Lucy wanted to touch his cheek and press her mouth to his, though she wasn’t quite brave enough yet to do so.
“If we need to stop, just tell me.” He turned the paper around to an article and pointed. “What do you think of this, Mrs. Estwood?”
She took the paper from his hand, quickly scanning the article for the pertinent points, something she’d learned to do from Father because he was often impatient with her.
Just recite the facts, Lucy. I don’t care to hear your opinion on the matter.
Forcibly pushing aside her father’s words, she read through the article. “This is about the Thames tunnel. The one designed by Mr. Brunel.” Lucy went over everything she knew about the engineering feat, though the project had been bogged down several times. Father had sniffed at investing with Brunel,claiming the tunnel would never come to fruition. Another thing he’d been wrong about. “You invested in the tunnel, didn’t you?” Lucy looked at her husband.
“Did I?”
Her gaze returned to the article, rereading the second paragraph. “No, not the tunnel, exactly.” Her finger tapped on the newspaper. “Rather, the shield used to dig it out.” Her brow wrinkled, trying to imagine what the shield might look like. “Brunel’s tunneling device.Thatis what you invested in, or rather, the process to craft it.”
“Clever, aren’t you, Mrs. Estwood?”
A lovely shiver trailed up her spine. She liked the sound of her new name. Adored that Harry asked her opinion. “I think I’m correct,” her voice was soft but above a whisper. “Am I not?”
“Partially. I did invest with Brunel on the tunnel, though I’m not sure I’ll ever see a return between the collapses, the flooding, and the methane gas. The overages alone have cost a fortune. But the tunneling shield is worth exploring in a mining capacity. I admire his vision. I believe in it. Pipes, braces and railway track aren’t terribly exciting. Mines. Tunnels. Bridges.” He shrugged. “Nor the devices and materials used to create them. Rope, for example. Twine.”
“Rope?”
“An investment I overlooked, given my obsession with the aforementioned tunnels, railways, and the like. Blythe’s suggestion to convert an old textile mill into a rope factory is paying huge dividends. Not…flashy, mind you. Rope is rather dull. Depends on the use, I suppose.” Harry traced a finger around her wrist, eyes darkening.
Her thighs pushed together at the sudden pulse between them. Father might be correct. Perhaps Lucy would become a harlot like her mother. Physical relations, at least with Harry,were vastly appealing. “Dull but always necessary.” She pressed her lips together, hearing a hint of the lisp.
“Ah, Lucy.” Harry reached over and gently ran the tip of one finger over her bottom lip. “Try to keep your mind on business at present. Naughty girl. Now you’ve got me considering what sort of knot I might use.”
“I—that,” she stuttered back, unable to reply becausenowall she could think of was what Harry would do if he restrained her with a length of rope. Pressing his mouth to all the places he wished on her body. While Lucy was unable to stop him.
Oh. Dear.
And the way he was looking at her was…somewhat lecherous in nature, which only made things worse.
Lucy breathed in. Slowly. Lisping about would spoil the moment. As would swooning.
“You base your investments on what you believe will happen in ten years,” she finally said, regaining her composure.
“Hmm.” His gaze lingered on her mouth. “You have the mouth of a courtesan.”
Lucy swallowed. He was trying to distract her. “Or twenty years. Bessemer will have an answer to how to convert pig iron to steel eventually. You’ve never told me how you knew about Marsden.” She’d meant to ask him earlier, but it hadn’t seemed the right time.
“A survey was done by Joshua Marsden long ago, which I accidentally stumbled across.”
Harry did nothing accidentally.
“The findings weren’t absolute, given the limitations at the time, and he made several assumptions about the land, though he didn’t act on them. Instead, he attached the land to your mother and eventually you. He sensed Marsden would be worth a great deal.”
Lucy thought it had probably been around the time Mama had wed Father. “Joshua didn’t pursue the survey because he didn’t trust my father. And with good reason.”
“Smart man,” Harry said. “The iron ore to be found at Marsden is one of the largest deposits in England. I suspect the entire area is full of such wealth, but no one realizes it just yet. But they will. That part of Yorkshire, the Cleveland Hills, will be overrun once people start digging about.”
“You’ve had another survey done.”
Harry put a finger to his lips. “Don’t bandy that about, Mrs. Estwood. It’s possible the survey might not have been conducted in an entirely legal fashion because I had no claim on the land at the time. Dufton must have caught wind of it.” Ice flashed across his features before disappearing once more. “Given his sudden acquaintance with your father. At any rate, it will take at least a decade for Bessemer to perfect his process to make steel. But in the meantime, there is a great deal of demand for pig iron and wrought iron.” He nodded to the article once more. “The Thames Tunnel is for pedestrians at present, but soon there will need to be additional ways to move product into London.”
“A railway through the tunnel, you mean.” Lucy could well imagine. The way the railways were expanding all over England, it made sense that eventually, someone would place a set of tracks through the tunnel, now that it was finished. Her husband had likely already taken steps to be part of such a plan.
Brilliant.
