darkness had left Nick’s eyes as he regarded his brother with affectionate amusement. ‘Father should jump at the chance of elevating the moral tone of this family.’ Katherine sent him a reproving look and he added with the seriousness that always made her suspect he was teasing her, ‘However, he may not want you committed to this course of action until he sees me married and setting up my nursery.’
‘You are married,’ Robert pointed out.
‘And I have made it quite clear that is a temporary state of affairs!’ Katherine interjected hastily. Nick was teasing, the wretch. Katherine schooled her face and added, ‘But I am sure we can have everything tidied up before next Season and you can find yourself an eminently suitable bride.’ She turned to Robert. ‘I still think you should speak to his Grace sooner rather than later.’
‘Did I mention that I have an exceedingly managing wife?’ Nick enquired.
‘Er, no.’ Robert was watching her face with some amusement and Katherine suspected that she was betraying rather more of her emotions than she was prepared to. She stood up and brushed down her skirt.
‘Delightful as the garden is, I think I should not disregard his Grace’s wishes and should resume my tour of the house.’ She looked expectantly at Nick. The Long Gallery sounded an admirable place to have a private discussion and she very much wanted to speak to him alone.
‘I am so sorry, Kat,’ he replied with a charming smile. ‘But Father has asked that I speak to Witherspoon, our estate manager. I received a clear hint that I am expected to apply myself to learning all those things which I shirked in the past. I am sure Robert can continue to escort you—after all, I hardly feel it would be tactful to deliver a second shock to Father in one day.’
‘Grr.’ Katherine watched his retreating back, wishing that her attention was not drawn quite so forcibly to the breadth of his shoulders or the easy length of his stride.
‘I beg your pardon?’ Robert was also watching his brother. ‘Did you speak? I was just thinking that Nick really must get to a tailor before he goes out into society; we are much of a height, but he is definitely wider in the shoulders than I. It will have to be Newcastle, I suppose. I wonder why he did not stop to order some clothes while he was in town.’
‘Because he had no money and I had hardly any and we were outrunning the bailiffs.’ Katherine began to stroll with him across the grass back to the house. If she only looked at one wing at a time it was not too bad, it was when she looked at the entire extent of the place that she began to feel as though she had strayed into a fairy tale. ‘How much interest do moneylenders charge?’
‘I have no idea.’ Robert looked startled. ‘An extortionate amount, I imagine. But you do not have to worry about that, Nick will pay off the debt. Here, we can go in through this door.’
‘That would stop the interest, of course, but I am sure he will not let me repay him.’ Katherine allowed herself to be guided up a narrow staircase.
‘Why repay it at all? From what I understand, it is your brother’s debt.’
‘I know, but I signed the papers, so it is my responsibility. It will be a lesson to me to read everything first,’ she added ruefully as they stepped out through a jib door into what must be the Long Gallery.
One wall appeared almost to be made of glass divided by slender mullions. The other wall was covered with crimson damask and on it were hung what seemed like hundreds of paintings, nearly all portraits.
‘Behold the family, rogues most of them.’ Robert waved a hand at the rows of gilded frames. ‘You will observe the Nose, and in a few unfortunate individuals, the Chin. Now this one is—What is it, Jenkins?’
The footman bowed. ‘My lord, I am sorry to disturb you, but Durren sent up from the stables to say the farrier is here and he was worried about the shoeing of his Grace’s bay hunter. I cannot find his Grace to ask.’
‘I had better have a word with the man myself. Tell Durren I will be down directly and the farrier is to do nothing until I get there. Katherine, will you excuse me for a little while? The bell pull is over there if you need anything.’ He grinned ruefully, suddenly so like his brother that Katherine’s heart flipped. ‘It is more than our lives are worth to risk anything going wrong with that animal.’
‘Of course, please go. I shall enjoy just strolling here.’ Katherine began to pace slowly down the room, standing back to admire some large groups and full-length portraits of former dukes in ermine-trimmed robes, coming in close to peer at tiny dark paintings, which seemed to her untutored eye to be Jacobean or Tudor.
Nick was unmistakeably a Lydgate; his face looked back at her from countless paintings: dark eyes, straight nose, sensual mouth. Some depictions gave their sitters a familiar haughty look, a few had the spark of mischief she had come to watch for. All had the expression of proud intelligence that she had come to expect of him. One or two had the chin Robert had referred to, not such a handicap for the men, but a definite disadvantage to the ladies on whom a square, determined jaw did not sit prettily. I hope our daughters escape that, she thought, then caught herself with a horrified little gasp. What am I thinking of? Fantasising, that’s what you are doing, you foolish creature. Loving him is no excuse.
Shaken, Katherine continued her examination of the pictures, ignoring her aching neck as she tipped her head back to take them all in. The discomfort was a penance for such undisciplined daydreaming. Suddenly she came upon a group of relatively recent paintings, judging by the hair and clothes. That must surely be the present Duke with a small, fair lady in clothes perhaps half a century out of date. His first wife? Yes, it must be, for here he was again standing behind a different, seated, lady with a baby on her lap and a small boy by her knee.
The child must be Nick. Smiling, she stepped closer to study it.
‘A pretty group, that,’ a voice said dispassionately behind her. She jumped. ‘I am sorry, my dear, I had no intention of startling you.’
Katherine turned hastily. ‘Your Grace. I was quite absorbed by the portraits.’
‘Have both my sons abandoned you?’
‘Nicholas is with your estate manager. Lord Robert left a few minutes ago because of an urgent message from the stables. Something about the farrier and your bay hunter, your Grace.’
‘Indeed? In my young day it would take rather more than a horse to distract me from a charming young lady.’
Katherine’s lips twitched. She was beginning to take the measure of the formidable old man. ‘I believe it was the thought of your displeasure rather than the needs of the horse that animated Lord Robert.’
‘That is as it should be,’ the Duke remarked gravely. ‘I see it falls to me to exhibit the rest of the collection, unless you are bored with an unending succession of Lydgates?’
‘No, your Grace. I find it fascinating.’
‘Then let us see if we can find any other depictions of your husband. Ah, yes, rather over-dramatic, perhaps.’
He had stopped in front of a full-length study of a rearing horse against a stormy sky. Holding its reins, his attention fixed on the animal as it fought for its freedom, was a young man, hardly more than a youth. ‘Two wild animals,’ Katherine said without thinking.
‘And
