The earl looked up in surprise. “What? Two strangers let in?Who?”
“Lord Somerdon, I am Mr. Harry Vance, this is my valet, Smith. I have a few words to say to you.”
“Words? To me?” the earl said looking rather incredulous. “Here?Now?”
“Yes, to you, here and now,” Harry said, thinking the earl was a little less articulate than expected. No matter, he was prepared to plough forward.
“Lord Somerdon, do you realize that you have so damaged your daughter’s mind that she is prepared to marry herself to a big lump of a fellow rather than myself? Do you understand that, through your inattention and neglect, the lady has been living in fear of poverty and privation all her life? Do you comprehend that she is on the verge of making herself miserable through an unsuited marriage, and it is all your doing?”
Harry thought all of that would be easy enough to understand, but he began to have doubts.
The earl nodded as if he’d just been delivered good news. “Married. That duchess said so. All right then.Done.”
“No, it is not done! That’s the point—it is not yet done. There is still a chance to save her from herself. To alleviate her fears.”
Now the earl looked confused.
“Pull yourself together, man!” Harry practically shouted. “You’ve got to fix all this,” he said waving his arms.
The earl looked about himself, as if searching for whatall thiswas that Harry said must be fixed.
“Your estate,” Harry said. “It’s a wreck and that must be rectified.”
The earl had nodded as if he comprehended the point, though what he said next made Harry wonder if the man understood any point at all.
“No. Things turn up, don’t you know. Always do.Lastminute,” the earl said complacently.
Harry was beginning to think the man made it a habit to speak so inscrutably. He made a guess thatturns up last minutewas meant to convey that some relative or other would bail him out of the worst of his circumstances before he was entirely undone. He made a guess that the earl had been operating in such a fashion all his life.
“Turns up last minute,” Harry said. “Yes, you are quite right. Somebody has turned up.Ihave turned up. This heap of an estate is going to right itself and you’ll not get rid of me until that is accomplished.”
“No—”
Harry cut the earl off before he could compose any more of his nonsensical phrasings. “Smith, find us suitable rooms. I will make a tour of the place to see what is to be done. After the horses are rested, I will go and see Bertridge. He’ll know where I can find people to employ to clean this place up.”
The earl, who had looked rather satisfied with himself, looked less so now. He dropped his toast.
Harry stared down at him and said, “You, earl, had better prepare yourself to be more energetic than you have been. This estate will be brought back to what it always should have been. Lady Isabel will see that I am capable of such things and will no longer fear the future. Furthermore, do everybody the courtesy of speaking in full sentences!”
Harry turned on his heel and strode from the room.
He ignored the earl’s parting words—
“What?No.Go away.”
*
Isabel had driedher eyes, though they still retained a telltale redness and puffiness. Her bouts of tears had ended and she’d been left with an odd heaviness. It was as if she carried more weight on her bones than she had before. Her arms and legs felt tired though she’d done little and they should not be so exhausted.
She sat in the drawing room mechanically embroidering and considering that this new feeling would likely linger. She would never be entirely happy again—she had traded that feeling for a guarantee of safety and protection. Lord Lymington’s parents were coming in the next weeks to have a look at her.
Isabel presumed she would pass muster, her only real deficiency was a lack of a spectacular dowry amount. She did not know how much the duke and duchess had put by for her, but she was certain it would be modest. But that was no matter. If a very large dowry had been important to Lord Lymington’s parents, they would not be coming.
She would be a duchess and she would have an enormous cushion of money and connections.
As Isabel mulled over what sort of life she would have with Lord Lymington, she heard his voice in the hall. Carlson opened the drawing room doors but did not escort him in.
“Lady Isabel,” he said, “Lord Lymington has come to call but, as you know, the duchess has gone out. Might I suggest sending in Betsy to chaperone?”
