“Approximately six.”
“Oh, ho, m’boy. Now here’s a gem with which to woo a lady. Should I take this to mean you’re finally planning on settling down now you’re back?”
Zeke snorted. “Hardly. Besides there isn’t a woman alive whose finger is big enough to wear that rock.”
His grandfather’s mouth twisted in a sardonic half grin as he returned the diamond to Zeke.
“Perhaps you should have brought home a more manageable size, then, Ezekiel Thurgood. You are hardly a boy just out of leading strings. It’s well past time you got serious about starting a family—”
“Egad. I’m only nine and twenty—”
“No need to act as if I’ve suggested the guillotine. I got the impression you enjoyed the ladies, and from what I’ve heard tell, you’re quite popular with the fairer sex.”
“I adore women. Especially when they’re flat on their—”
His grandfather’s sudden wheezing fit cut him off.
He sat forward to whack the earl on the back. “How long have you had this cough?”
The earl blinked and wiped moisture from the corner of his eye. “I’m quite well. M’ brandy went down the wrong pipe.”
He studied the earl with a critical eye. He looked fit, as previously noted. Still broad of shoulder, not all slumped over like some of the old man’s peers.
Zeke relaxed back in his chair. “Where were we?”
“We were discussing your family—or lack thereof.”
“Ah yes. Brought on by my careless exhibition of the diamond.” He dropped the stone back into its pouch and tightened the drawstrings. “But as to your protesting my lack of a family, need I remind you I have one. Namely you and Caden.”
The earl scowled. “I won’t be here forever.”
“I’m well aware of your views, old man, and I plan to marry. But don’t forget I’m soon to sail for America to buy into that gold mine I researched. Perhaps you recall I’d planned to go after the completion of the Southern Pacific Railroad.”
“Which transpired a bit over a month ago.”
“Precisely.”
The earl rolled his eyes.
“I suppose I could look for a bride who won’t mind being left to rusticate in the country with a brood while I ensure our family’s financial future.” It was an option.
“You’re always planning a trip somewhere. You and your damned mines. And I hate to point out the obvious, lad, but if you never manage to produce an heir, procuring the family’s so-called financial future seems a bit moot.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.” Time to change the subject. He drummed his fingers on the arm of his chair. “Have you any idea if Randall’s about? Or is he off visiting one of his country estates?”
“Last I heard, your co-conspirator fled the heat in favor of the coast.”
“Pity.”
“You’ll have to make do with me,” his grandfather said, blue eyes twinkling, momentary irritation over Zeke’s lack of a spouse apparently forgotten. He leaned back in his chair and swirled his brandy. “Now let’s hear about your trip. Leave nothing out.”
“I have a tale for you, as a matter of fact, concerning the diamond.” Zeke gestured toward the pouch on the table between them. “Did you happen to notice the stone’s unusual coloring?”
“My eyes aren’t what they used to be.” The earl picked up the pouch, loosed the stone, and moved toward a wall sconce.
He held it before the flame. “Now I see the coloring you mention. Very unusual, and quite beautiful.”
He returned to his seat and set the diamond back on its pouch. “Doesn’t color denote inferior quality? As I always understood it, the less color the better.”
