The Duke Didn't Want Love — He Wanted a Practical Wife. Then Her Carriage Arrived 40 Minutes Late
Chapter 10
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Helena felt the old bloodless chill. "I did, ma'am. I declined to certify figures I had not been permitted to verify.""An uncomfortable circumstance for everyone, I'm sure.""It was uncomfortable for me," Helena answered evenly. "I cannot speak for the others."A small silence followed. Avery could have thundered, invoked his title, or driven the guest into a resentful apology. Instead, he looked from the woman to Helena and said:"Miss Morland is a woman whose judgment I respect. I consider myself fortunate that she has agreed to marry me."The statement was simple. It contained no claim of ownership and no flourish about rescue; precisely because of that, Helena felt it settle somewhere beneath her ribs. He had left room for her to speak, and then said plainly that he valued what she had said.After the guests began to leave, Helena remembered the brief inventory note she had initialed at Briarcombe earlier that week when Avery had asked her to identify the household accounts she wished to examine. The note remained among the working papers in the estate office, where Vane had access to it. She thought nothing more of those small initials.Avery caught her alone only in the garden, where the drawing room windows and Marian's chair remained in view. They walked a short circuit beside the flower beds as the sun lowered."You were very brave," he said."I spoke two sentences.""Sometimes those cost more than a speech."She touched the glove at her wrist, feeling the little ridge of blue thread. "When you spoke for me—no, that is not quite right. When you spoke of me without taking my words away, I believed for a moment that I might belong somewhere.""You do belong," he said."Not yet. Not merely because you have invited me."He wanted to tell her that the household already seemed less empty when her carriage came up the drive, and that the sound of her playing stayed with him long after he had returned home. The words were unlike any he had written into an agreement; he could not make them obey."I hope," he said at last, "that I may give you reason to feel at home.""You have begun to."Her eyes lingered on his face. For one unreasonable instant, he thought of bending to kiss her. Though they were still watched and he had promised to move at a pace she could freely choose, he did not move; the restraint was sweet and painful at once.On Wednesday evening, the 1st of October, Lionel Vane arranged the documents he meant the Duke to see in the quiet estate office.A receipt from June bore a genuine supplier's stamp and a clerk's proper countersignature; it acknowledged a limited delivery of timber and slates. Beside it lay a newer paper dated Wednesday, the 1st of October, describing a supposed additional delivery that morning.