The Duke Hadn’t Laughed Since the War

from him were most careful to seem as if they did not.

His secretary was a man named Pell. He had served the estate for 12 years and had, as far as anyone could see, no interests beyond its efficient management.

He had a particular habit of straightening whatever he stood beside—a candlestick, a stack of papers, a chair angled two degrees from parallel—that continue reading …