Edward’s mouth twitched behind his toast.
“I also noticed a stand ofQuercus roburnear the south meadow that appears to predate the house itself,” Wilfrey continued, oblivious. “English oak of that age is increasingly rare. You ought to have them surveyed.”
“I shall add it to my list of urgent matters. Right between the drainage patterns and the soil composition.”
“Excellent.” Wilfrey closed his notebook with satisfaction. “I am glad you take an interest in your land, Thornwaite. Too many gentlemen of our class neglect the natural assets of their estates.”
Hugo took a long sip of coffee and said nothing. Edward’s toast trembled in his hand.
Wilfrey tucked the notebook into his coat pocket and straightened his cravat with the precise movements of a man preparing for an expedition rather than a country house breakfast.
“If you will excuse me, I thought I might take a walk before the morning’s activities. Lady Lily mentioned an interest in the gardens yesterday, and I was hoping to show her the oak stand, if she is amenable.”
Something cold settled in Hugo’s stomach. He kept his expression pleasant.
“By all means. Though I believe Lady Lily is with her aunt in the gallery at present.”
“I shall find her presently. Good morning, gentlemen.”
Wilfrey bowed and departed with the unhurried precision of a man who had never rushed toward anything in his life, including the woman Hugo could not stop thinking about.
The breakfast room fell silent. Edward set down his toast and looked at Hugo with the patient, assessing gaze of a man who had known him long enough to read the tension in his jaw.
“You are grinding your teeth.”
“I am not grinding my teeth.”
“You are. I can hear it from here. It sounds like someone stepping on gravel.”
Hugo unclenched his jaw and took another sip of coffee. The liquid burned his tongue. He did not care.
“He wants to show her the oak trees, Edward.”
“He does.”
“He wants to walk her through my grounds, on my estate, and show her trees that have been standing on my land since before the house was built, as though he discovered them himself.”
“He is courting her. That is what you arranged.”
“I am aware of what I arranged.”
“Are you? Because your face suggests a man who has arranged his own firing squad and is surprised to find the rifles pointed at him.”
Hugo set down the coffee cup with more force than he intended. The porcelain rattled against the saucer.
Edward folded the morning post and set it aside. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, and the shift from Duke to friend happened in the space between one breath and the next.
“Talk to me.”
“There is nothing to talk about.”
“Hugo.”
“He confused Pliny the Elder with Pliny the Younger at dinner last night, and she let it pass. She caught it. I saw it in her eyes. She caught the error, and she smiled and redirected the conversation, and he had no idea. No idea that the woman sitting beside him was smarter than he was and had chosen to hide it so that he might feel comfortable.”
“That is what you taught her to do.”
“I know what I taught her to do.” Hugo pushed back from the table and stood.
