Page 50 of A Duke Changes Everything
After bidding Mrs. Shepard farewell, he resumed his seat and waited for the next villager to approach. They came in a ceaseless line, and the duke spoke to each of them with kindness and interest. Some came only to meet the new master of Enderley, but most asked for some favor or repair or consideration that only the Duke of Tremayne might grant.
Mina had filled several pages with notes and had her head bowed when a voice called to her from the rear of the vicarage. “Mina, I didn’t know you’d be here.”
She stood and barely had time to turn before two thin arms embraced her in a hug. Her cousin, Colin, was five years younger and two heads taller, nearly as towering a figure as Nicholas Lyon. Since her father’s death, he was her only family residing in Barrowmere. The rest of her mother’s relatives were scattered in the north, while her father’s people hailed from a village an hour’s drive away.
“The duke asked me to accompany him. I’m taking notes on what he’s promised to each villager.” Harder to explain was how much the duke’s kindness and generosity shocked her.
“What’s he like?” Colin pushed a wave of sandy overlong hair off his forehead. Under one arm, he clutched a messy pile of papers, their edges bent and frayed. “Could you get me an introduction? I wish to show him my designs.”
“Anyone the vicar invited may approach,” she told him. “Go and introduce yourself. He doesn’t bite.” He snarled once in a while, but Mina was increasingly convinced the man’s heart wasn’t as black as he wished others to believe.
Mina took a step closer to the duke. Two men were presenting him with the details of an ongoing fight over a disputed hedgerow and apparently expected him to serve as arbiter.
“Aye, but you know him.” Colin followed close on her heels. “You could smooth the way.” He drew up beside her and offered one of his crooked grins, suddenly every inch the boy she’d taught to climb trees and fish in the mill pond. Pointing to his sheaf of papers, he added quietly, “I intend to ask him for funding. The London papers say he’s invested in the railroad.”
Mina tried to get a look at the sketches. “Tell me this isn’t your sock-removal device. Or the mechanism that turns the pages of a book with a metal arm.”
Colin rolled his eyes. “I’ve grown up since those days.” He patted his collection of papers. “This idea has merit. A steam-powered thresher. Better than the one I designed for Wilcox farm. Smaller, faster, and more efficient than any ever conceived. If I can secure funding, this device could aid the entire village.”
“Are you ready to depart, Miss Thorne?”
Mina jumped at the sound of the duke’s voice. She turned to find him casting a curious stare at Colin. “There’s one visitor you’ve yet to meet, Your Grace. My cousin, Colin Fairchild.”
“Mr. Fairchild, you should have come earlier.” The duke gave him a firm handshake and then turned his attention her way. “We agreed to two hours.” He flicked the chain dangling from his waistcoat and caught his pocket watch in his palm. “It’s a quarter past. I fear if I stay longer, I’ll be invited to more dances and asked to judge the flower show in the spring.”
Behind her, Colin poked gently at her elbow.
Mina turned to whisper, “Call at Enderley tomorrow. I’ll get you in to see him.”
“Thank you.” Colin bent to peck a kiss on her cheek before heading off to speak to the youngest Shepard sister.
“Shall we?” The duke gestured toward the carriage circle and then headed out the door of the vicarage.
Mina was at a loss. The man changed too quickly, zigzagging like the path of Enderley’s hedge maze. One minute kind and benevolent, as she’d seen him today with the neediest of Barrowmere’s tenants. The next, utterly inscrutable.
Mina found him inside the carriage, dominating his bench, thighs spread, his gaze fixed toward the carriage window. When she climbed inside, he moved his legs aside to give her room.
Another reason she loathed skirts. Too much fabric that took up far too much space.
His silence gave her another opportunity to study him.
He was blessed with an extraordinary profile. Pensive brow, square chin, and a large, sharp nose that dominated his face, but also lent him a strikingly noble air. If only she could see beyond those glossy dark locks, into his head. What thoughts compelled him? What burdens knotted his brow in lines of worry?
“You made many people happy today.”
He looked at her, a questioning expression in his gaze, then down at the notebook she held tucked in her lap.
“Mrs. Shepard was beaming, and I think Mrs. Belknap will sleep more soundly tonight. What did you promise her?” Mina lifted her notebook and readied her pencil over a blank page. “I’ll make a note and see that it’s done.”
“A reprieve from rent until the summer and repairs to her cottage by year’s end.” He shifted on his seat. “Did the day please you, Mina?”
“Yes, of course.” Her voice had gone scratchy.
He sat tensely on the bench, shoulders squared and arms crossed, but his eyes were full of longing. The man possessed exquisite eyes, not because they were different colors, but because of what she saw in them. His gaze gave every emotion away.
What she saw now was need, and it took every ounce of self-restraint not to reach for him. When she didn’t, he turned to look out onto the passing countryside.
“Tell me about your cousin, Miss Thorne.”
