Eliza Thankfully, Jesse was from a city with weather, which meant that he’d brought along a sturdy enough raincoat, but unfortunately, his boots were lacking. Those city-slicker, hand-stitched leather creations were wonderfully stylish, but there was no way they’d hold up to this mud. As a result, our first stop was the stables. Jesse sat in the tack room, being fitted for a pair of wellies that had probably belonged to a visiting dignitary sometime well before either of us had been born, but at least his own shoes would live to see another day. If he decided to take my advice and actually wear the rubber rain boots, that was. But he was currently looking down at them sk eptically, seemingly not at all convinced they were a good idea. “These are hideous,” he said, deadpan as he glanced up at me with conflict flickering in those bright blue eyes. “I’m serious. No one can pull them off.” “They’re practical.” I extended one of my own wellie-clad feet toward him. “Look at that, coated in mud, but as soon as you stick them under a tap, they’re perfectly fine again.” “Yeah, but mine are green.” I folded my arms and leaned against the stall door while Holly and Maeve sat nearby like they were supervising the situation, their tails wagging happily at the prospect of a second walk in one morning. “You’re going to be trudging across farmland. You’ll survive green boots.” He planted his feet on the floor and shifted his weight, testing them before he stood. “They’re surprisingly comfortable.” “That’s because they’re meant for walking, not looking pretty.” He nodded thoughtfully, then glanced back over at me with a slight smile tugging at his lips. “Miriam is one of the scariest women I’ve ever come across, and considering that my beloved sister-in-law is the CEO of a massive manufacturing company, that’s really saying something.” “It is?” I asked. “How are those two facts related?” He grinned outright. “Jane terrifies entire boardrooms filled with titans of industry, but Miriam could take her. I’m sure of it.” Smug satisfaction warmed my chest as I looked back at him, feeling a genuine smile curve on my lips. “That woman could face down anyone and win. I’ve often thought that she should’ve worked for a peaceke eping organization. There would be no squabbles in the world if we could send her in. She’d simply tell political leaders what was going to happen, and they’d listen.”
To my surprise, Jesse didn’t laugh in my face or remind me that she was merely the help. Instead, he slid his hands into his coat pockets and looked at me with sincere warmth in his gaze. “You respect her.” “I do,” I agreed immediately. “She’s been around my entire life. If anything, she’s more of a mother figure to us than the head of houseke eping. She takes care of us, you know?” He raised an eyebrow as we strolled along the center aisle of the stables. “That explains the ambush in the wine cellar. She appeared out of thin air and very quickly made it clear that I wasn’t supposed to be there.” I chuckled. “She doesn’t like lurkers.” Jesse’s eyes widened. “I wasn’t lurking.” “No, but you were snooping and she doesn’t like that much either.” He hesitated for a beat before sighing. “That’s probably fair.” I glanced up at his strong profile, the sharp lines of it softened by the foggy mist of the morning as we st epped outside. “Next time you want to walk the castle at length, find Miriam first.” “Why?” “Because if you don’t, she’ll find you.” He glanced down at me with disbelief shimmering in those eyes. “You’re joking. She can’t know where everyone is at all times. It’s not possible. Not in a house the size of yours.” “Oh, but she does.” Maeve barked suddenly and I smiled. “See, even the dogs know it. That was confirmation. Miriam has a real knack for knowing when someone is wandering around the halls.” Jesse shook his head slowly back and forth, but there was a grin trying to break free on his lips. “I’m going to have nightmares about that now.” The dogs trotted ahead of us, their tails wagging as we strolled into the gray morning. Last night’s rain had settled into a light drizzle that clung to the grass, the hedges, and the long gravel path stretching away from the castle. The estate stretched out in all directions, rolling hills fading into fog. As we started across the grounds, I gestured at the fields on our right. “That’s the lower orchard. Beyond it are the farms.” He looked in the direction I was pointing, peering out from beneath the black hood of his coat. “Are they working farms?” “Yes, but mostly by tenant farmers.” I slid my hands into my pockets, tucking my chin against the chill in the air. “Some of the land is leased.” He nodded, his gaze skimming across the lands cape like he was memorizing it. “What about the woods?”
“They run all the way to the village.” “Wow.” He k ept stride with me, never pulling ahead even though his longer legs would certainly allow it, but never falling behind either. “This whole place is seriously impressive. The more I see of it, the more I realize how much more it is.” “More?” He shrugged. “More than I thought. More than I could ever have thought, actually.” “I agree,” I murmured. “It really is, but few people are able to truly appreciate the history of it. The magnitude. It’s been here for centuries, you know. We’re only the latest custodians, and long after we’re gone, it’ll still be here, just as it always has.” Jesse nodded, looking around some more as we walked. There was a soft reverence to his features that I wouldn’t have expected, but seeing it there made me point out things I wouldn’t ordinarily think people would be interested in. I found myself telling him about the trails through the woods, the farms and their tenants, and the old stone bridge that crossed the stream near the lower fields. Jesse asked questions often, and not idle ones that made me feel like he was simply indulging me, but pointed questions. Questions about the land, the buildings, and the people who lived and worked here. It was the strangest thing, but he seemed genuinely interested, like he actually wanted to know these things instead of simply talking to fill the silence. I didn’t think anyone had ever talked to me about the estate that way, not even my own family. Eventually, I led him down a path that curved toward a small stone building at the edge of the woods. The rain was picking up slightly and we could both use a break from it. The porch here was our best bet. “What’s this?” he asked when we reached the outer edges of the building. “An old house that used to belong to a church,” I said. “The church itself burned down in the seventeen hundreds, but the rectory still stands.” Jesse ducked slightly as we st epped beneath the sagging rafters of the small porch, the roof creaking softly as rain tapped against it. The dogs settled at our feet, inching closer to the ancient walls like they were grateful for the break too. Jesse turned toward me as he leaned back against the stone. “Can I ask you something?” I looked up at him. “Of course.” “Why did you agree to do this?” Those blues eyes held my own intently, not confrontational, but serious nonetheless. “The arranged marriage. Not the tour of the property.”
I blinked hard, a bit shocked that this particular question hadn’t been another one about the estate. It took me a moment to switch gears, but I took a de ep breath, unable to avert my gaze from his. As the rain started falling harder against the rafters, I realized that this could be a defining moment for him and me, huddled together under the narrow porch roof with only Holly and Maeve as witnesses. It seemed important suddenly to be honest. “It’s mostly about the money in the contract,” I said after a brief pause, choosing transparency over pride. If this would be a defining moment for us, I wanted it to be about opening lines of communication in a way that would be healthy going forward. “The cut of the Westwood fortune I’m being sold for is enough to ke ep the castle in good shape for decades to come, with plenty left over to invest.” Jesse did a slight double-take at my choice of wording, some of the color draining from his cheeks, but outside of that, he just k ept looking from me, to the grounds, and back again. I leaned against one of the weathered beams and watched the rain blur the fields beyond the trees. “The truth is that my father’s power is mostly in name only,” I explained when he didn’t interrupt or even comment on what I’d said before, obviously waiting for me to continue. “Our wealth has been passed down for hundreds of years, but it mostly consists of land. Investments made by people who lived in a very different world.” I gestured vaguely toward the estate beyond the fog. “Unfortunately, inflation, modernization, and upke ep have all taken its toll. Castles aren’t exactly efficient homes to maintain. I mean, the tapestry budget alone...” One corner of his full lips twitched, his shoulders rising a little under his thick raincoat. “I can imagine.” “The roof maintenance costs more than most people’s houses and that’s before you consider the staff, the grounds, the farms, and the restoration work it takes to ke ep it all in safe, working order.” I paused for a beat, uncertain how far to go with this all of a sudden, but ultimately, this man was going to be my husband. He deserved to know. “I don’t care about the title, but I do care about this place. It means something to me. It means everything, actually.” Every inch of it was stitched into the very fabric of my being and not because of the status it afforded my family but simply because it was home. I glanced back up at Jesse, finding his jaw tight as he stared across the grounds. “All I want is to take care of it,” I finally finished. “Agreeing to this arrangement was a way of doing that. To secure it now and in the future.”
“What if your father passes without an heir?” he asked quietly, a beat before he turned his gaze back to mine. “From the sound of things, this system is still set up in a way that means you and your sisters don’t count, right?” Pain streaked through me, de ep under the surface, and yet, when Jesse looked at me, it was like he could see it. He even winced a little when I finally responded. “You’re right,” I said. “We don’t count. Female offspring mean nothing for the line of succession of one’s own family. If my father should pass before one of us has produced a son, the estate and title pass to a distant male relative.” Both of his eyebrows lifted slowly when he seemed to realize I was serious. “Distant how? Wouldn’t it just go to a cousin or something?” I shook my head. “It will pass to the closest male Roderick alive at the time of my father’s death, which in our case, is someone so distant, we’ve never even met him. He’s certainly never st epped foot here.” “That’s fucked up.” Despite the coarseness of the statement, I nodded my agreement. “It certainly is, but that’s just how it works.” “You couldn’t even stay here?” he asked. “Surely, being your father’s daughter should entitle you to some kind of rights over the place.” I shrugged, my chest tightening a little at just the thought. “Unfortunately, no. All rights and title will pass upon his death. My sisters and I will be afforded a short window of time to remove our personal belongings from the estate, but that’s it.” He let out a low whistle between his teeth that made the dogs’ ears perk up, but they didn’t move a muscle otherwise. “I’m sorry, Eliza. That sucks.” “That’s the reality.” I finally looked back up at him, blinking away the pressure behind my eyes in favor of giving him a forced, probably tight smile. “What’s worse is that because he’s never been here, the estate will hold no meaning to him when he inherits it. He’ll almost certainly sell it to developers or break the land into parcels.” “Break it into parcels?” I nodded curtly. “They’ll turn it into holiday cottages or luxury flats. It’s happened to a few of the old estates in the area. Tourists and people from the city are willing to pay good money for property that used to be connected to royalty. No matter how distant.” Jesse exhaled slowly, finally looking at me like he really got it now. “You’re trying to prevent all that from happening.”
“Yes.” I supposed there was no point trying to deny it. I’d just told him as much. “Technically, it should be Eugenie’s responsibility.” The rain softened, turning into a steady hush against the roof. He tilted his head, his gaze moving slowly from one of my eyes to the other. “Because of your birth order?” “Yes.” “Why not just leave her to it, then?” he asked. “Your family’s situation isn’t completely dissimilar from ours, but when my dad retired, Alex took the helm without a second thought.” “You’re lucky,” I said. “My sisters don’t care about this place the way I do. Alex st epped up for your family company when the time came, but Eugenie hasn’t done the same for mine. Nor does she seem to have any inclination to do so.” It wasn’t a criticism. Just a fact. He gave me a slow nod, like all the pieces were clicking into place in his mind. “Let me guess, neither of your sisters want to lose the title or the castle, but they’re not committed enough to sacrifice anything to ke ep it?” I averted my gaze. “They do love the castle. It’s just that they don’t feel responsible for it.” But I did. Every cracked stone and leaking roof, every acre of land that had been ours for centuries... It’s my responsibility because I’ve taken it upon my own shoulders to make sure we never lose it. “Winnie would’ve married you,” I said quietly. “If you’d chosen her, she would’ve done it, but her motivation wasn’t the castle or the legacy. Mine, however, is all about that, Jesse. I will do whatever I can, anything I can, to protect this place.” One thing I’d fast come to learn about the man I was marrying was that he listened carefully every time I spoke, and every time I glanced at him, he was already looking at me. This was no exc eption, and suddenly, the thought that had been weighing heavily at the back of mind since the first time I’d seen him again slipped out. “You’re different now.” His brow furrowed slightly. “What do you mean?” I hesitated, feeling my cheeks flush in response not only to how much I’d ended up telling him, but also with the thought of what I had to say to explain this bit. “I remember you being much more wild.” His mouth curved into a soft smile. “You do, huh?” “You were always a loud presence in a quiet room back when you visited here with Eugenie,” I said, just blurting it all out now. “I remember thinking that you were very aware of yourself. Full of yourself, even, and not afraid to admit it.”
He chuckled. “Apparently, there are two versions of me.” I smiled. “Well, I like this one better if I’m being honest.” The words slipped out easily, but for a split second, something flashed across his face. It was so quick that I almost missed it, but since I was looking right at him, I saw it even though it vanished in a flash, r eplaced once more by that effortless composure. Curious, but deciding against asking him what was on his mind, I motioned toward the castle. The rain was letting up a little and the fog had begun to roll back across the fields, swallowing up only the distant trees now. “We should head back.” Jesse glanced out at the mist and frowned slightly. “Why? Is the tour over?” “For now,” I said. “My father has important guests tonight and I ought to be getting ready soon.” He straightened, a slight frown marring his brow. “What’s so important about these guests?” Holly and Maeve instantly sprang to their feet as I started down the path. “They’re the kind who expect announcements.” He fell into st ep beside me, ke eping stride as easily as before. “What announcement?” I looked up at him, my heart clenching for both of us at the thought of what lay ahead. “Once I sign the contract, our engagement will go public. This is technically a royal wedding, remember?” This was the part Winnie had been looking forward to. The part she would have been much better at. Royal weddings came with a level of pomp and circumstance all their own, no matter how far removed from the crown the royal in question might be. Even if that royal was as far removed as me. I just didn’t think Jesse had quite realized that yet.