Free The Lady Who Broke the Rules by Marguerite Kaye

as if to shield him, but he shook his head, tilted his head back proudly and stepped into the drawing room.
    The effect of his entrance was almost comical.
    * * *
    ‘I thought you were magnificent. I confess, when you walked into the drawing room last night, I felt dreadfully guilty for putting you through the agony of a family dinner, but you were wonderful.’
    It was not yet nine of the clock the following morning, but having decided, after the endurance test which had been last night’s repast, to spare Virgil—and, if she was honest, herself—the ordeal of breakfast en famille , Kate had used the need to investigate the Dower House as an excuse for an early start. It was a pleasant day, the air crisp with autumn, the grass mossy and soft underfoot as they made their way along the lower lakeside.
    ‘It was hardly an ordeal. Your sister doesn’t care who she talks to as long as it’s about horses, and your brother…’
    ‘Yes, what were you talking to Giles about? You sat forever over the port.’
    ‘Business.’
    ‘My father’s investments, you mean. Don’t worry, you are not breaking a confidence. I know his imprudence has left the family coffers sadly empty. Were you able to advise Giles?’
    ‘I need to understand more about the situation first. In my experience, there are always loopholes if you know where to look. If that doesn’t suffice, your brother has a number of other ideas for raising funds. The problem is,’ Virgil said with a grin, ‘that they are all too safe. Low risk is what Giles calls them, and I can understand why—it’s not his money. If it were down to me—anyway, I said I’d take a closer look and let him know what I think.’
    ‘That is very generous of you.’
    ‘Business of any sort interests me.’
    They stepped onto the rustic bridge whose three arches spanned the cascade between the two lakes, and which Kate claimed gave one of the best views back to the house. They stopped at the centre, leaning side by side on the lichen-covered parapet. A silver fish leapt dramatically in pursuit of a fly, landing with a loud splash which sent ripples eddying out over the greenish-brown water. Blades of grass stuck with the dew to Virgil’s top boots. The skirts of his coat brushed against Kate’s gown. She wore a dark green habit today, with another of those tight little jackets which clung to her slim form. Her hair was gathered into a heavy chignon at the base of her neck. She wore neither hat nor gloves.
    ‘Giles strikes me as most unhappy with his situation as heir apparent,’ Virgil said. ‘I got the impression that he would much rather be back in the army than here.’
    ‘He’s a dark horse, my brother. There are depths to him which I confess I did not realise until recently. Lily, his betrothed, is of Romany origin, you know—though Giles has been at pains to keep that fact from our father. Romany blood is no blood for a future duchess in our father’s eyes. And you’re right, he would much rather be back in the army. Giles never had any expectations of inheriting this place.’
    ‘It is quite a place.’ Virgil gazed back at the house across the parkland; it seemed to nestle in the line of trees to the south. The symmetry of the building was most pleasing from this angle. ‘It looks as if the landscape has been designed for it.’
    ‘It was,’ Kate said with a brief smile. ‘None of this perspective is natural—it was all designed by Robert Adam, the man who built the house. Even the lakes have been dammed to give a more pleasing prospect. Nothing here is as nature made it, though I’ll admit it has been very well done.’
    ‘Very well indeed,’ Virgil exclaimed, ‘it all looks as if it has been here forever.’
    ‘Yes, that is rather the intention, to make it seem perfectly natural. In order to reflect the perfectly natural right of centuries of Montagues to exploit Castonbury villagers,’ Kate replied caustically. ‘If my father had his way, none of it