Chapter 13

CHAPTER13

“This is going to change.” Rachel glared at the empty seat on the other side of the card table.

Across the room, Dorothea had fallen asleep and was snoring loudly. In contrast, Anne was sketching in a book, plainly doing whatever she could to avoid looking at Rachel.

Daniel had joined them for dinner. He’d been pleasant company, and though Rachel could feel he had looked at her every now and then, there had been no hint of what had taken place between them that morning on the grounds. He had not spoken of that near kiss, though she couldn’t blame him when his aunt and sister had also been at the table. Yet, there had been nothing in his looks that suggested he remembered it. There had been no heat, no intensity… nothing.

The man I have seen is not the damaged soldier.

The man who had laughed with her, smiled and raced across the open countryside was someone different. He was a man free of care.

That is my mission now. To find him again.

Rachel stood from the card table, abandoning the card game she had been playing alone, with a resolution in her mind. She intended to find Daniel, not just physically, but the version of him she had glimpsed a few times. If that was the real Daniel, the one who laughed and found jollity in her humor, then it was her task to bring him to life again.

“Where are you going?”

It was the first thing Anne had said to her all evening.

Rachel looked at her and offered her a smile, but it wasn’t returned. “I’m going to retire for the night,” she lied, then stepped forward. “That’s an excellent drawing.”

It was a sketch of a young man. There was something familiar about him, though Rachel couldn’t see the sketch well enough to determine who it was.

Anne closed the sketchbook hurriedly, blocking out the view of the sketch. “It is private.”

“Very well. Good night, Anne.” Rachel smiled again, disappointed that her sister-in-law was still so determined not to be her friend.

She left the room slowly and made her way through the moonlit corridor, but she didn’t head to the stairs. Instead, she headed toward the door to Daniel’s study and knocked lightly.

“Enter,” he called from within.

Rachel opened the door to find Daniel hard at work. His shirt sleeves were rolled up past his elbows once more, and he was bent over his paperwork, with a quill moving swiftly in his hands. Candles flanked him, basking his high cheekbones in an amber glow.

“Daniel?” At her voice, he looked up, stopping what he was doing. “Do you mind if I join you in here for a while?”

“I take it my sister is still not being the most welcome of company?”

“She likes her privacy, and her peace.”

“You are being benevolent toward her once again.”

“Well, it’s the way things are.” Noting that he had not refused her, she stepped inside and closed the door behind her, then crossed the room toward him. “Can I ask what business it is you are attending to so assiduously? You spend most of your evenings in here.”

He looked at her, frowning a little as he sat back in his chair.

“Let me guess,” she murmured, “should a woman not take part in business matters?”

“No. It’s just that no other woman has expressed an interest before.”

“Well, I’m interested.”

She grabbed a chair and drew it close to him, then she sat down and planted her elbows on the top of the desk, with her chin in her palm, looking alert and fixing her attention on him.

“You’re like an astute student.”

“I intend to learn, Master,” she teased him.

“Pray, do not say that.” He shook his head.

“Why not?”

“Because you are making my imagination wander again if you profess to wish to learn something from me and call me Master.” There was such a flirtatious overtone to the comment she couldn’t help smiling at him.

Yes, this is the version of Daniel I like!

She did not intend to retreat from him but held his gaze. “I’m not taking back the comment.”

“Stop misbehaving,” he warned, smiling this time. “I’m working on the brewery business.”

“Brewery?”

“Yes. The dukedom owns the Elbridge Brewery. We produce the Elbers Beer.”

“I did not realize that belonged to you.” Rachel’s eyes widened. She had often heard of it and knew many admired it. There was scarcely an establishment she had been to where it was not stocked. “I take it the brewery is one of the reasons the dukedom is so comfortable.”

“You could say that, but I’m debating some plans for the future concerning it.”

“Go on.” Rachel was eager for him to share. When he still looked nervous, fingering the quill and fidgeting, she rolled her eyes. “I often looked over my father’s business affairs. Now, I’m not intending to advise you, for I know you have infinitely more experience than I do, but I am interested to hear more if you would share it.”

Something in her words must have changed things, for he sat forward suddenly and pushed the papers and a map toward her.

“As well as the Elbridge Brewery, I am thinking of taking on another. The Yates Brewery in Reading is up for sale.” He pointed to a spot on the map. “It has been successful but has fallen on hard times these last few years. I think with some investment, it could be turned around.”

“An interesting prospect.” She looked over the papers and noticed that the accountants’ reports on profits had been minimal. “You would have to do a lot to turn these numbers into good profits.”

He blinked at her, clearly startled that she had read the numbers and could understand them so easily at a glance.

“I see the profits they’ve had went to the shareholders too. That means all the workers will be disgruntled. They will not want to work for someone new or come back to a business like that unless they are promised good payment.”

“You are right.” He drew forward a new sheet of paper and made a note. “What exactly did you help your father with, when it came to business?”

“Investments, mostly.” Rachel sat tall and flicked through the papers, shifting her focus to the business report. “He handled the tenants very well, but when it came down to knowing what investment was a good one, he always looked for advice. I did some reading a few years ago, and I keep abreast of current affairs by reading the newspapers. He trusted my judgment in such matters.”

“Very well, then let us test you.” Daniel collected a different file from his desk and pushed it toward her. “In there is my list of current investments. Tell me, have you heard of any of these projects?”

She looked down at the list, feeling as if she was being tested. She saw various names, including the East India Trading Company and a new shipping business that was run from Portsmouth.

“The East India Trading Company has lost a lot of its suppliers as of late. They are not as successful as they once were. Though they may recover their profits at some point, there is not much evidence to suggest you’d see a return for the next few years. This shipping company has fallen on similar hard times. They traded with the Americas, but upheaval in the country has hurt profits. If these were my father’s investments, I’d tell him to sell.” She looked up from the papers, finding that Daniel’s gaze was completely fixed on her. “What is it?”

“Just that I am seeing a side to you I did not know was there before.” He stared at her, leaning forward on the desk. “You have a well-read mind.”

She laughed, startled by his words. “Perhaps you just didn’t look for it before.”

“Maybe not. I’d be a liar if I said we knew everything about one another before we wed, would I not be?”

“Yes, that is true.” She nodded in agreement. “I am no expert, Daniel. I just reported to my father things I had read. So, what did you think of my analysis?”

“It’s funny you should ask that.” He took the paper back, his hand brushing hers as he did so.

She jolted and was rather dismayed to find the same touch didn’t seem to do anything to him. It had made her heated, but he carried on as if nothing had happened at all. She thought of his lips on her neck and how he had hovered there, teasing her with breathless near kisses earlier that day.

“This morning, my investment manager advised me to sell.”

“Truly?” she asked, startled as she sat back in her chair.

“Just so. Who would know I had someone just as clever already under my roof?” He smiled and pushed the other paper forward again, the one regarding the brewery. “So, give me your honest opinion on this. I’d be glad of your thoughts.”

“Very well.” She took some time to read the paper in full. Intermittently, she felt his eyes upon her, and she looked up, meeting his gaze before returning her focus to the papers.

She was very aware that he had loosened the cravat around his neck as he worked, revealing a flash of skin. She thought she caught a hint of dark hair on his chest, but she couldn’t be certain. The mere thought had her chewing on her lower lip, wanting to sneak another glimpse at him.

When she had finished reading the report, she sat tall.

“I think it could be a wise investment if you do all the things you are proposing to do in your list here.” She tapped a list of recommendations Daniel had already suggested to improve the business and see better profits. “Yet, the risk is still a great one. It’s not unusual when there is such a large amount of work to do for owners to take on partners.”

“I’m glad you said that.” Daniel sat forward abruptly. “Years ago, when my father brought the Elbridge Brewery, he went into business with a partner, the Duke of Gainsborough. Have you heard of him?”

“Heard, but I have never met him.”

“Then perhaps you know of his son, the Marquess of Repington?”

At the Duke’s words, a memory flashed in Rachel’s mind. The Marquess of Repington was a man commonly found at Society events. He was handsome and much talked about, for he had the most striking presence. With dark blond hair slicked to perfection and strong blue eyes, ladies swooned in his company.

“I know of him, yes. I believe I was introduced to him once.” Rachel nodded, remembering the meeting. She had found the Marquess to have cold eyes, but Emily had gushed about him for the rest of the evening, entranced by his presence. “Many are fond of him.”

Daniel raised an eyebrow.

“What?” Rachel asked when he said nothing.

“I know he has a fair face, Rachel. Pray, tell me you have not fallen for his charms?”

“Would you be jealous if I said that I had?” she teased, smiling.

His glare playfully darkened. “Do not toy with me, Rachel.”

She laughed, then shook her head. “Fear not. The only meeting we ever had was brief, and Emily was the one to sing his praises, not me. So, he was a part of this deal, was he not?”

“His father was.” Daniel nodded slowly in thought. “Yet, the brewery suffered a bad fire in its early days. The whole place was burned down, and the Duke of Gainsborough had so little money to his name at the time that he could not pay for his share on the damage. My father offered him a deal. He bought him out and repaired the brewery himself.”

“I see.” Rachel frowned. “What does this have to do with now?”

“The Duke of Gainsborough is quite out of the public eye.” Daniel sighed and scratched the back of his head. “Yet, his son, the Marquess of Repington, is considered a good businessman. I know there is a lingering resentment on their part for what happened, and I do not want old discord to linger. Repington has also bought a brewery himself, one that is doing well.”

“Is it as successful as your own?” Rachel asked.

“Not yet, but it could be,” he said slowly, clearly still thinking it through. “I was thinking that Lord Repington and I could combine our knowledge and buy this brewery in Reading together. The joint venture could put any resentment from the past aside and be a chance for us to pool our expertise into something new. What do you think of such a plan?”

Rachel stood and walked up and down the study in thought. She took a spare quill in her hands and ran it through her fingers, as she had often done in her father’s study when thinking of business.

“How recently did Lord Repington buy his brewery?”

“Five years ago,” Daniel answered fast, clearly having done the research.

“So, he has made it profitable. That is a good thing, for it to last this long. It shows he has the expertise you need.” She paused; her attention captured by the painting of the Civil War.

With so few candles on that side of the room, it was dark and eerie. The most noticeable thing in the painting was the blood that glistened in the little candlelight that reached it, as if the canvas had indeed been speckled with fresh blood.

“Daniel?” she whispered; her voice soft.

“Yes?”

“I fear it does no good to have such a painting in this room.” She stepped toward it.

“We were talking of business.”

“I intend to return to it.” She stopped short in front of the painting, her eyes flicking over it. “Is this what it was like? When you went to war?”

When she had no answer, she looked back over her shoulder to find Daniel staring down at his papers, pretending to be completely absorbed in what he was reading. A line had appeared on his brow, furrowing it completely. He may have tried to hide it, but there was a look of pain there, a secret agony.

How I wish I could wash that pain away for you.

“Lord Repington could be a safe bet for your investment,” she said, returning to the matter at hand. Daniel cleared his throat and looked up, clearly happy to be on safer ground. “Yet, I would advise looking at his brewery accounts first. You need to be certain he isn’t just propping it up every year with income from other things, such as the farming lands on his estate. If you can be certain of his success, then it would be a better investment for you.”

Daniel smiled abruptly, the corner of his lips tilting upward. “That is sound advice, indeed.”

“I have startled you,” she said, pointing at him with the quill.

“Entirely.”

“Well, let’s see what else we can do.” She walked around to his side of the desk and turned over some more of the papers. “I’m curious. Why do you think Lord Repington and his father would hold a grudge against your family?”

“My father was not the easiest of men. Though he did a good turn for the Duke of Gainsborough in buying him out of the brewery, I know what my father was like. He would have made the process difficult, something he never denied. I fear if all was as I suspect, the resentment will be great, indeed.”

“Then make it clear that the joint investment is a peace offering. It will be a chance for you and Lord Repington to put the past behind you, and you will never have to worry about such discord again.” She smiled and turned over the paper, checking the number of employees. “Going back to what I was saying earlier about the employees holding a grudge against the current owners for not being paid properly, you would be wise to offer an incentive to them.”

He said nothing but stood slowly at her side. Now that she was in the swing of things, she carried on, with one thought leading to another.

“A pay raise could be that incentive, though that might be difficult, considering the brewery’s current lack of profits. Perhaps the promise of a pay raise and some kind of bonus once there are sustainable profits could be what you need. What do you think? Daniel?” She turned to face him, noting he still had not answered her.

He stared at her with intensity, those dark blue eyes of his never once looking away from her face.

“What is it?”

He took hold of her waist and spun her around so suddenly that she was not prepared for it. He backed her up until she was standing between him and the desk.

“You keep surprising me,” he whispered in a deep voice, then moved his lips to her ear. “I’m ready to claim that wish now.”

His wish! From earlier today.

The memory of those butterfly kisses on her neck flashed through her mind.

“What… Oh.” She uttered nothing more as he moved his lips to hers and kissed her.