He was about to deliver a sharp reprimand when he saw what she was doing. The tags on the books were numbered. A large ledger lay open beside her, its columns filled with a script so clear and elegant it was almost a work of art. This was not a servant shirking her work.
This was an expert at hers. He stopped a few feet away. "You are the cataloger." Prudence looked up, startled.
She had not heard him approach. Before her stood the Duke of Blackwood. He was taller than she had imagined. Broader in the shoulder.
A thin white scar bisected his left eyebrow, giving his already severe face a dangerous cast. She got to her feet, brushing the dust from her skirt. "Your Grace. I—"
"Yes. I am. I require the 1815 Ordnance Survey map of the Marley parish and the estate survey conducted by Abernathy in 1823. They should be in a portfolio of elephant-folio size."
Lady Honora and Felicity rushed in behind him. "Your Grace, please. Don't trouble yourself with her. This is merely my niece, Prudence."
Gideon ignored her. His eyes were fixed on Prudence. He had issued a test, a deliberately obscure request. Prudence hesitated for only a second.
She thought of the tall, vellum-wrapped portfolios in the west alcove. "The Abernathy survey is not with the Ordnance maps, Your Grace. My uncle kept it with his geological papers due to the detailed notations on the riverbed substrate. I will fetch it for you."
She moved to a dusty corner, her steps certain. She retrieved not one but two portfolios and brought them to the large library table, her movements economical and sure. She untied the ribbons and unrolled the heavy paper. "This is the Ordnance survey," she said, her finger tracing a line.
"And this is the Abernathy. You will note his measurements of the northern boundary of Sorrel Down differ from the Ordnance map by 22 feet along the riverbank. My uncle believed Abernathy to be the more accurate." Gideon stared at the map, then at her.
He had known about the discrepancy. He had studied his own copies for weeks. He had not expected anyone here to be aware of it. He certainly had not expected this quiet, ink-stained woman to point it out with such calm authority.
"Indeed," he said slowly, his gaze moving from the map to her face. It was not a pretty face, not in the way of her cousin's. It was pale and serious, dominated by large, intelligent gray eyes. He saw the faint smudge of ink on her cheek.
He saw the absolute lack of artifice. "She reads books all day," Felicity said with a little giggle, as if it were a charming flaw. "Her head is quite full of useless things." Gideon looked at Felicity, then back at Prudence.