“Do you have any notion of where we are?”
“Not even a little,” she chirped. “How did you sleep?”
I tipped my neck from side to side, testing the muscles. There was none of the bone-deep soreness I would have expected. “Well.”
“Good, then you can explain what you were doing falling asleep at your desk, leaving me all alone with the potential spiders.” Her tone had shifted to something scolding.
“Potential spiders?”
“I don’t know if there were actual spiders because you weren’t there to be certain they didn’t crawl in my ears and lay eggs.”
“Your ears?”
“Or nose! The location hardly matters.”
“Right.” I bit back a smile but the effort was almost certainly unsuccessful. “Do you need me to check? For the spiders?”
She rolled her eyes. “Obviously not, I’ve already done that.”
“How, may I ask?”
“It involved a candle and a series of mirr— That is not the point. The point is that you are now tired and sore, and I was left to defend myself against the hideous beasts. All because of your poor choices.”
“Terribly sorry.” I tried to inflect some sincerity in my tone, but if the glare I received was any indication, I hadn’t managed it.
“I read what you were writing,” she added, quieter this time. “It was a very generous offer. And it was good of you to make it.”
“It’s what they were due in the first place. I shouldn’t have to offer the former staff missed wages because there never should have been missed wages.”
“I think that almost made sense.” Her shoulder knocked against mine, teasingly.
“I needed to fix at least a few things before we left. I couldn’t leave it as it was. And I’ll need to return to London—finish things up with Will—before I return.”
“You’re determined then?” Davina’s hand found mine and offered a reassuring squeeze.
“Yes. Now, I just need to stop twitching every time someone uses the title.”
“Oh, I don’t know. It might set you apart from the other earls.”
“I hadn’t thought of it that way. I can be the only gentleman who has a fit every time someone addresses him.”
“Eccentric…”
“Yes, and perhaps I shall take up some peculiar hobby. I must solidify my position in society as the most absurd gentleman to live.”
“Do you suppose you will insist on performing all the duties of a gentleman?” On the surface, there was nothing noteworthy about her question. But in her tone… I was missing something about it.
“What are those duties?”
“Oh, you know, estate management, parliament, heirs, that sort of thing.”
My mind caught on the third item, the one I rather expected she had feelings about. “Parliament, that sounds a dreadful endeavor. I daresay I shall have to, won’t I?”
She nodded, unlaced our fingers, and stole her hand from mine. “And the rest?”
“Are you asking if I am now in desperate pursuit of heirs?”
“I suppose I am.”
