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“Your Grace! Were we expecting you?” Sackwell hurried forward, gesturing to the footmen to take the reins of Sebastian and Drake’s horses.

“No, this is an impromptu visit,” Sebastian said with a reassuring smile. “I am attending a house party at Clarence estate and thought to take the opportunity to visit and see how things are. This is Ormonde, by the way.” He gestured at Drake, and Sackwell bowed immediately.

“Your Grace. We’ll get the horses stabled. How long do you plan on staying?” Sackwell was practically quivering with either excitement or tension. Could be both. It had been a while since he’d been able to oversee the household with the duke in residence on his own.

“Just through the afternoon.” Sebastian glanced upwards at the sun, which was still a couple hours from being directly overhead. “My sister expects us back for supper.”

“Very well.” Sackwell was disappointed, but he hid it well. “We will ensure your horses are cared for and ready to return to your sister’s this evening.”

“Thank you. In the meantime, Ormonde will entertain himself for a bit. I thought to look at whatever Levandis has for me… Ah, there he is.” Sebastian smiled wider as the mere mention of his steward had apparently summoned him. The man looked nearly as surprised and harried as Sackwell at Sebastian’s unexpected arrival. “I would like to speak to you today, if possible, about my mother.”

Sackwell’s expression sobered immediately. “Yes, Your Grace. She stopped here on her way to London. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do…”

“Of course not, and I would not have expected it of you.” Sebastian clapped the man’s shoulder, nodding as Levandis approached. The man was a prissy sort, always tightly controlled, but right now he was clearly flustered. Red-faced and a bit wild-eyed, he was puffing as he came up to Sebastian and quickly bowed.

“Your Grace! I am so sorry, I did not realize you were coming⁠—”

“Because I did not tell you,” Sebastian reminded the man, bemused. “I assume that since I’m here, you’ll have some papers for me to look over?”

“I… well, yes.”

“Good. Let’s get to it then.” At some point, Sebastian planned to maneuver the conversation around to their employees and Aaron Heywood in particular. He did not want to be too obvious about it because if one of his employees was involved… there could be others. As much as he wanted to trust Sackwell and Levandis, as soon as he’d seen them, he’d realized he needed to be cautious.

Not just because he didn’t want word to get out that he was investigating his father’s death, but because they could have had something to do with it. After all, Aaron Heywood had worked for Matthew’s father at one point before moving to Sebastian’s father’s employee. Montblanc had worked for Gregory’s father.

It was entirely possible that there were more employees with grudges who had become involved.

Sebastian liked to think that his people were completely trustworthy, that they’d been happy under his father, and would never have anything to do with his death. He couldn’t think of any situation like Heywood’s or Montblanc’s where someone’s loved one had been hurt or died because of his father.

But he could not be certain, either.

As far as he knew, his father had been a good duke. Unlike Gregory’s father. And Matthew’s father had also had a reputation for being a hard man. But Sebastian did not know everything.

It wasn’t worth the chance.

Drake had shed his ducal persona and was now walking away with the footman leading his horse to the stables, both giving the man instructions while engaging him in conversation. It never ceased to amaze Sebastian how seamlessly Drake could blend in with whatever surrounds he found himself in. The footman was nodding and chatting back, possibly sharing his own knowledge about horses.

Once they reached the stables, no doubt Drake would be able to do the same there. It was entirely possible he would uncover Aaron Heywood and speak to him before Sebastian had the opportunity to ask Levandis or Sackwell about the man.

But he still needed to get on with his own duty, just in case.

He strode inside the house, Sackwell and Levandis following him, although Sackwell peeled off to a different part of the house once they were through the door, while Levandis accompanied Sebastian to the study. Of all the rooms in this house, this was the one that remained the closest to what it had been when his father was alive. Well, this and the library. Sebastian had not seen the need to update things, though his mother had gone through a flurry of redecorating once they were out of mourning.

For her, it seemed to give her a renewed sense of vigor and purpose. Changing out the old so she could move on with the new. For Sebastian, it had felt like an erasure of his father’s presence in the house. Which was why he’d kept the study and library the same, other than moving some of his things in.

As he sat down at the desk, gesturing for Levandis to sit across from him, he realized that he had no idea how Tiffany felt about the changes. She’d been a silent shadow of his mother’s at that time, quietly observing but not participating. It had never occurred to Sebastian to ask how she’d felt about the great redecorating project. Maybe because he’d known that eventually she’d have a house of her own, and this house was their mother’s purview and not hers, but he still could have asked.

He needed to be better about talking with his sister in the future. Sebastian made a mental note of it, feeling a bit tired at finding there was yet another deficiency in him as a brother that he had not previously realized.

As he and Levandis went over the various issues around the estate that had cropped up—none were urgent enough to send on to London, but since he was here, they might as well be attended to—Sebastian managed to focus and only thought about what Mei might be doing today a few times. Mostly when he thought about whether she would enjoy country life.

Personally, he liked going back and forth between the city and the country, but if she preferred one over the other, he could be happily settled in either.

Would she like the village fair that was held every summer? Would she want to host the winter ball that the surrounding countryside had become accustomed to, thanks to his mother?

Finishing up the last of the paperwork Levandis had for him, Sebastian leaned back in his seat, trying to appear as casual as possible. Drake had not made a reappearance, so Sebastian assumed he was hunting down his own path, which meant that it was time for Sebastian to try to make some headway on his.

“Did you meet with the duchess when she was on her way back to London?” he asked.