Page 32 of Fortune’s Final Folly

The metal between her breasts heated against her skin as if it suspected that A’laya’s path of life was finally about to be complete once more.

The lord could be the man responsible for helping Walter and Henrietta hide Katherina from her all these years. But that didn’t matter now. The duke and duchess were gone. Pierce, the coward, hadn’t been heard from since she spotted him at the pier in Portishead several years prior after she’d heard rumors of his return to England. There was nothing left to hide. No one left to keep A’laya from Katherina.

As she rode, pushing the mare ever faster—harder—she imagined what her precious daughter would look like. Would she recognize her on sight? Did she have A’laya’s dark, Barbadian skin tone? Had her eyes remained that greyish-blue from her infancy or had they changed? Had she felt as out of place as A’laya had in the small village she’d grown up in?

It was very likely, especially if the duchess had any part in Katherina’s upbringing. It was possible her daughter had never been taught anything of her heritage.

There was time, A’laya reminded herself.

Katherina would only be nineteen—not much older than A’laya had been when she met and wed Pierce.

The surefooted rhythm of her mare’s hooves increased A’laya’s confidence. This would be the journey—her last one—and she’d finally be reunited with her daughter.

All the many years she’d spent handing out fortunes for a pittance hadn’t prepared her for her own fate. She’d passed on hope and sage advice to many but had never truly believed she would one day receive the word she’d been longing for all these years.

Nothing remained in A’laya’s way but the distance she needed to travel to London.

Not the duke, not the duchess, not Pierce, and most certainly not Lord Joshua Stuart, Solicitor.

Chapter 11

The afternoon was fast nearing twilight when Joshua waved Henry off for the night, pulling his own jacket on as he prepared to collect Kate from across the street. In the nearly two weeks since the fire, they’d settled into a routine. They would travel to Cheapside each morning with the rising of the sun, she’d used his back office to teach lessons, the children would depart at noon, and then Kate worked alongside the men to repair her home. Most days, she forbade Joshua from joining her because, as she declared, she’d inconvenienced him enough by allowing her to stay at his townhouse and teach in his office.

Some days, he listened and did his best to concentrate on his work. Other days, he pushed off most tasks or assigned them to Henry and rolled up his sleeves to help Kate.

And then, each night, they returned to his townhouse. Together.

Yet, he hadn’t invaded her private chambers again. She was basically without a home, and he would not be responsible for pushing her away. They hadn’t spoken about their shared moment in her chambers. And he’d needed to remind himself of his duty as a gentleman on several occasions.

Nothing had changed as the days passed, but Joshua became more and more accustomed to having Kate in his life, in his home, and in his office. If she strayed, it was only across the street to her schoolroom. She was always within sight.

Except, she avoided being alone with him outside of their travel and meals.

He’d spent so many years divided from his family, he hadn’t realized how much he missed having someone to talk to, to dine with, and to share the day-to-day goings-on. But not simply anyone. At home, he’d always had Dolly close. And at his office, Henry was his constant companion. No, it wasn’t just someone.

It was Kate.

Companions, work associates, and his grandmother’s dear friends, while good people, were not what Joshua needed. He needed Kate…only her.

Before the fire, he remained at his office as late as possible, returning home to find his bed long after dark. But now, he found he needed to occupy himself so as not to declare that they return to Cavendish Square too early. In his home, Joshua had Kate to himself. He needn’t share her with the crewmen or Henry or her students.

It was selfish, and Joshua knew it.

In his quest to set himself apart from his lineage, Joshua had only succeeded in isolating himself from his family and the men he’d once considered friends. However, the daily life of a lord did not interest Joshua in the slightest. Men of his age and station were comfortable living off their allowances, wooing women they never intended to wed, and spending their free time at gaming hells.

How many friends had he met at Oxford, only to part ways once they took their places in society?

Certainly, he’d been introduced to many gentlemen of his league as they came to work at Stuart and Lords, but they were not his friends. Despite their equal share partnership, they all viewed him as their employer—as did Henry, Chapman, and his stable hand.

There was Dolly, but Joshua could ask nothing more of his grandmother’s aging friend.

As his and Kate’s time together lengthened, Joshua found it increasingly difficult to keep himself from wanting to spend more hours of his day with her. He’d known since the moment he made her acquaintance years earlier that she was intelligent and had a kind heart. Though it hadn’t been until she lived under his roof that Joshua learned just how caring and compassionate she was. She worried about her schoolroom because she wanted her pupils to learn and go on to live happy, successful lives—not because she would be without a home if it couldn’t be repaired.

Her motives were utterly selfless.

When Henry returned from Oxfordshire with the news that Shrewbury Gardens was all but abandoned, Kate had only lowered her head and set about the task of doing as much as she could. Even now, she was across the street removing burnt floorboards alongside the workmen. His savings was dwindling, but Joshua did not care as long as Kate was happy.

He ran his hand through his hair. He’d been foolish enough to believe that luck would be on their side, and the duke would send funds. Unfortunately, in similar fashion to Mr. Caleb Abelston, his solicitor, the Duke of Shrewbury was deceased, and his heir unaccounted for, likely on the Continent, living comfortably while Kate struggled in Cheapside. It irked him that he still had not been able to discover the connection between Kate and the Shrewbury dukedom.