“Keep your voice down.” Lady Roundtree added her evening dose of laudanum to a china teacup. “I might rest my eyes for a few moments.”
Nora glanced at Heath, then back to the baroness. “Shouldn’t you keep an eye on me?”
“Captain Pugboat is your duenna,” Lady Roundtree mumbled without opening her eyes. “And common sense, if you have any. I’m right here in the same room.”
Nora’s cheeks heated at the implication and she quickly turned back toward Heath. “Your family is a joy. I can see why you love each other.”
“They were just as taken with you,” he said with a satisfied smile. “You even set a record as the quickest honorary Grenville in history.”
Nora couldn’t wait to make all of them honorary Winfields in return.
“I’m sorry your father disappointed you,” she said softly.
A muscle twitched at Heath’s temple. “Bryony was right: Father is never present. Any disappointment is my own fault for failing to set my expectations correctly. What is your family like?”
“Wonderful,” she admitted. “My grandparents have too many age and health issues now to be much help with the crops or the sheep anymore, but they love us just as much as they love that farm. If there was anything at all they could do for us, I know they wouldn’t hesitate.”
“Us?” Heath repeated with a frown. His face cleared. “That’s right, you have a brother.”
She nodded. “Carter is a full year younger, but he might as well be my twin. We’ve been inseparable for as long as I can remember. That is, until I was sent here.” A sudden stab of nostalgia gripped her heart. “It’s been so hard without them.”
Worry filled his hazel eyes. “Wouldn’t you… Do you not want to live in London?”
Her stomach bottomed. Here it was. The moment he would realize they couldn’t suit.
“I can’t leave them to fend for themselves,” she said simply. “Carter is doing his best to make the farm self-sustaining again, but—”
“Nora, I have money.” Heath took her hands, his gaze sheepish. “It’s considered a vulgar subject to talk about, but this is important for you to hear. Even before the banns are read, I will ensure your family wants for nothing. None of you will ever have to worry about the farm again. We can send funds, servants, a lifetime supply of ostrich feathers for your grandmother’s bonnet, anything they need.”
“They needme,” Nora said, her voice scratchy with the pain of disappointing him. Of disappointing herself. She had known this couldn’t work. “I know you need to be in London. Your clients are here; your family is here. Butmyfamily is back home. I can’t spend my life here with you if it means giving them up, too.”
A sudden snore rent the parlor. The baroness had fallen asleep.
Heath lifted Noras hands to his chest. “I would never ask you to give up your family. You’re right that mine is here in London, but they’re here because of the Season. Most peers and their families come to Town only whilst Parliament is in session, and then return to their country estates.”
Nora frowned. “Where is your country estate?”
“In the West Midlands,” he said, his eyes shining. “With you.”
Her reply was barely audible. “The West Midlands?”
“We’ll build a home wherever you like. Right next to your grandparents, if you prefer. We’ll spend the Season here in London and the rest of the year near your family.”
Hope gripped Nora’s chest. Was it really possible? Might they find a compromise where everyone could win?
Or was this wishful thinking? Pretty words he could promise now, before he inherited the title and became as distant as his own father? She would have to tread lightly if she wished to discover the truth.
“Does the barony take up much of your time?” she asked.
Heath’s brow furrowed. “I don’t have it yet.”
“But…” She pulled her hands back to her lap in confusion. “Oughtn’t you to learn the ropes? Isn’t there some sort of…”
“barony apprenticeship?” Heath asked dryly. “That was Eton and Oxford. My father has a large cabinet of trusted advisors. Every year in our annual meetings, they assure me of a smooth transition in the future.”
Annual meetings to discuss the inevitable event of a parent’s death made inheriting a title sound positively ghoulish. Nora wished she hadn’t needed to broach the subject. “In the meanwhile, I’m glad you found a career that fulfills you.”
“A what?” His mouth curved and he affected a haughty accent. “No gentleman in line to a title would be caught dead anywhere near acareer.”
