“That’s good, then,” she said, a smile dawning in her eyes, only to disappear when Jane, Duchess of Walden, appeared in the doorway.

“I should have known this would happen,” Her Grace said, marching right into the room and peering at Robert’s sketch. “Constance is talented, and we thwart her artistic impulses at our peril. Your Grace, my husband is asking for a word with you in the family parlor. I believe the marriage settlements are to be discussed.”

She wiggled her eyebrows as if sharing a bit of gossip. Robert had no idea if the duchess was poking fun at her husband, at the topic of marriage settlements, or at the notion of a man who’d not left his property in years negotiating finances with a wealthy banker.

“I’ll show you to the parlor,” Lady Constance said, “and I will leave the sketch on the sideboard in the foyer. I did promise you could have it, after all.”

The duchess claimed she needed to confer with the nursery maids, meaning Robert had Lady Constance’s company to himself as they descended the main staircase.

“I have never negotiated marriage settlements before,” he said. “I likely will never negotiate them again.”

“You won’t marry? Won’t see to the succession as all titled men must?”

“I have the falling sickness. Or had you forgotten?”

“And does this illness render you incapable of siring children?” She put that hopelessly blunt question to him at the foot of the steps.

“It does not, but the illness can run in families. I have some evidence suggesting my father was afflicted.”

“And yet nobody recalls him as anything but a highly effective, self-possessed duke. How odd.”

Robert again had a sense of innuendo escaping him. “Are you teasing me?”

“Yes, I am. I expect I will commit the same transgression regularly. Best learn to tease back, Your Grace. Now, about these settlement negotiations: The issue isn’t money. Althea’s portion is generous and earning good interest. Quinn respects a fierce negotiator. He will expect you to be accommodating and generous because the aristocracy believe in appearing gracious to each other, but instead you must be a staunch advocate for your brother’s welfare.”

She drew him along the corridor, pausing outside a room from which masculine voices rumbled. “Don’t give too much too easily,” she went on. “Demand that every detail be in writing—every detail. Quinn will leave something out of the first draft to test you. It’s a favorite tactic with him. Good luck.”

“Thank you,” Robert said, for he could not recall another occasion when anybody save Nathaniel had so clearly taken his part.

Her gaze became a tad wary. “For the sketch?”