Magic in the Stars by Patricia Rice Read Free Book Online Page B

depends on Ashford.”
    Her beautiful midnight eyes widened and he could almost
swear they sparkled.
    “That is extremely heroic of you,” she said in what sounded
like awe. “You must set aside all that you are to become all that your family
needs. Not many men are capable of such selfless sacrifice.”
    Theo wanted to snarl. “I assure you, I’m not in the least
heroic. Without the estate, I have no home and no income. I need estate funds
to develop the manufactory for my telescope glass. Although I’m not sure what
the point is now since I’ll barely find time to continue my observations. I
cannot possibly manage everything.”
    “And you tell me this because . . . ?”
she asked with that acerbic tone belying her fluffy peahen appearance.
    This was where he made a complete and utter nodcock of
himself, but desperate times and all that . . . . “Because
if I must marry to produce the heir Ashford will not, it has to be someone who
understands about running businesses and estates. I cannot do it all myself. I
don’t want to do it all myself. I am
a scientist, not an industrialist or a farmer.”
    He swung around and faced her directly. “I don’t believe in
astrology, but if you can use your foolishness to convince a useful woman that
we suit, I won’t care if she’s plain as a door or frumpy as an old maid.”
    ***
    Taken somewhat aback, Aster sipped her cooling tea before
answering. She was accustomed to men rejecting her charts. That this highly
intelligent, eminently respectable gentleman who understood the heavens chose
to reject her observations hurt more than most. But there was no sense arguing
over his disbelief.
    “I’m not a matchmaker,” she told him. Except she could be,
possibly, had it ever occurred to her to look beyond her family. She knew which
zodiac signs complemented each other.
    “Surely, you must know someone suitable,” he insisted,
pacing like a caged tiger. “Your family is full of eccentrics who must have
some agricultural knowledge.”
    She winced. “It’s true, my family contains many intelligent,
capable women,” she corrected, thinking aloud. “But none of them are farmers. As
I told Emilia, I do not normally chart many people beyond family. I need
specific information as to birth date, time, and location. I suppose I could
sort through my library, but right off hand, I cannot imagine a suitable
candidate. You would do better to hire a steward.”
    Lord Theophilus rather resembled a sleek, muscular leopard pacing
her parlor in search of prey. She had the feeling she might be his quarry and
that he might pounce at any moment.
    “And then, should the new steward desert us like the last
one, we would be right back where we are now,” his lordship exclaimed with a
frustrated wave of his arm that nearly decapitated a fern. “Duncan could run
the estate with one arm behind his back. He only employed a steward so he could
spend more time with politics and the steamship business. But he insists if he
can’t ride and see the fields or even the ledgers, that we will be robbed blind
unless I stay on top of business.”
    “And your other brothers? I recall there is a pack of them.”
That was perhaps not the politest way of stating it, but the agitated gentleman
didn’t seem to object. It was rather refreshing to speak as bluntly as he. “Are
none of them interested in the estate?”
    The marquess’s reluctant heir ran his hand through his
hair—recently cropped, Aster noticed. His lordship had at least attempted to
appear respectable for this visit, which gave her a visceral thrill. She didn’t
think the self-absorbed, absent-minded Lord Theophilus often tried to impress
people.
    “Not a one,” he groaned. “Every marquess since the first has
provided for his progeny, legitimate or not. We all receive equal allowances
from the estate to establish ourselves in our interests. We have uncles and
cousins running mines, canals, factories . . . You name it