“Don’t,” Matt said. “One day, you’ll be in the same position.”
“And don’t tease the girls either,” Grace said.
Walter grinned good-naturedly. “You two are taking all the fun out of this.” He fell quiet for a few minutes, then said, as if a thought had occurred to him, “Charlotte could be married this year.”
“Yes.” Grace studied her brother. “If she meets the right gentleman, she could be wed before summer.”
“Who’s next then? Augusta?”
Matt nodded and suddenly his face had a panicked expression. “My God. Do you realize we have the twins and Madeline coming out the same year?”
Charlie gave a bark of laughter.
“You laugh now,” Matt said darkly. “You won’t think it’s so humorous when you’re drafted to help chaperone.”
Her brother’s face fell. “I don’t suppose you have a tower at your estate, do you?”
Chapter Twenty-Eight
After they returned from the Park, Grace went to her study to sort through the mail she’d ignored during the past two days. She was in the process of answering a letter from her steward when Patience knocked on the door.
“May I come in?”
Putting down the pen, Grace sprinkled sand over the paper. “Of course. How are you settling in?”
Sinking gracefully into a chair next to the desk, Patience grinned. “Very nicely. I rather like not having many responsibilities. Do you have the account books for Worthington House?”
Searching through the ledgers on the bookcase next to her desk, Grace shook her head. “Not yet, is there something you wish to go over with me?”
“Not really.” Patience grimaced. “I thought I should tell you they are not up to date. I never could make them balance, so I just gave up.”
Was that the reason Matt had been so concerned about Grace’s expenditures? “Oh dear. How long has it been since you’ve looked at them?”
Patience glanced at the ceiling and gave an airy wave of her hand. “I am not quite sure. Probably about six years.”
Did Matt even suspect his household accounts had been ignored for so long? Grace dreaded the answer to her next question. “Do you still have all the receipts?”
“Every last one.” Patience brightened, obviously proud of herself. “I thought I might need them at some point. For a while, I kept them all in a drawer, and when I ran out of room, I put them in boxes.”
“That is a starting place.” Despite her dread at having to trace back years of expenditures, Grace kept her tone even. “Tell me, does Louisa know how to hold house?”
“Ah, not precisely.” The other woman’s brows drew together. “I have never been able to teach her, and I did not want to bother Worthington.”
Grace didn’t want to think about what Matt was going to say. Yet now she could kill two birds with one stone. “If you show a couple of footmen where the receipts are and have them bring the boxes here, I’ll use them to teach Louisa how to balance the accounts.”
“Thank you, my dear.” Patience rose. “I hoped you would say that. I shall attend to it immediately.”
* * *
Not many moments later, Patience, accompanied by two footmen, strolled to Worthington House. She showed them where the boxes were stacked. As they were leaving the house, a gentleman, with the reddened face of one who had spent much of his life in dissipation, approached her.
“Lady Worthington?”
Whoever he was had a great deal of gall addressing her without being introduced. Raising an imperious brow, she used her coldest tone. “I beg your pardon.”
He bowed. “I apologize. Please allow me to make myself known to you. Mr. Edgar Molton, at your service.”
With a great effort, she maintained a look of unconcern. Matt would have to be told immediately. “Indeed.”
