A muscle tightened in his jaw. "There is no such thing as a useless fact," he said, his voice clipped. "Only useless conversations." The remark landed in the silent room like a thrown stone.
Felicity's smile froze. Lady Honora's face tightened with fury. But the Duke's eyes were on Prudence. For the first time in a very long time, he felt something other than numb indifference.
He felt respect. It was a startling, unwelcome sensation. The sale of Sorrel Down grew complicated. Gideon's clear interest had alerted others.
A man named Lucian Trent, a speculator from London with a reputation for sharp practices, had appeared in Marley and made a generous cash offer. Lady Honora was ecstatic. Fast money with no complications. She was prepared to accept it immediately, despite the fact that Trent was precisely the kind of man her late husband had despised.
Prudence, continuing her work in the library, felt a growing sense of unease. She remembered conversations with her uncle about the land. He had felt a duty to it and a duty to his neighbors. He had always said, "The Devereuxs and the Bellamys have been neighbors for 200 years. Land is not a commodity, Prudence. It is a trust."
To sell Sorrel Down to a man who would likely strip its timber and scar its fields felt like a posthumous betrayal. Her duty was to her aunt, her only guardian. But her loyalty was to her uncle's memory. The conflict pressed on her, a physical weight in her chest.
One rainy afternoon, while clearing the last of the books from a concealed cabinet behind her uncle's desk, her fingers brushed against a loose panel at the back. Curious, she worked it open. Inside was a slim japanned tin box. It was unlocked.
She lifted the lid. Within lay a handful of personal letters and a single folded document tied with a faded ribbon. It was written in her uncle's hand, dated five years prior. It was a formal codicil to his will.
Her breath caught. She read the dense legal script, her mind racing. It stated in unambiguous terms that in the event of the Bramblehurst estate needing to liquidate property, the parcel of land known as Sorrel Down must first be offered to the owner of the adjacent Kestrel Chase estate at a price determined by the average of three independent valuations. Only if the owner of Kestrel Chase declined the offer could the land be sold on the open market.
It was a thunderclap. This document gave Gideon Devereux the absolute right of first refusal. It rendered Lucian Trent's offer invalid. Prudence sat back on her heels, the paper trembling in her hand.
She thought of her aunt's delight, of the plans already being made for a London season for Felicity. Giving this to Lady Honora would be fruitless. Honora would burn it without a second thought. The law, her uncle's explicit wish, and her own conscience all demanded she act.
But to do so would mean defying her guardian and placing her own precarious future in jeopardy. She would be homeless, penniless, and disgraced. For an hour, she sat in the silent library, the codicil in her lap. Then, with a slow, deliberate movement, she stood up.
She folded the document, placed it in the pocket of her plain gray dress, and walked out of the library. She had made her choice. She sent a note via a trusted stable boy, addressed to the Duke of Blackwood at the local inn. It contained a single line.