He frowned when he saw the second drawer slightly ajar. First, he closed it, hesitated, and then reopened it. Private correspondence belonged here that didn’t include estate mattersor financials. There wasn’t much to keep in here beyond a few invitations he had retained for one reason or another.
“Your Grace?” Mr. James leaned forward with a concerned brow. “Is something wrong? Shall I call a footman for you?”
Although Dominic considered it, he knew it would be foolish. What could he say? Suspect? That someone had come through and rifled through his papers? Everyone knew that no one was to enter except for the most senior maid, Eleanor, who cleaned just the way he had showed her ten years ago.
No one but the two of them would ever sort through this room.
And yet…
Who would? Another servant? Verity? The window was opened on occasion to provide fresh air, and it sat right behind him. There were still too many possible reasons before he could make assumptions, especially accusations.
“It’s fine.” Dominic closed the drawer again. He placed the paper in the correct pile with a forced smile. “I don’t mean to distract us. Let me pull out my list of questions to begin, shall I?”
He redirected the conversation to the correct topic for the afternoon. There were other matters at hand.
But the papers and drawer remained in the back of his mind. There was no one to question, no one to accuse. All he did wasmake sure to keep this in the back of the mind. Because once meant nothing. But twice would be a coincidence and a third time… It would have to mean something more.
Dominic took this seriously. After his meeting with his solicitor, he added notes to his folders regarding movement for the contracts. Everything had transferred into his name once the marriage took place, but several components required more attention than he had anticipated.
More folders. More papers. He liked copies of everything. His solicitor managed the originals while he kept copies. Which meant an ever growing pile of papers…
“Your Grace?”
He turned to the door in surprise with several piles still caught up in his arms. Rearranging his files on his desk was taking longer than expected. But since he had started it, it was best he finished it as well.
There stood his housekeeper. A chambermaid peeking over her shoulder. They looked at him expectantly.
Did they already say something else?
“What is it?” He asked.
“It’s past supper time,” Mrs. Ridley explained, shifting back to make space for the chambermaid. She was training, the youngone. Or she had recently trained. He couldn’t recall at the moment. But she carried the laden tray well to his desk, pausing without knowing where to put it. “The duchess asked us to bring you a tray.”
He gestured with his head. “The chair. The left one.”
The chambermaid nodded, barely rattling the tray before straightening up. She offered a short curtsey before moving to hide behind the housekeeper.
“Is there anything more we can do for you?” Mrs. Ridley asked.
“No. Wait. What time is it?”
The housekeeper kept a small watch on her chatelaine. “It’s a quarter past eight.”
Supper would have been an hour and fifteen minutes ago, though he hadn’t noticed. Frowning, he asked, “Why didn’t anyone send for me?”
“They did, Your Grace,” Mrs. Ridley said with an impassive expression while fixing the watch amongst her watches. “Three footmen.”
“And did I say anything?”
“Yes, I believe you told them you would be down soon. No time was provided and they confirmed you never looked at their face when they passed by.”
He hesitated. That sounded right. This happened on occasion. Once off his routine, he sometimes struggled to veer back on the path. Especially when his work was not yet completed; in truth, he was only halfway through the shift of work. He’d had it alphabetical before and now he needed to sort everything chronologically. Already he was close…
“Your Grace?”
“Hm? Oh, yes. Yes, thank you for the food tray. Do send my apologies to the duchess. I’ll be sure to be in attendance tomorrow night,” Dominic reassured them before adding, “You may go.”
The two women left and he resumed his work to correct his piles of documents. A few needed to be set off to the side. He wasn’t altering his entire system, no, just those currently residing on his desk. The important matters. This new process would help him align on the two properties that had fallen into disrepair in the last couple of years and should also help him clear up a land dispute that went back fifty years no one had told him about.
