“I’ll look for anything your uncle might have left when the maids and I set the rooms in order.”
“And report anything untoward immediately to me.”
“Of course.”
“The attics will be searched tomorrow. Shall we say two o’clock, Miss Jenner?”
Surprise widened her eyes. “We, my lord?”
“Yes. It is best to begin there.”
“I can consign a footman and a maid… I’m in the midst of preparing the bedchambers for your guests, and there is much more that requires my attention.”
“The staff are anxious. Let’s keep this between ourselves. And it must take precedence.”
She raised her eyebrows. “Have you reconsidered the house party?”
“I have.” He noted the rebuke in her eyes. “Naturally, this has changed my plans. It must wait until I’m sure the danger is at an end. I trust an hour spent in the attics won’t interfere with your work. The light will be poor. I’ll bring a lantern.”
She hesitated as if she expected him to throw something else at her. “Is that all, my lord?” she said finally.
“Yes, Miss Jenner. For now.”
She left the library, her frustration evident in the stiff set of her shoulders. Had she wished to search the rooms on her own? Or was it dealing with him she found difficult? He rather thought it was the latter.
About to write to his solicitor to inquire if any correspondence his uncle sent him might prove illuminating, Dominic toyed with a quill, musing about his inclinations. He was no longer sure what drove him. Leaving London and coming here had changed his views on many things. When his sister objected to him selling their father’s estate, he reasoned he deserved to live however he chose after he fought for his country against the French. But he’d enjoyed the satisfaction of achieving something here, and this happening made him angry. He was damned if some person or persons unknown was going to threaten him under his own roof. He thought he’d left that behind in London with the attack in Grosvenor Square.
He doubted their hunt through the various items stored in the attic would uncover anything to change his opinion that, apart from the estate, his uncle died a virtual pauper. But it suited him to have Miss Jenner search with him. He told himself it was not to spend time with her. Working side by side could tell him more about her. Why she wished to come here. The suspicion that she kept something from him still lingered. But he’d begun to trust her, and he hoped whatever it was she kept secret was not something to destroy his good opinion of her.
The next morning, Dominic went to the stables for his usual ride. He found Onyx in his stall, hanging his head.
“He’s off his food again, milord,” Fellows said as Dominic led the horse out into the quadrangle.
Dominic’s concerned rub of the horse’s neck failed to evoke a response. “Is he ill?”
“No. It’s my guess he’s lonely.”
“Lonely? Ridiculous! He is not alone.”
“That is true,” Fellows said. “But he’s taken a dislike to the carriage horses when they’re together in the paddock. Tried to bite one yesterday.”
“Puzzling.” Dominic studied his dejected horse.
“Might I make a suggestion?”
“Anything.”
“I was talking to the Lowry groom last night in the taproom.”
Dominic turned from buckling the saddle. “What did he have to say?”
“Apparently, when Sir Hubert Lowry owned him, the horse had a companion.”
“A mare?” Dominic smoothed his hair and jammed on his hat. It was not his plan to put the horse out to stud. Nor to geld him. Was all this sent to try him?
“A goat.”
Dominic stared at him. “A goat? Are you mad?”
