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Phoebe’s brows fleard “I took a rock away froave him a dozen more?”

“Shhh,” West said without looking at her A corner of his mouth twitched as he continued, “Don’t interrupt a ”

Stephen clutched a flat stone with both hands, guiding it to a stack obbly determination He pressed it on top of the other stones and held it there while West gently adjusted its position

“Well done,” West said

Justin offered Stephen another stone, and Stephen took it with a grunt of enthusiasm His small face was comically serious as he maneuvered the stone to the top of the stack Phoebe watched intently, struck by how excited and interested he was in the project

Since the death of the father who’d never seen hiest child as much as possible She had filled his world with soft, pretty objects and endless coht want—or need—to play with rocks, sticks, and mud

“He’s going to be a builder,” West said “Or an excavator”

“Lucky Stephen,” Justin said, surprising Phoebe “I wish I could have a job someday”

“Why can’t you?” West asked

“I’m a viscount And they won’t let you quit even if you want to”

“A viscount can have another job as well”

Justin paused in his digging to look up at him hopefully “I can?”

“Perhaps if it’s one of the honorable professions,” Phoebe interceded gently, “such as diplomacy or the law”

West sent her a sardonic glance “His grandfather spent years running a ga club in London As I understand it, he was personally involved in its day-to-day ement Is that on your list of honorable professions?”

“Are you criticizing my father?” Phoebe asked, nettled

“Just the opposite Had the duke allowed hi by the expectations of nobility, he probably wouldn’t have a shilling to his name” He paused to adjust the pile of stones as Stephen stacked another one “The point is, he ran the club, and ended up a duke all the sae, he can choose any occupation he likes Even a ‘dishonorable’ one”

“I want to be a geologist,” Justin volunteered “Or an elephant trainer”

Phoebe looked at West and asked indignantly, “And ill look after the Clare estate?”

“Perhaps Stephen Or you” He grinned at her expression “That re Would you like to take a look at the estate account ledgers?

Phoebe hesitated, torn betanting to chide hi to accept the offer It would be enor system, and she knew he could explain it in a way she could understand

“Would we be alone?” she asked warily

“I’ so over the lascivious details of income and expenditure estimates Then we’ll move on to the really salacious materialsinventorycrop rotation charts”

The man never missed an opportunity to mock her