Denton, and have a good day.” Colin ushered the old farmer out of the door and returned to his desk. After two weeks of hard and patient work, he had a much better understanding of the extent of the problems at Beckworth and how he might set about dealing with them. He’d received a very polite reply to his initial letter to the London solicitors and had been provided with a limited amount of funds to tide him over the current financial crisis. In truth, everything was proceeding much more smoothly than he might have anticipated. He couldn’t deny that Miss Leyton had been of great help to him. She was highly intelligent and instinctively understood the issues without him having to explain them more than once. It was a pity she was not a man, because she would have made an excellent land agent and friend. Colin dipped his pen in the inkwell and paused in thought. Not that he wished her to be a man. His pleasure in her company went far beyond that. They had developed a familiarity and friendship beyond anything he had experienced before with a female, and he valued her immensely.
