Page 13 of A Rogue to Resist
“Actually,” Drake said, his attention still on Katherine, “I would prefer if Lady Katherine served as guide, given her familiarity with the estate. The Duchess would be welcome as chaperone, naturally.”
“I’m afraid I have Parliament that day,” James said stiffly.
“Then the Duchess’s presence will suffice for propriety,” Drake replied smoothly. “Unless Lady Katherine objects?”
Katherine felt cornered. To refuse would seem petty and might weaken her position. But spending a day showing Drake around Greythorne—the site of so many painful memories—while he catalogued Edmund’s failures...
“I have no objection,” she said finally. “Though I warn you, Lord Greythorne, the tour may not be entirely to your liking.”
Something flickered in his eyes—curiosity? Concern? “Why is that?”
“Because you’ll see exactly what Edmund considered worthy of investment, and what he deemed unnecessary.” She kept her tone neutral, but the words themselves were damning enough. “The contrast can be... illuminating.”
Drake studied her for a long moment. “All the more reason for a thorough inspection, then.”
He rose from his chair with fluid grace. “Thank you for your time, Lady Katherine, Your Grace, Duchess. I’ll send my carriage for you at nine o’clock, the day after tomorrow.”
“We’ll be ready,” Katherine replied, standing as well.
As Norman showed Lord Greythorne out, Katherine remained frozen in place, her mind racing with implications.
“Well,” Rosabel said into the silence that followed his departure. “He’s certainly direct.”
“He’s fishing,” James said grimly. “Looking for any excuse to challenge your settlement.”
“Perhaps,” Katherine said quietly. But something in Drake’s manner suggested his interests went beyond simple acquisition. He seemed genuinely curious about the estate itself, not just its value.
“Katherine, you don’t have to do this,” James said. “We can insist everything go through solicitors.”
“No.” Katherine’s voice grew firmer. “If he wants to see what Edmund left behind, let him. Perhaps when he understands the full scope of the neglect, he’ll realize that my management of the western fields is the least of Greythorne’s concerns.”
And perhaps, she thought but didn’t say, seeing the estate’s condition might make him understand why she fought so hard to protect what little independence she’d carved out for herself.
“Besides,” she added with a slight smile that didn’t reach her eyes, “I’m curious to see how the new Earl of Greythorne reacts when he discovers exactly what he’s inherited.”
Chapter Four
“Ifail to see whysheshould retain such a generous portion of the estate when it isIwho must restore it,” Drake muttered, pacing the length of his study at Greythorne House. “Even with her help, it seems she’s getting a better bargain than I am.”
The meeting with Lady Katherine—notLady Greythorne, as she had so pointedly corrected him—had not gone as he’d anticipated. Despite the warnings from both Harrison and Carrington about underestimating the woman, he had expected either a weeping widow or a Society gadabout, both out of their depths in business matters.
Instead, he’d encountered a woman with a razor-sharp mind who knew every acre of his inheritance better than he did.
It was... disconcerting.
Mr. Winters sat stiffly in a leather chair, watching Drake’s agitated movements with barely concealed apprehension. “As I explained before, my lord, the late Earl’s settlement with Lady Katherine was entirely legal. Her brother, the Duke—”
“Yes, yes, I’m well aware of what her brother arranged,” Drake interrupted, pausing to pour himself a generous measure of brandy. “The question is not whether it was legal, but whether it was just.”
“Just, my lord?”
Drake turned to face his solicitor, irritation simmering beneath his carefully controlled expression. “Five years of marriage, no children, and she walks away with more than half the unentailed assets. Does that strike you as equitable, Mr. Winters?”
The solicitor cleared his throat uncomfortably. “The terms were agreed upon before the marriage, my lord. And if I may speak candidly...”
Drake raised an eyebrow. “Please do.”
“The late Earl was not known for his... generosity of spirit. The Duke of Wexford was merely protecting his sister’s interests.”
