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" T hank you, Henson," James told his solicitor. "I'll be in touch if I have any questions about anything we've discussed today."

Henson got to his feet. "I have all the signatures I need from you," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, you and I have no need to meet again—so I'll expect to hear from you only if any concerns arise on your end. But you should feel free to contact me at any time if that does happen."

"I understand," James said. "You've always been so helpful, Henson, and I continue to be grateful for your services. I'll send payment along to your office very soon."

Henson nodded his gratitude. "I can show myself out," he said. "Have a wonderful day, Your Grace."

He left, and James stretched and let out a long sigh, grateful to be finished for the day.

It had been a long one, with an inordinate amount of work to be done, and the meeting with his solicitor had gone on for much longer than he had liked.

James did like and appreciate Henson, but he also found the work they did together unbearably tedious.

He was grateful to have seen the back of the man.

Now at least he would be able to focus on things that were more enjoyable to him.

A nice warm bath, perhaps—that would be just the thing He could pour himself a drink to take with him, and relax with a book. The evening was his to do with what he would. The thought made him smile warmly.

But then he felt something brush up against his leg.

Startled, he leapt to his feet. Could his new home be infested by rodents?

That would be appalling but, all things considered, he wasn't sure it would surprise him to learn that the dowager duchess had not arranged for any sort of upkeep on the place while she had been in charge of it.

She didn't seem a very responsible sort.

He looked down, feeling extremely wary of what he might see.

A large orange cat stared balefully back up at him. By its expression, James thought the cat was resentful to find a stranger in its way.

"Shoo," he told it, drawing back.

The cat remained where it was and simply stared at him.

James couldn't help feeling shaken. Though he was glad he wasn't dealing with some worse vermin, the discovery of a strange animal in his new home was still off-putting, to say the very least. What did one do in a situation like this?

He would have to capture it and put it outside—but what if the beast attacked?

He had no idea what a wild cat might do.

Fortune favored him at that moment. There was a knock at the door. "Come in," James said.

It was the butler, Maxwell. He had been a part of the household staff when James had arrived, and James had decided not to make too many replacements when it came to staff—there was no reason to put people out of work, as long as they didn't prove to be difficult or unpleasant to have around.

Maxwell had been satisfactory so far. He had greeted James professionally and had answered all of his questions about the place.

"Good evening, Your Grace," he said now.

"I wondered if you were planning to come down to dinner. "

This was a reasonable question. Over the course of the past few days, the dowager duchess had made it clear that she did not plan to be reliable about attending meals, and that fact had made James feel there was no need for him to be steady about his attendance either.

He could have ordered her to the table, of course, but that would have turned into a battle of wills that quite frankly would have been a waste of his time and energy.

If this was what she wanted to do with herself, that was her affair.

As a consequence, he had begun to take several of his meals here in the study so that he could work without interruption.

But today, food was the furthest thing from his mind. "Maxwell," he said, gesturing to the cat. "There's a wild beast here in the house. I don't know what you have been doing—your job is to maintain this place. This is unacceptable."

"Your Grace," Maxwell began.

James held up a hand. "I really don't want to hear excuses," he said. "I've been generous with you, Maxwell. I expect you to remember that. I did not have to allow you to keep this job, and I still don't have to. I could dismiss you at any time."

"Of course, Your Grace," Maxwell said quickly. "You know that I—the whole staff—we're all deeply grateful that you chose to let us continue on, and we want to do whatever we can to make your transition her a smooth and comfortable one."

"All I ask of you is that you do your job. And that job includes preventing pests from entering my home! Please put it outside. And I'd like the staff to make an immediate sweep of the remainder of the house to make sure there are no more strange animals in here."

"Oh," Maxwell said. He strode forward without hesitation and scooped the cat into his arms.

James' eyes widened. "I would be careful," he said. "You don't know if the animal is violent or not."

"No, Your Grace," Maxwell said. "Forgive the misunderstanding—this is Hades."

"This is what ?"

"The cat's name is Hades. He belongs to the dowager duchess."

"She has a cat?" He frowned. "Who would name a cat Hades ? That isn't a name for a cat."

"She has two cats," Maxwell said. "Hades is the bolder of the two—you would nearly think he was the Duke of Stormwell the way he marches about the place sometimes as if it belongs to him. I'm surprised you haven't crossed paths with him before now."

"You say she has two cats? There have been two cats living in the house all this time and I've never seen either one of them?"

"Persephone is the other one. A black cat. She keeps to the shadows more than Hades does, so it surprises me much less that you haven't come across her. I'm sure she'll make her presence known in due course, though. Once she warms up to a new person, Persephone can be very affectionate."

"You speak of her fondly," James said. "As if you were fond of the creature."

"Well, I confess I am," Maxwell said. "She's lived here in this house for two years, after all. I find both cats to be enjoyable additions to the household. I like having both of them here."

"I just can't believe this," James said.

"Why is it so unbelievable, Your Grace?" Maxwell asked. "Forgive me, but the dowager duchess would hardly be the first lady to keep a pet or two."

"But when did they come into her possession? Surely my late cousin wouldn't have permitted those creatures into his home?"

"I think he would have," Maxwell said. "You'll pardon my saying so, but I think the late duke would have allowed any sort of strange circumstance, he was so excited to be bringing a young wife into his home.

If her choice of pet had been a snake, he probably would have found a way for his home to be a good place for a snake. "

James shook his head in disgust. Of course he wouldn't have endorsed any acts of violence by the dowager duchess, but he also had no regard or respect for his late cousin.

The man seemed like an abominable person.

To think that he had been so eager to get his hands on a young lady that he would put up with any conditions he had to… what a disgusting man.

For the first time, James found himself feeling a stab of sympathy for the dowager duchess.

She had a lot to answer for, to be sure—the way she had allowed her reputation to deteriorate was shameful.

But at the same time, she must have been appalled by the conditions under which she had come to live here in this house.

Of course she would have been miserable.

"As it happens, the cats did not come here with the duchess," Maxwell said.

"She obtained them a few months following the late duke's demise.

It was the first sign to many of us that she was stepping into her role as mistress of the house.

Since the late duke died on her very first night here, it quite understandably took her some time to settle into her new life.

She walked around looking very frightened for the first few weeks. "

"Frightened," James mused.

"I think any young lady in her situation would have been frightened," Maxwell said.

"Do you think she was frightened that the constables would catch up with her?" James asked. "That they would discover she'd had a hand in the late duke's death?"

"Oh, no, Your Grace," Maxwell said, shaking his head quickly.

"We know of those rumors but…none of us on the staff believe that the duchess had anything to do with that.

You should have seen her on her first night here.

She was such a terrified young thing. It's impossible to imagine that she could have done anything of the sort. "

"I have a very good imagination," James said dryly. But he could see that the staff were sure of their opinion of the matter. Maxwell, at least, wasn't going to budge on what he thought about the duchess.

"Well," he continued, "we will have to get rid of the cats. I'm not going to share my home with a pair of wild animals. Sharing it with a wild lady is quite bad enough!"

"The cats are perfectly well behaved," Maxwell assured him.

"You just told me this one walks around as if he owns the place, Maxwell. And it's true. What was he doing in my study? This is not his study. If cats are to be in a house, they ought to be confined to one room, not given the run of the place. I'm not going to have this."

"What would you have me do, Your Grace?"

"I've told you. Get rid of it."

Maxwell hesitated.

"What?" James demanded.

"Well, it's just that…I know how much the cats mean to the duchess," Maxwell said. "I couldn't bring myself to simply turn them out. I think it would break her heart."

"You're refusing?"

"I'm asking you not to require this of me," Maxwell said. "Please, Your Grace. If it must be done, please find someone else to do it. I couldn't do it to the poor lady."

"I didn't realize my staff felt such pity for her."

"Your Grace, you must remember that we've served her loyally for two years. We do serve you now, and happily so, but I personally can't simply forget or set aside all the time I spent in service to the duchess. I do care about her."

"I can't believe this. What's the point in having a staff that's loyal to her over me?"

"Your Grace, if you truly require this of me, I will do it," Maxwell said. "I am simply asking you as a kindness to spare me this task."

James groaned. "I suppose I ought to do it myself," he said. "After all, this is my house, and I ought to have the conviction to be clear about who—and what—I will tolerate living here. I'll speak to her."

"Thank you, Your Grace," Maxwell said, his relief evident on his face. "She and her guests are in the sitting room."

"Her guests ?"

"Were you not aware that she had people visiting?" Maxwell looked as if he had swallowed a rock.

"This has gone too far," James said. "She cannot continue to take advantage like this. I'm going to go and have a word with her right now."

And he strode from the study, intent on doing just that.