“Me, either. Perhaps it’s the wedding. We certainly entertained them all,” she said.
He rolled his eyes and confided his feeling the day before of being a clown on stage. She agreed and began, with an impish grin, to imitate some of the most intrusive guests. Breakfast passed with laughter and sharing.
“What shall we do today?” she asked, heat coming up at the possibilities.
An answering heat blazed in his eyes. “I thought I would go work in the estate office. The sooner I get to the bottom of what I came to do, the sooner we can go home.”
At “office,” her heart fell, and she couldn’t keep the disappointment from her expression.
He peered at her earnestly. “I adore your eagerness for the marriage bed, Mia, but last night was your first, and I came to you twice. Can you tell me you aren’t sore?”
“I—Well, perhaps. A little.”
“I’m glad it is little. It will pass, but a day to heal will make the next time better,” he said, rising.
Next time…“How can it be better?”
He chuckled. “I anticipate exploring all the ways with you. For now, let’s get people up here for these dishes and request fresh bathwater for you.”
“That does sound lovely,” she said. “But do you have to go?”
He hesitated a moment. “If I stay, I won’t be able to keep my hands off you. I’m determined to give you today.”
She studied her toes beneath his wrapper. “In that case, I’ll work, too. I’ll sort those papers.”
“Sort?”
“I’ll put them in a sensible order,” she said. “We’ll organize it in such a way we can tell if someone disturbs it.”
“You, my dear, are a treasure beyond pearls,” he said, kissing the top of her head.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Who would havean interest in the papers? Marshall? Hard to see why. Tavernash, perhaps. It is difficult to envision him bestirring himself from his smug beliefs. Who, then?
Gideon had no idea. It was one more mystery. His battered saddle. Ledgers that didn’t add up. The blacksmith’s missing daughter.
He passed Jem coming from the estate offices. He did that far too often for Gideon’s taste. His presence there was another mystery. The would-be valet inclined his head. “Am I needed upstairs? I thought you wouldn’t require me for a spell.” His speculative expression, Jem obviously wondering what a newly wedded man was doing coming to the office the day after the ceremony, irritated Gideon.
“I’ll leave my boots in the hall for you after supper,” Gideon said. “We’ll see about tomorrow.” He didn’t want the man anywhere near Mia, a complication of marriage he hadn’t anticipated. He didn’t want him near the box of family papers, either.
“Allow me to add my congratulations, sir. I hope all was in order when you returned from the wedding breakfast yesterday,” Jem said. Gideon couldn’t say what lurked in Jem’s eyes that bothered him, but something did. He let the man pass.
One more damned mystery. He paused in his tracks. Of them all, the disappearance of Lizzy Carter must be the most important, more than the never-ending ledgers waiting for him. The blacksmith had cornered him about the girl in the middle of his wedding breakfast.
“Who’s gonna do something with the duke in charge and him gone?” Carter had demanded. “Does anyone up at that big house give a damn about my girl?” His voice had grown harsh until the vicar had intervened.
Who indeed?Gideon thought.No one, if I don’t. He knew little enough. He would have to go into Nether Abbas and face the gossips to ask questions, but that was too much for today.
The one thing he knew was that the girl had been on her way to the Woodglen dairy. The dairy lay southwest of the manor, behind a stand of trees that separated pasture land from the artificial lake and landscaped grounds of the manor, two miles or so above the village. She’d have taken the walking path that led to Nether Abbas. He ought to examine her route and question the dairy maids. He walked right on past his office and the pile of ledgers waiting for him. He could do that last part, at least.
Getting there would be easier if his tack had been fixed. He walked the quarter mile to the stables, hoping it was so. He’d gone a quarter mile in the opposite direction if not.
He found Marshall leaning against the hay bin, chatting with Bert and Frank.
“Good morning, gentlemen,” Gideon said.
The three of them glanced up, and brows rose. More speculative glances, whispers, and a nudge between Frank and Bert.
