“Miss Redfield.”
“Yes?” She spun around and walked backward so that she could stare up at him. Seeing him, so proud and strong, reminded her again that he was of a different world. One in which she’d never belong.
“Don’t marry him simply because you find yourself a little lonely. As you’ve said, you do have friends.”
And for some reason, she tilted her head and asked, “Do I?”
He nodded and smiled grimly. “You most definitely do.”
* * *
Gabriel watchedMiss Olivia Redfield saunter away, chin held high, almost defiantly optimistic, until she disappeared into the trees. Why did she not live with her parents?
He could not imagine any circumstance in which his own sister would not be welcome in their family home. There was nothing she could do that would ever cause him to evict her.
And what the hell was Viscount Hallowell thinking, giving his blessing to a union between his gently bred daughter and Luke Smith, a man of good character but also a common laborer?
Brandy reared her head just enough to gain his attention. He’d been standing still too long for his horse’s liking. She apparently wished to continue back to Ashton Acres for a rubdown and grain. Gabriel would make do with some leftover bread and cheese that he kept in the unused gamekeeper’s cottage where he resided. He’d also take advantage of the fine scotch Stanton had sent over before departing for London.
Crawford’s duchess had offered him a chamber in the main house, but Gabriel had declined, preferring privacy to luxury. He could have traveled once a week from his own country estate, Sky Manor, almost thirty miles away. But had he chosen to do so, his oversight of the mine would have seemed like a token gesture, at best. Furthermore, making the journey even once a week likely would have become tedious.
When Stanton had expressed concerns that his father, the Duke of Crawford, would rush operations at the mine in his hunger to extract the gold, Gabriel had impulsively offered his services and engineering expertise in order to keep the duke’s impatience in check. Men’s lives were at stake. The last time the mine had been opened, several died. Gabriel could postpone his own journey to London until Stanton returned and do what he could to prevent any such tragedies this time.
Which was already proving to be a challenge.
Earlier that morning, Crawford had shown up at the mine. He’d questioned the pace of operations and insisted work proceed more rapidly. The gleam of greed in his eyes lowered an uneasy foreboding onto Gabriel’s shoulders.
He’d never cared for Crawford. Upon becoming acquainted with any titled gentleman, especially a duke, one expected arrogance, outright rudeness at time. But Stanton’s father’s demeanor went beyond that. He expressed outright disdain for the working class, for those in his employ—an utter lack of reverence for their worth as human beings.
To put it simply, he was a mean son of a bitch who could not be trusted.
And now, due to Stanton and Miss Louella Redfield’s marriage, Crawford owned partial rights to the mine. A third belonged to Viscount Hallowell, and the final third his daughter, Stanton’s bride. The contract had originally stipulated all of the rights go to the Crawford dukedom, but Stanton had changed them without the duke’s knowledge. Crawford was spitting mad about the changes and seemed to be taking it out on everyone working up at the mine.
Although acting as a proxy for Stanton, Gabriel had only marginal authority over operations—and none over Crawford—but Hallowell might…
Gabriel turned his horse back in the direction he’d just come from.
While in the neighborhood, he might as well see if he could enlist some assistance from the enigmatic viscount.
* * *
“Join us for supper, my boy.”
Twenty minutes later, Gabriel sat in Hallowell’s study at the pleasure of Miss Redfield’s father. Obviously well past his sixth decade, Hallowell had lost most of the hair on his head and his skin seemed to sag over his face.
“If it isn’t any trouble.” Gabriel had not considered the time of day when he’d made the decision to visit. But sharing a meal would give him a chance to come to know the man better.
And perhaps something of the circumstances of his eldest daughter.
She ought to be delighting in what small entertainments local Society could offer. Instead, her situation seemed more suited for a distant relative who’d been shunned. He doubted she’d been embroiled in any sort of scandal. From what she’d said, her banishment had more to do with her imperfection than her behavior.
Gabriel hadn’t expected the violet-eyed minx to be in attendance but felt a pang of disappointment, nonetheless, when the viscountess entered the study unaccompanied to announce dinner. It was as though their eldest daughter didn’t exist. It was all Gabriel could do to keep from asking why the man hadn’t even censured him for his behavior in the gazebo the night before the wedding.
Were they blind?
The viscount and viscountess and he spent the first few courses discussing the wedding, the weather, and common acquaintances. Not until Lady Hallowell removed herself from the room did Gabriel attempt to tackle the subject of the mine.
“You must be satisfied, My Lord, to see your resources put to work for your estate,” Gabriel ventured.
