“He has given me no jewelry of any value.”
“How unfortunate. I had rather hoped . . . After what Theo told me . . .”
“What exactly did Theo tell you? And was he drunk when doing the telling?”
“If he was drunk, it was from happiness. He all but danced with delight when he returned from that ride. The duke is clearly in love, he said. The man could not take his eyes off you, he said. The two of you rode away to where you might find someprivacy, he said.” She lowered her chin and looked up meaningfully on that part.
Clara feared she might blush and give it all away. “If he had followed us, he would have found us having an argument. A rather loud one on a subject not for the ears of the entire ton. Although the duke and I have a friendship of sorts, it is not in any way romantic. Considering our two families, how could it be?”
Grandmamma did not care for that. She pursed her lips and contemplated this unfortunate news. “He has no need for a friendship with you of any kind, Clara. If he seeks your company, his intentions are rather more than friendship. You must tell me if he gives you, or attempts to give you, any fine jewelry. It implies things when a man does that. For a woman of your breeding, it is a declaration and all but ensures that a proposal will be forthcoming very soon, if not immediately.”
Clara wondered what it implied for a woman not of her breeding. Intentions not honorable, most likely.
Her grandmother once more whacked Theo’s legs with her parasol. “We will take our leave so that you can dress. Do see about a new style for your hair. And tell your maid to tidy up.” She speared the nightdress with the tip of her parasol and held it aloft to wave like a flag. She began to speak but stopped. She peered at that nightdress. She sniffed. “Goodness, find a new laundress too. What did yours use on this garment? Fish water?”
“I will be sure to find a better one.”
The nightdress fluttered close to Theo before Grandmamma dropped it. Theo stared at the garment on the floor, then frowned. He turned to Clara with a quizzical expression.
Clara looked right back and feigned obliviousness to his curiosity. That scent now seemed to fill the dressing room.
“You should also replace that housekeeper and your maid.” Her grandmother continued intoning opinions while she stood. “And do not get any pets. I cannot abide women who live alone and keep menageries.”
“And here I was thinking to buy a parrot from South America. I thought I would bring him over so you could teach him to talk. Then I would have the joy of your lessons all the time.”
“Be careful, Clara. I am not too old to recognize sarcasm, and you walk a fine line these days with me. Come along, Theo. And remember, Clara, any gift of value, any gift at all for that matter, tell me at once. No, tell me aboutanythingthat happens with him. I do not want you mishandling this opportunity. You will need my advice.”
She sailed out. Theo glanced once more at the nightdress before following. “Do try not to ruin it, Clara. It isn’t as if any other man would take you on now,” he said in parting.
Jocelyn entered after they passed, and closed the door. “That sounded jolly.”
Clara thought Theo’s last words sounded ominous. As if he knew. Or guessed. She glared at that nightdress. Grandmamma might have forgotten that scent, but as a young man recently come into his fortune, Theo might be very familiar with it these days.
“Help me dress, Jocelyn.” She thought about that blank paper still waiting for her in the library. She would try to make some progress on it today. It would be hard. Already her thoughts floated back to the night before, and her heart to the emotions discovered within that intimacy.
* * *
Adam finished his letter to Clara and gave it to the butler to post. He also gave instructions to the man to send to the servants at one of his properties.
Correspondence finished, he called for his horse and rode to the City. He swallowed a temptation to call on a house in Bedford Square and continued straight away to a building near Lincoln’s Inn. There he presented himself at the chambers of Claudius Leland, his solicitor.
Mr. Leland had inherited his duties to the Duke of Stratton a year prior to Adam’s inheritance. Letters from Mr. Leland had arrived with regularity in Paris, long missives containing many details about the estate. With Adam gone, the solicitor had taken it upon himself to demand reports from every property and even visited the main ones each quarter. True, he had missed how the steward at Drewsbarrow had stolen several thousand pounds, but the thief had been very clever with the accounts, and Adam did not hold that sorry event against the solicitor.
Now Mr. Leland peered at him through spectacles. He was not a young man, but his thin hair remained red and his coloring still healthy. They sat in two chairs by a nice fireplace. Bookcases covered the walls, most of them filled with ledgers and portfolios. One deep shelf held scrolls. Although the hour was early, Leland offered some sherry. Then he waited to hear the reason for the visit.
“I am curious about any estate jewelry,” Adam said.
“Your forefathers accumulated some fine pieces over the generations. Most are not of styles to be fashionable today, but the stones and metals are of very high value. For the most part, they are left with the bank. One would not have such valuables in one’s home any more than a prudent man keeps thousands of banknotes on hand.”
“And the estate owns them? How does that work?”
Mr. Leland crossed his legs. He looked like a man happy to explain his particular expertise to anyone, especially a new young duke whom he still needed to impress. “Officially they belong to each duke in turn. There is no way to entail such things. Traditions of inheritance do form, however. For example, it is customary in families for someone, usually a trusted solicitor, to explain to a new duchess that while she can wear the jewels, and while any gift given directly to her by her husband becomes her personal property, the family jewels are not hers in a legal sense and remain with the estate.”
“So my father or grandfather could have given any of these valuables to whomever they chose. Or sold some of them.”
“As can you now, of course. Do you have an interest in doing so?”
“I am more interested in learning how someone would know if I did.”
