they sense such things.”
“They are.” She cocked her head, eyes searching his face as though trying to work out if he was one of those people.
Tobias met her gaze, unclenching his jaw. He forced his shoulders to relax and let his hands drop to his sides.
She nodded and turned away from him, her eyes growing distant. Tobias found himself watching the shadows play across her face.
His right hand twitched as though to reach up and stroke her cheek, but he held it down. He breathed in slowly and then out, counting the beats of his heart as he did, feeling them slow on his exhale.
“I suppose I could—no, that would never work. Maybe if…?” Lady Rowen’s voice brought him back to the present as shebegan to pace around the room. “No James, practically no jointure, the settlement is long since gone. How am I supposed to fix any of this? What am I supposed to do? No, I have to be strong. I have to figure this out.”
Tobias tilted his head to the side as she wrestled with the emotions within her.
She has just learned that her brother is probably dead, on top of the damage this storm has caused, and who knows what else, and she is already trying to plan her way out of it.
“I am impressed.” The words slipped past his lips before he could stop them, pulling her up short. “You have just had your life turned upside down, and instead of falling to pieces, you seem to be planning your next move.”
“I am a widow and a mother, Your Grace. I do not have the luxury of falling to pieces. I would do anything to save my family.” She swallowed and added, “Though I wish James had not involved you in all of this. It is not as though you could do anything to help us.”
