Devil's smile broadened. "It's about the crop yields. Richard told me what you achieve here-"
"And Corby happened to mention the tonnage you clear from your orchards-and how old your trees are." Vane raised his brows. "Frankly, if I didn't know he wasn't lying, I'd have said he'd dreamed the figures up."
Catriona smiled. "We do very well, that's true."
"Not very well," Devil corrected her. "Astonishingly well." He met her gaze. "We'd like to know how you manage it."
Catriona held his gaze and swiftly considered her options. She had said she would give them anything in her power; there was no reason she couldn't answer their question. Her only worry was that they wouldn't believe her-or wouldn't have a sufficiently open mind to understand. Then again, they had come to her and asked. And, as one of The Lady's disciples, it behooved her to spread Her message as widely as she could.
Drawing a slow breath, she nodded. "Very well. But you'll need to bear in mind that what I tell you is a… a philosophy rather than a prescription." She glanced at Vane. "So the answer is the same for both crops and orchards, indeed, for anything that grows. And the philosophy holds true for all arable lands, whether in the shadow of Merrick, or in Cambridgeshire, or in Kent."
They both nodded. "So…" Devil prompted.
"So," she said, "it's a question of balance."
"Balance?"
"What you take out must be put back, if you wish to take out again." Catriona leaned forward, resting her arms on the desk. "Each patch of soil has certain characteristics, certain nutrients which allow it to bear crops of such and such a nature. Once the crop is grown, however, the nutrients used in the bearing are depleted in the soil. If the soil is continually planted, it will continue to deplete and bear poorer and poorer crops until it fails. Crop rotation helps, but even that does not return the nutrients to the soil. So if you want to continuously crop, and crop well, then you need to renew the soil, replace the nutrients used, after each cropping. That's the fundamental point-the need for balance-in and out."
Vane was frowning. "Just go back a minute. Do you mean that for each particular crop, in each particular field, you need to work out a… a…"
"An understanding of the balance of the nutrients involved?" Catriona nodded. "Precisely."
"This balance," Devil leaned forward. "How's it measured?"
They questioned her, and she answered and explained; Devil asked for paper and sketched some of his fields-Vane listed the fruits and nuts he grew. They discussed, and even argued, but not once did they doubt, or give any hint that they dismissed her guidance. Quite the opposite.
"I'll try it," Devil declared, "and you'll have to come and talk to my foremen when you visit." He folded the sheet of paper on which he'd jotted notes. "If we can achieve even half of what you do here, I'll die happy."
Considering his own sheet of notes, Vane grinned. "My men are going to think I've taken leave of my senses, but… it's my fields-and my gain." Looking up, he smiled at Catriona. "Thank you, my dear, for sharing your secret with us."
"Indeed." Rising as she did, Devil waggled his brows at Catriona. "Doubtless the most useful lady's secret I've ever learned."
Laughing, she waved them out; they went with sweeping bows. Sitting back down, she couldn't stop smiling. After a minute, she tidied her desk, then went upstairs to gauge Richard's strength.
"Ah-there you are."
Catriona looked up from the garden bed she'd been contemplating, one she hoped would soon show a few green shoots. Gabriel was making his way between the beds toward her, patently trying to see what she'd been studying in the winter brown earth.
"Is there anything there?"
"No." Catriona grinned. "I was merely checking. Is there something you need?"
He straightened and smiled "Not exactly-I heard of the advice you gave to Devil and Vane."
"Ah, I see." Catriona waved him to join her as she ambled on down the path. "And what do you grow?"
"I don't-at least, not in the same sense " He grinned down at her. "I grow money-from money"
"Oh." Catriona blinked. "I don't think I can give you any advice there."
"Probably not," he affably agreed. "Not but what that balance idea of yours is quite close to the mark-but in investing it's risk and return that create the balance."
Catriona held his gaze. "I'm afraid," she said, "that I don't really know much about investing."
His grin widened. "Few people do-which brings me to my point. In light of your sterling advice to the others-which in turn benefits me, as Devil's wealth underpins the family ducal purse and both he and Vane invest through me, so the more funds they have to put in, the wealthier we all, myself included, become-I'd like to offer you my help in making investments in the same way I help all the rest." He stopped and smiled at her. "You're family now, so it's only fair."
Catriona stared into his eyes, a light hazelly brown, and let his words and his smile warm her. "I… " She hesitated, then nodded "I think I'd like that. Richard invests with you, doesn't he?"
"All the family do. I oversee the investments, and Heathcote Montague, our joint man of business, acts as our executor." Gabriel grinned. "That means I do all the talking and investigating and he takes care of the boring formalities."
Catriona nodded. "Tell me more about what you do. How do these investments of yours work?"
They ambled through the gardens for close to an hour, by which time she'd learned more than enough to know that he, at least, knew precisely what he was talking about. "Very well." With a nod, she halted at the entrance to the gardens. Here was an opportunity to establish the vale's future income for all time. Gabriel would invest their excess funds for her-the income would be there to tide the vale over any lean years, should such ever come to pass. She nodded again and refocused on Gabriel's face. "I'll talk to McArdle and get the funds transferred-Richard will know the direction."
Gabriel's easy smile lit his face; hand over his heart, he bowed. "You won't regret it, I swear." He straightened, eyes twinkling. "Welcome to yet another aspect of our family."
Richard entered the dining hall that evening to a rousing chorus of cheers. The whole household stood and clapped. His slow stroll disguising his lack of strength, he grinned and nodded gracefully, his expression one of amused affability But when he met Catriona's gaze as he reclaimed his seat beside her, she could see the warmth, the joy, the affectionate acceptance, burning in the blue of his eyes.
She smiled mistily and quickly sat so that he could sit, too. The cheering subsided, and the first course was brought out.
Beneath the table's edge, Richard clasped her hand briefly, then frowned at the serving dish placed before him. "Good heavens! Is that turbot''"
"Hmm-mm." Drawing the dish closer, Catriona heaped some on his plate. "Cook said it was one of your favorite dishes."
"It is." Bemused, Richard stared at it, then looked at her. "But wherever did she get turbot up here?"
Catriona raised her brows haughtily "We have our ways."