When a Duchess Says I Do - Grace Burrowes Page 0,84

is part of the process. Why plant hedges if they require pruning year after year?”

The pile of trimmings was growing and would make a nice bonfire some evening.

“For privacy’s sake,” Duncan said.

“The entire garden is visible from the upper floors.”

“For damned beauty’s sake. Why did Matilda have to light the candles in the family parlor when a regular caller was expected? Lighting candles is the duty of a servant, and according to Matilda, her father’s house is awash in domestics. Leaving a widow and her suitor some privacy is one thing, avoiding regular tasks is another.”

Stephen paused in his raking. “I can’t see what lazy footmen have to do with treason.”

“Nor can I, but establishing a pattern means examining all the anomalous facts.” Duncan took a particularly vigorous swing at the hedge, sending twigs flying.

“We should be having this discussion with Matilda,” Stephen said. “She has facts in her possession she doesn’t know she has. I wish Quinn and Jane were here.”

Duncan wiped his brow with his sleeve. “I do as well, which is unsettling. One hates to impose, but in this case, the family duke has some valuable perspective to add. Quinn can think like a criminal, while I think like a philosopher.”

Stephen hobbled back to his bench using the rake as his cane. “The family duchess will have something to say. Women notice things.”

And Stephen noticed women, which was normal at his age. “Matilda suspects Parker courted her so he’d have access to the Wakefield premises.”

“Parker was spying on the spy?” Stephen sat on the bench to wrestle out of his coat, something he would not have managed while standing and trying to balance using the rake.

“Parker is a war hero. For him, it wouldn’t be spying. It would be…”—Duncan’s next swing took off a good foot of hedge—“patriotic duty.”

“He does his duty by lying to an innocent woman. Not my kind of hero.”

That rankled as well. If catching Wakefield at his espionage was the objective, why not follow Wakefield? Why not infiltrate his army of servants? Why not take Matilda aside and explain to her the situation her father had placed her in?

Too many questions, not enough answers.

“Who is Colonel Lord Atticus Parker?” Duncan asked, starting on the next section of hedge. “What do we know about him and his people? Does he have ties to the Continent? Where did he meet Matilda and who introduced them?”

“You will whack down this whole garden and be no closer to those answers. Why don’t I have any bloody wind, Duncan? I work with weights, I make myself walk, I avoid the near occasions of gluttony and inebriation—mostly—and still, I have no stamina.”

This lament was unprecedented in more than ten years of keeping close company with Stephen. He rarely acknowledged his limitations, unless it was to make a jest of them.

“The problem is your balance,” Duncan said, starting on the next hedge. “You must limit all of your activities to avoid falling. If you could put yourself in a situation where falling was not possible, then you could build up to steady exertion.”

Stephen pushed to his feet, coatless, the rake in his hand. “You mean like rowing? I can’t fall if I’m sitting in a punt.”

“Rowing, swimming, riding…you can build up your wind as long as you’re not on your feet while you do it.”

I will miss you. The thought came between one swing and the next, a bittersweet pang of sentiment that was also the lot of every teacher. Students moved on to greater challenges, to life and adulthood. Matilda would understand why having a single pupil for the past ten years had been enough for Duncan, why Stephen’s courage and tenacity meant so much to him.

“I have ever admired your ingenuity,” Duncan said, wielding his scythe. “You never give up, you never give in to despair. Your resilience is boundless, your imagination nimble. You will find a means of increasing your stamina, just as I will find a way to put Matilda’s situation to rights.”

The rake scraped quietly against the snow-crusted ground. “The only witness to her alleged treason is this Parker person. Eliminate him and you eliminate the problem.”

That solution had occurred to Duncan before he’d risen from his bed and kissed a sleeping Matilda’s shoulder. “Logical, but lamentably illegal. Parker has superiors, people counting on him to deal with Wakefield once for all.”

“Then eliminate Wakefield.”

“Another logical suggestion and delightfully simple, though Matilda’s whole aim has been to prevent her father’s downfall. By protecting him, she has