Page 24 of Fortune’s Final Folly

“My lord?” The door pushed open, flooding the interior of the records room with the light and noise from the outer offices.

She wasn’t sure who moved first, but they broke apart as if they’d been caught in a most compromising and scandalous position. His hand released hers, and Kate’s chest tightened as the loss of the contact overtook her. But Joshua was not hers, he would never be hers. And as such, he was not hers to lose.

“Good day, Mr. Barber,” Joshua greeted the clerk as he stepped into the room.

“I was sent to see if you were in need of assistance.” The man stared only at Joshua, and Kate dropped her gaze to her feet.

“We were just finishing up but thank you.” Joshua collected the file from the table and held out his arm to Kate. “Are you prepared to depart?”

Every instinct within her screamed that she was not ready to depart, that she needed a few more minutes alone with Joshua…to discover what had transpired between them and intuit what was to come.

However, when Mr. Barber strode into the room and began returning boxes to the shelves and tidying the mess they’d made, Kate knew her moment with Joshua had passed.

With a smile, she took Joshua’s arm, and they started for the door.

Kate had been right. The file had only brought about more questions and gave her few—if any—answers. Perhaps it would be the same with her connection to Joshua.

Though she was resigned that if their search proved fruitless, she’d set aside finding out about her past. Kate was not positive that she could do the same where Lord Joshua Stuart was concerned.

Chapter 8

Joshua cast a smile to his left and nodded as his footman delivered their final course, dessert. He reached forward and served Miss Kate and then himself. Raspberry tart with a flaky, buttery crust, exactly as his grandmother had perfected decades ago with the help of her own mother. As she grew older and no longer pursued a pastime many called unsuitable for a duchess of her station, his grandmother had taught a few trusted servants to prepare the dessert.

Kate sat rigid in her chair, though her gaze devoured the sweet treat.

“It is as scrumptious as it appears, I assure you,” he volunteered in an attempt to break the silence that’d overtaken the room since she’d joined him for last meal. They hadn’t had much time following his impromptu kiss of her wrist to speak openly without a servant near. Even Dolly had taken to being close at hand when Joshua and Kate were in residence at his townhouse. “The crust is made with churned butter from the barn out back.”

When she did not acknowledge his words, he thought about offering that the raspberries were from his family’s country estate, picked from bushes allowed to grow with wild abandon since long before Joshua was born.

It would be for naught, he was afraid.

Kate had been quiet and withdrawn since they returned from his office on Bond Street, and Joshua had summoned Henry to leave for Oxfordshire immediately with the missive he’d drafted for the Duke of Shrewbury. Kate needed funds to complete the repairs. With the vast amount already given to her family, Joshua hadn’t thought anything of his request for an additional payment of two thousand pounds to be issued with all due haste.

It would be enough to see the building back to good standing, with enough left to repurchase all the books that had been destroyed and perhaps some supplies to fill Kate’s pantry.

She’d thought the amount requested excessive. Yet, he’d explained it was only a starting point.

The art of negotiation was something Joshua knew much about.

He asked for two thousand pounds, and the duke would likely agree to fifteen hundred pounds.

Not as much as they’d asked for, but plenty to see the schoolroom mended so lessons could begin anew.

Joshua knew his father—or his brother—would not so much as sniff at two thousand pounds. It was a paltry sum for most wealthy lords.

And then, perhaps when the matter of finances and repairs were duly in hand, they would have ample time to speak on the subject of what had transpired between them. If Kate wanted to discuss it. Of late, Joshua could not help but wonder if he’d made a grave mistake and manufactured an attraction and bond that did not exist on Kate’s part. But he couldn’t worry about that right now.

“With luck, Henry will return by tomorrow evening with a note for the funds.” Joshua took a bite of his tart and waited for Kate to look up at him. “I will arrange for workers to begin repairs within a fortnight, two at the very most.”

“What if the duke refuses your request?” she whispered.

“Then we will manage until your next envelope arrives,” he said around another bite of tart. It did not escape his notice that she’d yet to even so much as try the dessert. “You can teach lessons in my office for as long as necessary.”

Kate’s body tensed further in her chair, and much like their moment in the file room, Joshua wondered if he’d misspoke or misjudged the situation. He could not imagine the pressure and uncertainty that weighed on her, and he only wanted to assist her. In any way he could.

“You have already done too much.” Her defeated stare met his. “This is all too much to expect from you. From anyone. If the duke denies my request, I will find the means to complete the repairs.”

“I want to help.” Unsurprisingly, he meant every word. At some point, he’d begun to think of himself and Kate as a we, and the damage to her schoolroom their situation—together, not Kate’s alone. It had been many years since he’d truly felt in league with another. A true partner. “We will make the best of the situation. Before we know it, your home will be fixed.”