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stock is in good shape for winter, and most of the cottages are in good repair. There shouldn’t be all that much to do, in truth, not until spring.”
    “When there’s too much to do. Will you join us for dinner some night this week?”
    “Of course.” George winked. “You need all the reinforcements you can get, and I’ve got your back.”
    “I’m grateful for that.” Gabriel rose and offered his hand. “All the time I was gone, George, I worried a little less because I knew you were here, and you’d prevent the worst disasters and clean up after the ones that couldn’t be avoided.”
    “A steward’s job in a nutshell.” George grinned, then became more sober. “You’re going to have to let the world know what you were about, though, Gabriel, gone for two years without so much as a letter.”
    “Had I been able to communicate, I would have, and likely with you. My man of business in Town knew what was afoot at all times, but things grew complicated.”
    George shot a look in the direction of the manor house. “With you lot, they usually do. Me, I tend the sheep, and life is not complicated at all. You work, and then you work some more, and then you work yet still more, with eating and sleeping tucked in somewhere between sheep, goats, cows, horses, crops, and cottages.”
    “It’s not a bad life, though, is it, George?”
    “For some it’s not. For others, well… Let’s just say I’m not sure you or your brother would find being a steward entirely agreeable.”
    Gabriel took his leave on that note, but wondered what George would think did he know that for two years, Gabriel had been the one to tend the sheep, the cows, the crops, and so forth.
    And he’d never been happier.
    ***
    Gabriel’s reunion with his former fiancée had been an awkward, uncomfortable moment when they’d gathered in the family parlor before the evening meal. She’d curtsied, he’d bowed, and then he’d taken a step toward her, only to see her cringe and back closer to Aaron. Gabriel had followed through nonetheless, and offered her a careful, fraternal hug, even as he wondered how this tall, slender girl—no, woman—was managing the burden of being the Hesketh marchioness.
    And she was a woman, a pretty, though very young woman upon whom Gabriel had made duty calls between terms at school. He’d ridden out with her in pleasant weather on holidays—properly chaperoned, of course—and danced her first waltz with her. She’d been a quiet, inevitable presence in the back of his mind, and as she’d reached adulthood, her calm blue eyes had asked if he were going to set a date.
    He hadn’t, being far too enamored with the pleasures of being an heir, then gradually, as his father had aged, with the burdens thereof. And through all this, when they might have become friends, they’d remained strangers—awkward, proper strangers.
    How had he let that happen?
    “Welcome home.” Marjorie’s smile seemed genuine, if shy, and Gabriel tried a smile in response.
    “It’s more wonderful to be home than you can imagine, my lady. I must compliment you on the house, for I’ve never seen it looking better.”
    “Are your rooms comfortable?”
    The polite question of a conscientious hostess caused her to blush, and Gabriel saw endless evenings like this, conversation stilted, more unsaid than said.
    And that was his fault too.
    “They are exactly as I’d wish,” he replied, and the response caused Aaron’s eyebrows to twitch with what looked like consternation. “My surrounds have been humble the past two years, and I’ve developed a taste for simpler living. The day starts more easily when one doesn’t have to await a valet to dress, a maid to dine, and a groom to fetch one’s horse.”
    “And you’ll enlighten us about those two years?” Aaron posed the question, taking his wife’s arm—protectively?—as he did.
    Marjorie spoke up. “My lord, can I not enjoy your brother’s company for a single meal before