Don’t push it, Will, please,Henry prayed.Don’t fall for it. The man is trying to make trouble.
He kept his eyes on his cards, shooting wary looks at the other two players. The sleepy lady had drifted off again, her cards sagging dangerously.
“What do you mean, orderly?” William asked, frowning.
Lord Richard winced, making a great show of reluctance. “I do hate to say… well, Mr Fairfax is a decent man, but not, I would say, a truebusinessman. He is rather old, and his health is notgood. It’s rather natural he would need help. He allows his daughter to practically run the business, can you believe it? Quite a scandalous decision.”
“Perhaps it should not be a scandalous decision,” William remarked, picking up another card. “My sister, Katherine, is remarkably intelligent and capable. I would trust her with my life. This idea that ladies are not as clever as gentlemen is fast losing power, Mr Grenville.”
Henry suppressed a smile. Lord Richard blinked, almost visibly reassessing his mode of attack.
“Of course, of course,” he managed, smiling thinly. “But there is no denying that the Fairfax enterprises arein troubleand have been for some time. As I say, Lord Henry, I am sure you know what you’re doing, but I must just drop a word in your ear.”
“Must you?” Henry muttered.
Richard pretended not to hear. He threw his cards down on the table, face up, and leaned forward.
“The Fairfaxes are sinking fast, sir. Be careful, if you do not wish to sink with them.”
“And you know this how, sir?” Henry shot back. “From what I can see…”
“Looks can be deceiving,” Richard interrupted. He was grinning again, the wretch, and by throwing down his cards in that way, had ruined the game. “You’ll realise soon enough that you’ve made a mistake, Lord Henry, and when you do – if you can disentangle yourself – do come to me, won’t you? I’m sure we can find a place for an enterprising young man in our business.”
He dropped a wink and got to his feet, not bothering to wait for a reply. He stalked off, leaving Henry and William to drop their cards and glance at each other.
“I didn’t like that man,” William said, after a pause. “He seemed… well, he seemed rather smug.”
“Yes, he’s awful,” Henry muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose. He was getting a headache. “He can’t stand the Fairfaxes, and now I suppose he’s got it in for me, too.”
“What did he mean about them sinking fast, though?”
“I have no idea,” Henry responded.
That wasn’t true, though.
They need money. The money I promised to give them. The money I don’t have.
The sleeping lady at the end of the table woke herself up with a sharp snort, blinking groggily around at them all.
“What’s going on?” she mumbled. “Is it my turn?”
Chapter Fifteen
It never ended, did it?
Eleanor’s mind reeled with tasks and lists of things to do, counting them off. There were ledgers to check, the factory foreman to talk to, product to check, a supplier to write to, and on and on it went.
At one time, she could have split the tasks with her father, but Charles had something of a megrim today. Not that he’d admit it, of course, but she saw the glazed, unfocused look in his eyes, the way she had to repeat everything at least twice and even then, it didn’t seem to go in. She wished he would just go home and lie down, instead of slumping over papers at his desk.
For her part, Eleanor was concentrating on maneuvering herself and a pile of boxes upstairs.
They were coming from the factory downstairs, a delivery of pens, ink, paper, and other stationery items that would be divided among the offices.
The sort of thing it was important not to drop.
Eleanor wobbled, just a little, trying to peer around the stack of boxes to see where to put her foot on the next step.
And then she was overbalancing, tipping backwards.
