Page 73 of The Duke's Sinful Deal
“Thoughtfulness, then?”
“Perhaps,” was all he offered in return, and the answer settled between them.
She stepped back then, though not far, her hands folding lightly before her as though recalling herself to a more measured composure. “You must be tired from the journey,” she said. “Was everything resolved as you expected?”
Maxwell nodded once. “It was addressed. There were complications.”
Arabella’s expression sharpened slightly, not with alarm, but with interest. “The tenants?”
“Yes.”
“What sort of complications?” she asked, her tone shifting just enough to suggest she did not ask merely for politeness.
Maxwell studied her for a moment before answering. “Conditions had affected their yields more significantly than anticipated. The terms required adjustment.”
“And you made those adjustments yourself?” she asked.
“I did.”
Arabella considered that, her gaze thoughtful. “Temporarily, or with permanence in mind?”
“Temporarily,” Maxwell chuckled slightly, and continued. “The conditions will be reviewed.”
She nodded slowly. “That seems reasonable,” she said. “Though I imagine it was not well received by all.”
“No, you are right. It was not,” Maxwell replied.
Arabella’s expression did not shift with surprise. “Change rarely is, when expectations are altered,” she said. “But it is often necessary.”
Maxwell felt something ease slightly at that, something he had not anticipated to find in the exchange. “You understand more of it than I would have assumed.”
“I am trying to,” she said simply. “It concerns me now as well, does it not?”
“It does.”
There was a brief pause, not uncomfortable, but filled with a quiet awareness that had not been present before his departure.
Arabella glanced toward the corridor, then back to him. “You will go again,” she said, not as a question.
“Yes.”
She hesitated, just briefly. “Then I should like to go with you next time.”
The words were offered with a lightness that did not conceal their intent.
Maxwell looked at her.
There was no demand in it. No expectation. Only a clear expression of interest that did not seek permission so much as state itself.
“You would not find it particularly comfortable,” he said.
“I do not require comfort,” she replied. “Only the opportunity to see what I am now a part of.”
The answer was straightforward, though not without warmth.
Maxwell felt, unexpectedly, that same lightness return, settling where something more rigid had once held. “I will consider it,” he said.
Arabella’s smile deepened slightly, though she did not press further.
