CHAPTER 1
“Itrust,” a gravelly voice said beside her, “you remember what your mother told you?”
Anna did not look at her cousin. Isaac Hessey’s voice had a way of drawing attention, not through charm, but rather through its endless capacity for complaint.
The Yeats Estate appeared like a slumbering beast, old and proud, its grey stone walls wrapped in ivy, windows shadowed like watchful eyes. It was not warm or welcoming. It was... brooding.
Much like its master, if the whispers were true. The windows, tall and narrow like sentries, reflecting the pale sun. Towers rose on either wing, solid and brooding beneath the muted grey sky, and chimneys crowned the roofline.
As the carriage rolled up the gravel drive, Anna Hessey leaned forward slightly in her seat and adjusted her gloves, pressingthem against her reticule. She told herself the chill pricking her spine was merely the weather.
She refused, absolutely refused, to be intimidated by a house. Or a Duke. Even if both loomed with equal menace.
Isaac sniffed and tugged at his cravat as though it strangled him. “Smile. Be agreeable. And for God’s sake, do try to not speak too much. Especially not on your…wild ideas again.”
“You mean thoughts?” she asked sweetly. “Independent ones?”
Isaac turned to her with a scowl. “Exactly. No man wants a wife with opinions. Particularly not a duke. You’re not here to impress anyone with cleverness, Anna. You are here to be… pleasant. Quiet.”
Anna’s lips curled into a smile that was all teeth. “Shall I sit in the drawing room and practice embroidery with a bonnet over my head? Or shall I recite the Psalms in a whisper and keep my eyes politely downcast?”
“Do not test me,” he groaned. “I went to great lengths to secure this invitation—and that’s why we’re arriving ahead of the others. The Duke of Yeats is not easily drawn into company. But he has influence. Resources. Connections. You would do well to remember your family’s position.”
“My position?” she said, gaze snapping to him now, brown eyes sharp. “Forgive me, I forget how low one must sink to ensure their cousin marries well.”
Isaac ignored her. “The Duke of Yeats is not a man to be trifled with. Unpleasant fellow, by all accounts—surly, misanthropic, barely tolerates the next man. But,” he added, smoothing a wrinkle from his sleeve, “he is in possession of one of the largest estates in the county, and the kind of fortune that makes banknotes blush.”
He cast her a sidelong glance. “If he takes even a mild interest in you, I expect you not to ruin it with one of your impulsive outbursts.”
Anna turned back to the window with a slow blink. “Your confidence in me is overwhelming, cousin.”
“I have confidence,” Isaac said primly, “in your ability to look…pretty and not say something damning for at least an hour. Anything beyond that would be a blessed miracle.”
Anna scoffed softly and began picking at an invisible loose thread on her glove.
“You’ve had far too much freedom since your father died,” he said, waving a hand like the point bored him. “Your mother indulged your fancies, but the world does not. You think managing the estate for a couple years makes you a heroine.”
At that, Anna glanced sharply his way but he was only getting started.
“Yes, yes—you found tenants for the southern fields. You sold off the extra livestock. You even went digging through your father’s old account books like some merchant’s daughter. I’ll grant you, it kept us afloat.”
His voice turned smug. “But that’s why I’m here now to relieve you of the burden.”
“Relieve me,” Anna echoed dryly.
“You were playing steward. You’ve done your duty. Now be grateful and let someone competent take over the real work.”
She bit the inside of her cheek. Hard.
“There are better ways to serve the family,” Isaac added. “A good match—for you—would secure Heather’s future and your mother’s comfort. That’s what this is about.”
Anna didn’t respond.
Not because he was right—but because if she opened her mouth, she wasn’t entirely sure what would come out.
Isaac, ever the opportunist, kept going. “If this goes well,” he said, tapping his fingers against the window ledge, “we could both walk away from this house party with quite the bounty.”
Anna’s mouth twisted. “And by we, you mean you?”
