Page 68 of A Duke Changes Everything
The windows sparkled like cut crystal, the curtains behind the white-washed facade were a cheerful lemon shade, and lanterns on either side of the dark blue front door had been polished until the brass glinted in the sun.
So different from Enderley’s weathered gray stones and imposing medieval-style battlements.
Somehow, the appeal of the townhouse’s facade made it more intimidating. Who were they to burst into this man’s well-ordered world unannounced?
Now that they stood on Aidan Iverson’s doorstep, Mina regretted her rash urge to call without an appointment or any prior acquaintance. They didn’t even possess calling cards to leave if he happened to be out or refused to receive them.
“Are we going to knock or did we come all this way to admire the architecture?”
Mina didn’t have to glance Colin to hear the smirk in his tone.
“This was foolhardy.” Because they were foisting themselves on Iverson unceremoniously, he might reject Colin’s invention out of hand.
“We’re going to knock.” He took a step closer to the door. “Coming was a good instinct, Mina. Sometimes in life, we must lead with our hearts instead of our heads. And I say that as a man whose mind never stops whirring like a spinning top.”
Mina had never had difficulty following her heart, but it hardly seemed the time to list the ways that instinct had led her to disaster.
“I have an excellent feeling about this.” He smiled back at her and stretched out his hand, hovering his fingers over the shiny lion’s head knocker in the center of the door. “Ready?”
“We have come a long way to turn back now.” Mina nodded and he rapped several times. Echoes bounced off the other whitewashed houses in the square.
They waited. Colin fidgeted with his journal. Mina fretted that Iverson would see their visit as more intrusive than daring.
“Shall we knock again?” he asked, his face beginning to fall.
Before Mina could reply, the door swung open and a striking dark-haired woman started across the threshold. She gasped to find them in front of her, and paused, regarding them with a startled gaze.
“Hello,” Colin said immediately. “We’re here to see Mr. Iverson.”
“Then you’ve arrived at the right place. I, on the other hand, am just departing.” She cast a glance over her shoulder. “Unfortunately, Iverson’s staff are currently preoccupied with a minor nuisance.” After tugging her gloves tighter on her wrists and examining both of them from boot to brow, the lady stepped back and gestured for them to enter. “I suppose I could show you in. What business do you have with him?”
“We seek his investment for my cousin’s invention.” Mina wasn’t sure of all the details regarding Colin’s thresher. She was only certain that if he’d designed the machine, it would be fresh and unique and beyond what anyone had ever imagined.
The lady lifted one dark brow. “What sort of invention?”
Mina hoped Iverson’s interest would match that of the woman leading them toward him in clipped quick strides. Colin fumbled with this notebook, pulling forcefully when the edge stuck in the seams of his pocket. With one enormous tug, the sound of tearing fabric set the journal free, but it immediately slipped from his hands. Torn scraps of paper fluttered down like snowflakes as the leather-bound notebook thudded to the marble floor.
The lady turned and bent to help them retrieve the scattered scribblings. “This is interesting,” she said, examining a long mathematical equation. “And I quite like this one too.” She held up a torn edge of paper featuring a sketch of some strange-looking machine with disks and levers, all of them numbered.
Though Mina shared a love of numbers with her cousin, her skills were best applied to ledger books, and his education and imagination soared toward creating devices sometimes only he understood.
“Are you fond of mathematics, miss?” Mina asked the finely dressed woman.
“Very much.” The lady’s whole face lifted when she smiled, immediately transforming her from formidable to friendly. “And I realize I failed to introduce myself.” She handed the notations to Colin and lifted a gloved hand to Mina. “Lady Lovelace, and you two are?”
Colin shot to his feet, shoved his notes under his arm, and offered the noblewoman a bow. “Colin Fairchild, my lady, and this is my cousin, Miss Mina Thorne.”
“What are you building, Mr. Fairchild? Some sort of calculation device?”
Colin took the sketch from Lady Lovelace’s fingers and stuffed it into his notebook. “Oh, that’s just a glorified abacus, really. The device we’re here to speak to Mr. Iverson about is of an agricultural and industrial nature.”
“Really?” The lady stood and assessed Colin, tapping a finger against her cheek. “Are you two engaged for supper this evening?”
“Ada?” A tall, handsome, auburn-haired man emerged from a room down the hall. “I thought you’d departed after Charles.”
“I found two visitors waiting on your front step, Iverson. A Mr. Fairchild and Miss Thorne from...?”
“Barrowmere. In Sussex,” Colin said, sketching a less impressive bow than the one he’d offered Lady Lovelace. “My cousin is the steward of Enderley Castle.”
