Her Father’s Partner Threw Her Out in Mourning — The Duke Returned Every Key and Married Her

Her father was buried on a Tuesday. By Friday his partner had the warehouses, the business, the house, and the walnut desk where he had taught his daughter to balance an account. Lydia Prewitt was still wearing mourning black when Edwin Rushworth ordered her out of her own front door. He was perfectly polite about it. He had the papers, and the papers were in order. The Duke of Thistlemoor had done business with her father for three years. He had never once been to the house. He came now — and he did not offer her pity, or a settlement, or a place to stay. He asked to see the ledgers. A slow mid-Victorian story about a woman who could read an account book better than any man in London, and a man who returned what was hers one key at a time. Written and produced for quiet listening. Full story, one sitting, no cliffhanger. DISCLAIMER This is an original work of fiction. All characters, titles, houses and events are invented. Any resemblance to real persons or real peerages is coincidental. Narration is AI-assisted. Story, structure and dialogue are original.