Page 69 of The Duke Who Loved a Widow
“I’m rowing over there today. I think I’ll take the estate boat rather than the one the children have renovated if that’s alright.”
“Absolutely, we’ve finished our work over there,” replied Jason. “You’ll like the island. It’s very tranquil. Now, I’d best get off to Horton Hall to speak to Sir Joseph. If he agrees, I’ll offer Judd Stephenson the position of lake keeper.”
“I believe Sir Joseph will be happy for Judd, but I want to do him the courtesy of checking with him before you offer the position,” said Robert.
“The cottage is ready for occupancy now. Let’s hope it all goes to plan,” replied Jason. He left Robert’s study to go to Horton Hall after reporting on the week’s estate business.
Robert had been distracting himself with business ever since that conversation with Arabella yesterday. He’d planned on talking to her about the incident with Rosalind but hadn’t expected to find her there on his return from Harrogate.
He’d plunged straight in and explained, but had he been clumsy with his words? Should he have waited and thought more about what to say? As he’d waved her off in the gig, he’d had no idea if she’d believed him.
He’d been right. She had seen him at the exact moment that Rosalind fell into his arms. Had Rosalind thought that the physical contact would have such a powerful effect that he would be unable to resist her charms?
He smiled, remembering how his body reacted when he held Arabella’s hand. Then those fiery sparks of desire, rising up from glowing embers of warm contentment.
He longed to hold her hand again and feel her body close to his, as he had at the Beehive Tavern and later on that lakeside walk. He felt a pang of fear that he might never get the chance again. If Arabella didn’t believe him about Rosalind and her scheming, then they had no future together.
He collected his papers ready for his meeting with Dawkins. He would ask Dawkins to liaise with his lawyer in London about another French property, with an established vineyard, neighbouring his estate in Burgundy.
Most of the discussion, though, would be about Christopher Farrington, and so far, what the investigators had unearthed showed that he was manipulating evidence to his own advantage. The difficulty would be the time it took to disprove what he had supplied as written evidence.
Eventually it should be fine, as wrongfully misleading a court was a serious matter. It could result in imprisonment, and he hoped Christopher would rot in the Fleet prison.
The danger was that the judge would take the evidence presented at face value and make a ruling, which meant that Arabella would have to hand Henry over to Farrington. Evenon a temporary basis, this would damage both Henry and his mother.
He had time to go down to the lake and take a swim. He hoped that a section of the lakeshore near the castle could be made an easy place to enter the water. He must set up a schedule for teaching Henry and Freddy. He’d promised them both, and he knew they wouldn’t forget.
He didn’t need a coat and would leave by the boot room door, avoiding all contact with his mother or any guests. As he sat to pull on his outdoor boots, he heard the sound of footsteps and looked up to see Simon towering over him. The look on his brother’s face was far from friendly.
Oh, this is all I need this morning. I’ve managed to avoid Simon most of the time and maintained a veneer of politeness during the few encounters that mother usually engineered. I wish she could just accept that things will never be how they were before.
“Simon. You look as if there is something, erm, troubling you.”
“I’ll say there is. How could you? I would gather our things and leave right now, except for the fact that it would devastate Mama,” Simon almost shouted.
Robert slowly pulled on his other boot, then stood to face his brother.
Simon continued, “This is intolerable, and I won’t stand for it anymore. I don’t know how you could do this to me. Actually, yes, I do. You have held it against me ever since Rosalind called off your engagement all those years ago.” The volume of Simon’s voice got higher with every word spoken.
Robert saw Mr Chalston’s concerned face appear in the doorway, and he waved him away, indicating that all was well and that he didn’t require any assistance.
“I don’t think you should be shouting in the house, Simon. The children’s schoolroom is very close to the boot room. Let’s take this outside.”
He opened the heavy door, knowing this would be a tedious, unnecessary encounter, probably set up by Rosalind. He didn’t want to be close to Simon, but he didn’t want things to deteriorate either.
Once they were in the garden and out of earshot of the house, he turned to his brother. “There is clearly something I’ve done that has caused you great offence. To come up to me, shouting like that when I am your host and you are a guest in my house, is not behaviour I’d expect. So, tell me the crime I’ve committed, and let’s get this over with.”
“You know already, so I don’t know why you’re pretending you don’t,” Simon accused him.
“Oh Simon, I can guess it is something to do with your fiancée, who will have accused me of something, which there is no point discussing as you have already decided to listen to one viewpoint,” Robert replied exasperated.
He stood, calm and decisive. He knew that he had nothing to defend.
“However, I am going to have to insist that you don’t come and shout at me like that, making a scene in my own home,” Robert added.
“Now, just a minute. Don’t speak to me like you are my older brother,” replied Simon aggressively.
“As I am your older brother, that is rather ridiculous.” He stared at Simon and did not break eye contact.
