But Reese hadn’t been able to get past the first, soul-wrenching paragraph. The part that had said Edmund—the brother he’d worshipped—was dead.

In Reese’s mind, this house would always belong to Edmund.

He was the one who had exorcised the demons their father had left behind.

He was the one who should have lived here until a ripe old age, secure in the knowledge that his children and grandchildren would carry on the family name and bloodline.

But Edmund was gone, and since the continuation of the family line now depended on Reese … well, it didn’t stand a chance.

He led Sophie up the brick front steps, resisting the urge, once again, to offer her his hand. “Watch your step,” he said, wishing he’d thought to light some lanterns outside before leaving the house.

He pushed open the door and ushered her inside, pausing in the dimly lit entrance hall. Sophie’s eyes grew wide at the sight of the room’s cavernous ceiling, ornate buttresses, and elaborate stonework. “This is amazing,” she breathed. “Otherworldly.”

He couldn’t say that he’d ever had such romantic notions about the house, but he liked that Sophie did. She could find the beauty in anything.

“Come,” he said, picking up a lantern from the gilded side table flanking one side of the entrance. “I had a room prepared for you. I’ll take you there so you can make yourself comfortable.”

As he led her down the long, marble-tiled hall, she craned her neck to observe the ancient tapestries adorning the walls and the swirling geometric patterns gracing the second-story windows. “You grew up here?” she asked, with more than a little awe.

“I did,” he said, thinking it best not to mention that he’d left it all behind at the first possible opportunity.

Halfway down the hall he waved an arm at the grand staircase, and she followed him up the steps to the first landing. “There’s a sitting room and a library on this level,” he said, noting the keen interest that sparked in her blue eyes. “Please, make yourself at home here. Wander anywhere you like.”

“I’d love to see more,” she said. “In fact, I wish it were daylight now, so I could roam the grounds and explore the garden.”

“I don’t see why we need to wait for dawn,” he said with a shrug. “Let’s place your portmanteau in your room, and I’ll take you to the garden right away.”

“Could we do that?” she asked, almost rapturous.

“We can do anything we like.”