Beyond the Duke's Domain by Wendy Soliman

Author:Wendy Soliman
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2020-10-05T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Raph felt frustrated. Adler had told him that the two men who’d reported in that afternoon were experts in gathering local intelligence, and yet they had discovered nothing specific about Cutler’s activities. Adler and the duke hadn’t seemed especially perturbed by their lack of success. Adler, it seemed, had someone on the inside in Basingstoke’s household. It was simply a matter of getting a message to him and hearing what he had to say for himself.

Accustomed to the cut and thrust of covert work, Raph understood the value of patience as a general rule, but this was personal and that made the world of difference. The men seemed to think that Beauworth Hall might hide a few secrets, but the duke didn’t appear convinced. Its owner, a man by the name of Fisher, was elderly and spent the majority of his time abroad where the warmer climate was more beneficial for his health. Beauworth Hall was, apparently, in a bad state of repair. No one seemed to know if Fisher had any relatives, and there was just one man left to look after the place.

It still seemed highly suspicious to Raph, but there had been no time to decide what to do about the situation, since the men had arrived late and Raph sensed that the duke didn’t want them to know the precise reason for his concerns. Raph was in total agreement in that regard—the fewer people who knew about their suspicions the better. A secret shared was no longer a secret. Also, his sister’s reputation was in the balance. The duke had promised that they would speak in the morning and decide how best to proceed.

Raph now sat at the duchess’s table, feeling perfectly at home in such august company, and yet also detached from it. He and Ariana had been skirting around the subject of their future. Raph’s intention was to re-establish himself as a man of social status and financial means in the land of his birth. Before arriving in England, it hadn’t once occurred to him that Ariana wouldn’t feel similarly minded. Martina’s future was secure and there was nothing left here for Ariana.

Or was there?

He had been at Winchester Park for less than three days, but he could already see just how settled Ariana felt. She had found a purpose with Lord Amos’s children—something to distract her from her turbulent past. He thought of all she had endured in Spain when he had blithely left both of his sisters more or less to their own devices, and he wouldn’t be surprised if she never wanted to return home.

First things first, he decided. Stay for Martina’s wedding, deal with Cutler and spike Basingstoke’s guns if he proved to be involved. He would avenge his sisters and repay the duke in some small measure for assuming the duties of care that Raph had neglected in such a cavalier fashion.

He glanced down the table more frequently than was wise, thinking that Lucy Boyd looked sophisticated and charmingly reticent at finding herself the centre of attention.

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