“Very well. Whatever you need to do, anything you need.” I handed him the entire contents of my pockets, coins and banknotes alike. “There’s a ship’s boy, John Taylor. She’s being kept on the HMSGrampus. I owe him five guineas if he brought my card to the Master at Arms.”
Kit raised a brow at the sum but nodded. I’d authorized him to offer whatever was necessary. Of course I would pay the lad what was promised.
“I’ll be off,” he said, then jumped up and strode toward the door.
“And I’ll just be here. Looking like a duke,” I muttered, unable to entirely erase the irritation in my tone. The day, once so promising, had been overtaken by waves of panic leaving me tetchy and snappish. My head throbbed in a way that only Davina could cause. And I was rendered entirely superfluous except for the contents of my pocket.
As soon as that thought took hold, it refused to leave. It whittled away until all that was left was a needling question that seemed to have no real answer.What, precisely, was I doing here?
My feet carried me to Will’s office without my head ever giving the order.
He invited me inside and gesturing toward my usual chair.
“Come in, come in. Everything sorted?” he asked.
I shrugged, still perturbed. “Kit is going down to the docks.”
“Better him than me. I’ve had some time to look at your property holdings.”
“Scotland—is the place inhabitable?”
His head tilted questioningly for a moment before righting itself. “Your steward seems to think so. How long are youplanning to stay? You may wish to arrange some improvements if you’re to be there the rest of the summer.”
For a moment, I hesitated. Then I recalled why I was still here, rather than at the docks helping my sister. My sister who was managed perfectly well by others at Wayland’s. My sister, who was, at this very moment being rescued by Mr. Summers. Without me.
I forged ahead. “That was one of the things I wanted to review. I would like to settle there. For that to be my primary residence.”
“Pardon?” His brow shot to his hairline.
“I would like to move. To Scotland. Permanently,” I repeated.
“But, with all due respect, Your Grace?—”
“It’s Xander, Will. You’ve known me forever.”
“What about your mother? And your sister? And a wife?”
“Will, I think we both know the answer to that last one. And why it’s time for me to leave.”
His bright eyes met mine with something like sympathy in the set of his brow. He cleared his throat, then asked, “And the first two?”
“That’s why I have you. I need to set up provisions for Mother and Davina, and Celine, too. How much control are you able to give Celine? She’s the only one with a lick of sense. I’ll need everything that isn’t entailed to be split between Mother and Dav if anything were to happen to me. However, I do not think they would do well with immediate, unfettered access.”
“Well, the Yorkshire property belongs with the dukedom. The Scotland property is yours outright, though it doesn’t bring in a great deal. The houses here in town I’ll need to look into. The Rycliffe house, at least, should not be entailed with the dukedom. But, Xander, are you certain this is what you wish to do?”
“I have a great many wishes. Unfortunately, wishes cannot change reality. I expect you know that better than most.” My throat tightened, the memory of Prussian eyes and long, elegant fingers seeming so far away now.
“Right, well, you’re young. You should have many years before the entail becomes a concern for your family.”
I bit out a laugh, more a scoff, if I was being honest. Gabriel had years to live as well, and a wife too. “I was never intended to inherit. If I do not wed and have children, the dukedom will go to some second cousin. Is the income from the un-entailed estates sufficient to support Mother and Davina? I do not want to rely on a second cousin’s goodwill.”
He hesitated, catching his lower lip between his teeth. It was unbearably attractive. “Any other mother and sister I would say yes, more than. Yours…”
After a sigh, I replied, “That is what I feared. Is there any way to take income from the entailed estates and set up accounts for them now that cannot be accessed unless something were to happen to me?”
“Well, the dowries should be untouchable.”
“Who, exactly, do you think will be willing to marry Davina?” I asked with a laugh.
