Gwen wandered away from the men. News that Mrs. Carnegie had somehow earned a place on the board was strangely painful. If it was possible for a woman to participate in managing the bank, why hadn’t the opportunity been offered to Natalia?

Gwen glanced around the deck but didn’t see Natalia among the people clustered at the refreshment table or at the shuffleboard game. Natalia rarely socialized with the others, and Gwen finally spotted her curled up on a bench near the stern, absently twirling a long strand of glossy dark hair while engrossed in a book.

Did Natalia know about Mrs. Carnegie? If any woman deserved a place in the boardroom, it was Natalia, who’d spent her childhood at her father’s knee, soaking up stories of foreign investments like other children sought candies or toys.

Gwen and Natalia had never been close. There was no particular reason other than a complete and total lack of common interests. Perhaps chatting about the book that had her so engrossed could be a touchstone.

“What are you reading?” Gwen asked as she drew near.

Natalia glanced up from the book. “The history of the Rothschild bank and its influence on the secondary insurance market. It gets better each time I read it.”

“Oh.” Well, that brought the conversation to a crashing halt.

A hint of amusement lit Natalia’s eyes as she clutched the book to her chest. “Did you think I was serious?”

“I did, actually.”

“I’m not that dull,” Natalia teased. “I’ve only read it once before. It’s a slog, but an important work that can’t be ignored. Sit down and tell me what I can do for you. You’ve got a pinched look.”

Gwen sat. Actually, she and Natalia did have something in common. They were both women who had been precluded from leadership at the bank from the moment they drew their first breath of air.

“Do you know about Mrs. Carnegie?”

Natalia stiffened. It was barely noticeable other than the way her fingers curled around the rim of the book. “Louise Carnegie? Owner of a seven-percent stake in the Blackstone Bank?”

“You knew about it?”

Natalia nodded. “Andrew Carnegie has a gentleman’s agreement with Grandfather. The operating agreement precluding women from the vote is ironclad, but Louise is allowed to assign her votes to whatever partner she chooses to vote on her behalf. So far, she’s always given them to my father.”

Which meant if Louise could be persuaded to assign them to Liam, they’d be seven percent closer to the magic number to save the college or grant Liam’s dearest wish of preventing the creation of U.S. Steel.

“Is there any hope of persuading Mrs. Carnegie to vote against the steel merger?”

Natalia rolled her eyes. “Forget it. The steel merger is her idea.”