Chapter Twenty-Two

James walked at Daphne’s side in silence, carrying her trunk of herbs. She’d spent the late morning taking her breakfast and packing her herbs. He knew he had done a poor job of thanking her for the kindness she’d shown his mother. He was simply so unaccustomed to anyone helping him look after his family that the words refused to come.

Daphne did not seem overly concerned by the pause in conversation. She never did.

“A letter for you, Miss Lancaster.” The butler held out a sealed missive. “A footman just delivered it from Falstone House.”

She took the letter and thanked him. “It is from my brother-in-law,” she said after a quick perusal of the address.

Did the Dangerous Duke object to Daphne’s having spent the night at Techney House despite the presence of a maid for propriety? “How did he manage to get a letter from Shropshire so quickly?”

“Not that brother-in-law.” How was it that her dimpled smile always forced a smile from him regardless of his distress? “This letter is from the harmless one.”

James opted for an overblown show of relief. She might not realize how panicked he’d actually been for a moment. “There is a small sitting room just down this corridor a bit. If you’d like to read your letter there, I can gather what you need should you wish to pen a reply.”

“I am happy to read it while I’m waiting for the carriage and during my ride home. But I thank you for the kind offer.”

He could not say why her small expression of gratitude struck him with such force, but he realized in that moment that Daphne never failed to thank him for even the smallest things he did for her. Even gestures which were, in all honesty, insignificant never passed without an acknowledgment. Perhaps it was one of the reasons helping her never felt like a task he was required to do but rather a natural inclination.

Ben had only just stepped inside when James and Daphne reached the front entryway. “Miss Lancaster,” he said, inclining his head. “Has James not allowed you to escape yet?”

“I am afraid he has kept me locked up in your dungeon all morning. It has been terrible, I assure you.”

“In the dungeon?” Ben tsked and shook his head. “Sounds to me as though he is borrowing a page from your guardian.”

“Adam does have a tendency to bring out the most sinister in people.”

James had the oddest urge to brush his thumb along her cheek precisely where her dimple lay. It was adorable. Utterly adorable.

“I am pleased to have seen you before I left, Mr. Tilburn,” Daphne said. “This letter is for you.” She held out a missive folded smaller than standard and, if James was to hazard a guess, having arrived inside the letter she herself had just received. “From my brother-in-law, Mr. Windover.”

“The one who raises sheep?” Ben asked, taking the letter with undisguised eagerness.

“The very one. He indicated in his letter to me that he hopes to have some sound advice for you.”

“Then you told him about me?”

She looked immediately uncertain. “I hope you are not offended. He has learned a great deal over the past few years and is most willing to share his knowledge with others in situations similar to what his was.”

“Offended?” Ben shook his head. “Not at all. I’m . . . flattered and . . . grateful. Thank you, Miss Lancaster.”

Daphne turned a remarkable shade of red at Ben’s effuse gratitude.

James knew she would far prefer an escape than to be the recipient of more attention. “I do believe we should allow Miss Lancaster to return home to recover from her long night,” James said, giving his brother a pointed look.

“Of course.” Ben’s smile did not lessen. “Of course.” He walked off in something of a daze, eyes continually dropping to his letter.

James held out his hand to her. She slipped her own in his as naturally as though they had done so many times. He had done nothing to earn her trust and felt infinitely more guilty realizing he had it and did not deserve it.

Seated across from her in the carriage, he took a moment to attempt an adequate expression of appreciation. “I am so touched by what you’ve done for Ben,” he said. “His estate, dilapidated as it is, means the world to him. I have been at a loss as to how I might help him. You, in what I am discovering is simply your way, have hit at the very heart of the matter and addressed it quite perfectly.”

“That is Adam’s influence,” she said. “He taught me long ago how to think through a situation and discover the actual problem, which is often quite different from what one first notices. Your brother, on the surface, seems to simply need funds, but his true problem is more long-term. He needs to know how to run an estate that is falling to pieces and how to build it over time. I happen to know someone who has done exactly that. Introducing the two to each other simply made sense.”

Good heavens, she was a marvel. “But you not only realized the sensible solution; you made it happen too. In my experience, most people don’t take that final step. Most can’t be bothered.”

“I think you have known the wrong sort of people.”

Was it any wonder he’d come to like her so very much? She was intelligent, kind, calming. He reached across the carriage and took her hand in his, raising it to his lips and pressing a kiss to the back of her hand. “Has anyone ever told you, Daphne Lancaster, that you are amazing?”

“I can honestly say no one ever has.”

He kept her hand in his, the simple gesture echoing as a flutter in his chest. “It sounds to me as though I am not the only one who has known the wrong sort of people.”