Both men smiled engagingly, and Ian tilted an elbow in her direction. She took his arm with a sigh. “You’re impossible and you shouldn’t encourage him.”
“Why not?”
“He’s Harold Arthur Phillip Ashburn, the eighth Duke of Beaumont.” She scowled. “He comes from a long and distinguished lineage and now he’s been reduced to Harry. It’s simply disgraceful.”
“If it makes him happy, what is the matter?” Ian steered her across the terrace and down the long stone stairs to the lawns below while the duke trailed behind. As they moved away from the castle, she popped open her parasol and positioned it to shield her face from the sun.
“I suppose it’s no great matter if he allows you to call him by his given name…in private, that is,” she offered at length, then added cheekily, “I should, however, prefer to continue addressing him as I have my entire life.”
“Then patience, Hero,” Ian said with an engaging smile. “I’m sure he’ll have forgotten all about it in a few hours.”
“True.” They arrived at the formal garden in the English style that spread itself on the wide expanse of lawn that stretched out on the east side of the castle. When visitors approaching from the east broke through the tree-lined drive, the vista of the gardens with their low, precise hedges and the ornate reflection pool and fountain at their center would be back dropped by the glorious castle with its towers, turrets, and wings sprawling along the cliffside. It made a mighty impression on newcomers. “I hope you don’t mind if Papa joins us for our walk this morning. I thought the day too lovely to be spent in the dungeons.”
“Not at all. On both counts you made the right choice.”
“I’ve told him so much about Cuilean over the years, I know he is anxious to see for himself,” she persisted, as if she did not believe his assurance.
“He’d never been here before?”
“No, life’s business kept my family away, and Mama preferred London to Scotland.”
“And yet, you do not.” It was a simple statement, but even after their long conversations the night before, he remained curious of her reasons.
Hero tilted her head in a thoughtful fashion and considered him with a smile that settled in her eyes. “Why would I? London is filled with superficial society and frivolous endeavors. Dùn Cuilean feeds my soul. It has since the day Ayr first brought me here. I’ve never been anywhere else that I’ve felt such peace. And anticipation.”
“Anticipation? Of what?”
“I don’t know.” She punctuated the vague response with a self-conscious shrug. “I’ve just always sensed that something is waiting to happen here. And how do you like Dùn Cuilean thus far, my lord?”
“I have been here but a month but I’ve found it to be a most pleasant place.”
“Merely pleasant?”
“Have you a better description?”
A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “Many I’d consider more apt than pleasant.”
“In truth, I haven’t been here long enough to shake my awe.”
The news of his inheritance hadn’t reached Ian Conagham for several months after Robert Conagham’s death as the laird’s executor searched for him, the only surviving male heir of the line. He had finally been located in Greece, where, as an officer in the Queen’s army, Ian had been sent to fight in Crimea. The trip back had been long, taking Ian first to London to have the title conferred upon him and meet with the marquessate’s solicitors, then to Edinburgh for much of the same lauding, and finally to Dùn Cuilean just a month before.
“Awe?” She chuckled. “Now that I can understand. It is quite awe-inspiring. The sight of the castle silhouetted by the setting of the sun, the view of the cliffs…”
“That’s not quite what I meant,” he said softly as she trailed off. “My awe is not merely for the visual—though it is all as you have said. No, it is the scope of the estate that holds me in its wonder. It is so much more than the castle itself. There are the parks, the woodlands, the orchards, the home farm, the mill, and the herds. The gashouse and the icehouse. A dairy. Did you know there is a dairy? Cuilean is an enterprise of commerce. We buy very little but produce and sell so much. I am…was…nothing more than a simple soldier. I’ve never been a man of business before. Truthfully, I find the extent of my new responsibilities somewhat daunting.”
Ian shook his head with a grimace. Undermining his own manhood was hardly the most persuasive tool for seduction he’d ever wielded.
Chapter Ten
Hero stared up at him, taken aback by his honesty. There wasn’t a male of her acquaintance whom she could imagine expressing doubt in his abilities or admitting to a shortcoming so vocally, for fear of being thought less than manly. It took a confident man to acknowledge that he wasn’t all knowing. She found his admission perhaps more endearing than she should.
After all, he wasn’t a man lacking in intelligence. She’d found him to be a knowledgeable conversationalist. He was well-read and educated. There was no doubt in her mind that Ian would learn the business of the estate handily. What he needed was someone to school him on the workings of the estate. Unfortunately, Cuilean’s steward Jennings—while an excellent manager—was one who preferred to do for himself rather than take the time to teach another, or explain why things were done as they were.
On the other hand, she could teach him. Hero glanced up at Ian through her lashes. Many men wouldn’t welcome an offer of assistance from a woman for the same reason they didn’t care to confess to a lack of utter omniscience. Those same men also tended to consider intelligence an undesirable quality in a lady. While she knew Ian appreciated a witty conversation, he might not find her business acumen attractive.
And she did want to appeal to him.
She took a breath, pausing as if to admire the gothic fountain at the hub of the low maze of hedges. There was much to dare in making the offer but greater than her fear of repulsion for her person was the desire to help him any way she could. Moreover, should he grow to care for her, she wanted him to appreciate her every facet, not mislead him into thinking she was something she was not. Better to begin as she meant to move forward, she decided.
