When he offered his arm, she took it. “Don’t let our pile of rock intimidate you, Your Grace. It is home. I apologize for my brother’s absence. He wandered into the hills this morning. We have no idea when he will return.”
“I’m acquainted with Colonel Morgan’s ways, Mr. Morgan. You needn’t apologize.” Maddy saw the disapproval on Phillip’s face and ignored it.
Parts of the manor, filled with good quality furnishings and comforts, none of them ostentatious, felt very much like a family home, but the stone walls of the chamber she’d been given could never have been called cozy. She glared into the mirror while Crenshaw, the petite despot Phillip and David believed suitable to be a duchess’s lady’s maid, yanked a brush through Maddy’s hair while she complained mournfully about the roads, the mountains, and “this monstrosity of a house.”
If you’re miserable, go back to London.Maddy bit back the words.Can I dismiss someone I didn’t hire?The woman had informed her the duke paid her salary, and Phillip would be horrified if Maddy suggested it. She resolved to endure but decided she couldn’t live with the woman if she didn’t assert herself.
“Kindly control your tongue, Crenshaw. Colonel Morgan’s brother is our host, and I will not be made miserable by your complaints while you serve me.” The woman’s stricken expression almost caused Maddy regret, but the maid couldn’t wipe the resentment from her eyes. At least she kept her silence.
A fire in the hearth kept her chamber warm enough, but when Maddy stepped into the hallway with her shawl over one arm, cold air assailed her. She shivered and pulled the shawl around her shoulders.
“It’s impossible to heat this place.” Her heart rose at the sight of Brynn Morgan leaning against the wall, his expression inscrutable. He stood up straight when he saw her.
“You waited for me?”
“To apologize for not being here to greet you and to escort you through our maze of corridors to the dining room.” He offered his arm.
After two more days cooped up with Phillip, she wasn’t in the mood to be hurried along. She lay her palm along his upper arm. It felt good to touch. “I’m glad you came. We need to talk.”
“You’re wondering what I told Rhys. Not much. Only that Glenmoor had an interest in his mines…” He removed her hand and held it in his. She didn’t recoil, once again pleased that his touch felt comfortable to her. More than comfortable. Perhaps… But this was no time to consider old hurts.
She scowled at his words. “Brynn…”
He fixed his gaze on the wall behind her. “It seemed safer than ‘Glenmoor’s older brother who disappeared may be the rightful duke.’ I confess, however, that I wrote to him before we left London, inquiring about the name Gideon Jessop. I didn’t expect the inquiry to turn into a caravan.”
She ignored his sarcasm. “We will have to tell him we’re looking for the man in any case. Phillip will if we don’t. We’ll tell him Phillip’s older brother went missing. It is as much as the duke knows. Mr. Morgan can draw his own conclusions about why an older brother might not inherit the title.”
“We’ll just allow him to believe a lie.” He gazed at her then, frowning so fiercely she struggled to keep from looking down.
If she’d had any doubts before about how much he loathed dishonesty, she no longer did. She swallowed the lump his disapproval engendered in her throat but kept her eyes steady. “We won’t burden him with an unproven possibility.”
They stared at one another until he nodded, dropped his eyes, and offered his arm again. “Shall we go down?”
She took it and let him lead her. “Mr. Morgan said you had gone up the mountain this morning.”
“Yes. If I’d known when you would arrive, I’d have been here, but I can’t resist the beauty of the country. Perhaps I’ll show you the view from up there if you’re here long enough.”
A moment flashed by in which Maddy fought the urge to ask him to take her that very moment. She longed to see this world through his eyes. “I would like that. Maybe after we finish this business.” Her heart sank, wondering if they would ever finish the issue of Gideon and his birth, ever have a moment to share their worlds in peace, to explore what might lie between them—or what could if they let it. She kept her thoughts to herself.
*
The hills drewBrynn as Brynhafan did not. The mountains pulled him out of the manor and its memories, away from the village, away from the colliery, away from Mary Carew’s sad, little cottage. How could he show Madelyn the things that fed his soul? How could he explain without telling her the rest? Better by far to focus on her quest and be done with it, even though he feared in the end honor would demand he do things that would drive her away.
Rhys waited in the drawing room, indulging Glenmoor’s unexpected fascination with history and the house.Ever the gracious host, my brother.
Both men rose. Glenmoor beckoned Lady Madelyn to sit. Rhys watched the gesture, and Brynn could see he didn’t miss the affection between them. The glance he flicked at Brynn was rife with unanswered questions. Brynn looked away only to catch the duchess watching him. Secrets everywhere. He went to the cabinet to pour a sherry for Madelyn, leaving the three of them to make small talk, but his brother joined him there.
“Did you visit Mary Carew?” Rhys asked.
Brynn glared at him without answering. Mary Carew belonged in his past, and he would not discuss her with Rhys.
Dinner was announced quickly. Rhys led the duchess in. Both Glenmoor and Rhys unleashed their well-hewn social skills to guide the conversation down pleasant paths as perfect manners dictated, not allowing anything so crass as business—or disputed dukedoms—to disturb their meal. Madelyn appeared to chafe under it once or twice but seemed content to allow them to manage the flow until they finished an excellent pudding and Rhys glanced at her pointedly.
“If you don’t mind, Mr. Morgan, I would like to remain. There is much we should discuss.”
Brynn’s brother acquiesced to her logical request and ordered what turned out to be a very fine port to be served. Even Madelyn accepted a glass. That done, both Glenmoor and Brynn waited for Madelyn. The lady herself seemed to have taken a sudden interest in the crystal glass she held.
Brynn began to wonder what observation he might make about the weather (cold and wet) or the house (cold but merely damp) when Madelyn spoke up.
