Genevieve smiled knowingly. "You do not like him very much."
"I barely know him."
"Yet."
Nathaniel considered lying. Decided against it. "Yet."
Her smile widened slightly. "Careful, Alex."
"Why?"
"You are starting to sound protective."
Before he could formulate a response, she gathered the reports and turned toward the manor. Halfway across the courtyard, she paused. "Good night."
"Good night."
Nathaniel watched her disappear through the rear entrance. Then he looked toward the brightly lit windows of Lord Carter's study. For the first time since arriving at Carter Estate, he found himself wondering whether the real mystery was not Genevieve Carter at all: the real mystery was why everyone around her seemed so comfortable taking everything she gave while offering almost nothing in return. And the more he observed, the more certain he became that someone inside that estate benefited from keeping her exactly where she was: overworked, undervalued, and far too busy to ask the questions she perhaps should have been asking.
Three days later, Nathaniel discovered that every estate carried secrets. Carter Estate simply hid theirs more carefully than most.
The discovery began with a single look—a look so brief that almost anyone else would have missed it. Genevieve did not; Nathaniel certainly did not.
The moment occurred on a cloudy afternoon inside the manor library. He had been asked to deliver several boxes of archived account books from a storage building behind the house. It was tedious work: dust covered everything; most of the ledgers appeared decades old. Nathaniel carried the final box through the library doorway just as Genevieve entered from the opposite side. She looked tired, more tired than usual. A notebook rested beneath one arm; several folded documents occupied the other hand.
At the large desk near the windows sat Lord Carter and Victoria Sinclair. They appeared to be reviewing financial reports. Genevieve approached them directly.
"Father, I found another reference to the south bridge repairs."
The reaction was immediate: Lord Carter froze, only for a second. Yet Nathaniel saw it; so did Genevieve.
Victoria recovered first. "The bridge again?" Her smile appeared effortless. "You have always been fascinated by that accident."
Genevieve ignored the comment. "There are inconsistencies in the records." She placed a document on the desk. "Several maintenance reports are missing."
Silence followed. Lord Carter glanced at the paper, then looked away. "The accident happened years ago."
"I know."
"There is no reason to revisit it."
Nathaniel pretended to organize books nearby while listening carefully.
Genevieve remained calm. "I am not revisiting the accident. I am trying to understand why certain records disappeared."