Page 56 of The Duke Who Loved Me (The Duke's Estates 1)

“You did.”

“And you scoffed. What has changed?”

She seemed fascinated, which was good. But James didn’t have a proper answer. The only thing that occurred to him was, “Did you know that children like Ned get no schooling? He can barely read.”

She blinked, bewildered. “There are charity schools, I believe.”

“I have heard of them. But according to Mrs. Gardener, there are difficulties.”

“What sort?”

“I couldn’t quite understand that. I suspect a patron is needed to procure a place. And on that front, I am increasingly convinced that the lateMr. Gardener was a criminal. A housebreaker perhaps or a footpad. And that the ‘accident’ he died in was a stabbing.”

“Good heavens. Why do you say so?”

“Things the children have let drop. And then looked anxious about revealing. Particularly about the array of knives we’ve found. Mrs. Gardener’s marked silences are also suggestive.”

“Do you think they’re in danger?” Cecelia asked.

James shook his head. “Only of starving in the street. Which they arenotgoing to do!” Was that admiration in her eyes? He discovered that he hoped so.

“That is good of you,” she said.

“Do you think so?”

“Anyone would.”

“But doyou?”

“Yes, James. I said so. What is the matter with you?”

“I believe your good opinion matters a great deal to me,” he found himself saying.

Cecelia stared. “You have never seemed to value it much,” she replied.

Had he not? He had brushed off her criticisms. That was true. He had resented them. But was that because he disagreed or because they stung? He’d had to fight back. “Did I hope for something else beneath the surface?”

“What does that mean?” Cecelia asked.

“I have no idea. I’ve begun to speak quite at random, without any idea what will come out next.”

“That makes no sense, James. And it sounds like an affectation.”

“Which concerns me far more than it possibly can you.”

“I think this disordered house is affecting your brain.”

“Could that be it?” He felt an urge to take her hand. But she’d refused him that. Her hand remained her own. “Or perhaps the interminable sorting is uncovering treasures within as well as without.”

She stared at him.

“Not knives,” James added, and then wondered if she was right that Tereford House had addled his mind.

“I’ve never heard you sound so cryptic.”

“Is that how I seem?”

She hesitated. “Not exactly. But you are much changed. It’s…unsettling.”

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