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Mounting the steps, she entered. Normally the place was quiet at this hour, but what she found this morning was chaos. Nurse Hayes trotted out of W—no, it was not William’s office anymore, it was the Administrator’s. It belonged to the current Lord Manchester. A sharp pang stabbed her in the chest, stealing her breath.
“Oh, my lady!” whispered Nurse Hayes, bustling over and wringing her hands. “It’s terrible—he arrived half an hour ago, and he’s been turning everything upside down. The master’s office is in an awful state.”
“It is his office now,” Harriett reminded her, careful to show none of her resentment. “Go about your duties. I shall see to our visitor.”
“Yes, my lady,” said Nurse Hayes, giving her a grateful smile. She turned to go, but a sharp voice issuing from within the Administrator’s office halted her.
“Nurse Hayes! Entries for food purchases stop after the first week in December. Am I to believe no supplies were needed for the remainder of that month?”
Nurse Hayes cast a nervous glance at her.
Harriett waved her on and watched as the woman hurried from the room. Steeling herself, she strode across the foyer with purpose. What in the seven hells was he doing here at this hour?
Causing trouble, that’s what.
It didn’t matter. Everything was in perfect order. Or at least it had been before Lord Pain in the Arse had arrived to muck it up. All she had to do was keep calm—at least on the surface—until he left. If she felt like a gibbering fool inside, she certainly wouldn’t let him know it.
“Nurse Hayes!”
Though Manchester’s bark made her jump, Harriett steadied herself and peeked around the door frame. There he sat at William’s desk, his head bent over the ledger, a pipe in his hand.
“You needn’t bellow, Your Grace. She isn’t deaf.”
His head snapped up. “You’re certainly here early, Lady Harriett. Most ladies of quality do not deign to rise before the tenth hour.”
“And good morning to you, as well,” she replied, keeping her tone light. “I am accustomed to rising with the sun, Your Grace.”
“How very odd,” he drawled, his whiskey eyes raking her over. “But then, I suppose you would be better rested than those indulging in frivolous evening entertainments.”
Meaning he didn’t think she had been invited anywhere, of course. Keep calm, she told herself. This is just beginning. There would be an entire morning of this, from the look of it. “As it happens, I did enjoy a delightful party hosted by Lord and Lady Abernathy yesterday evening. Yet, as you can see, I am still here to serve in what capacity I may. If everyone had the self-discipline to rise early and put their faculties to good use, the world would be a better place. Unfortunately, most people are far too taken with shallow pleasures to consider the good of their fellow man.”
Her return jab resulted only in his lips forming their familiar smirk. “How unfortunate that not everyone has your dedication and fortitude, Lady Harriett. Be that as it may, I have dragged myself from the considerable comforts of my bedchamber this morning to review the operation of this facility. Including this ledger, here.” He tapped it with the mouth of his pipe.
“Excellent. Let us not delay you from your comforts any longer than necessary, then.” She came around to his side of the desk and leaned over to point to a notation in the ledger’s margin. A queer expression, almost like panic, flickered across his face as he looked up. It was gone in the next instant.
She must have imagined it.
“As you can see,” she continued, “there were indeed no food purchases for the remainder of December thanks to a generous Christmas donation of food supplies from Lord and Lady Bracknell.” She fixed her gaze upon her own neat handwriting, determined to ignore the way he was staring at her.
At last, he looked to where she pointed. “Yes. I see that now.”
“You will find that any and all irregularities in the monthly expense column, no matter how minor, are annotated so throughout the ledger.”
He gave no response.
That’s right, you son of the devil. She’d left no room for questions—or criticism. “Was there anything else?” she asked, smiling to herself over his bent head.
“Thus far…no,” he said, sounding both strained and disappointed. He straightened. “There is far too much to digest in one sitting. I’m afraid I shall have to review the rest over an extended period.”
Her triumph faded. “Naturally, you must take as long as you desire, Your Grace.” What else could she say? “I would not wish you to hurry in your examination, though I trust you will find the rest to be just as satisfactory.”
“Mm,” he grunted. “In retrospect, I realize I have been far too distant a manager.”
“You did not feel that way when you thought I was Mr. Dun,” she snapped before thinking better of it. Now he looked up at her, his smirk back in place. She cursed herself for giving him the reaction he’d sought.
“That isn’t the reason why I am doing it,” he told her. “I thought about what you said yesterday, and you were correct. I have never taken the interest in this place I ought. You should be glad, Lady Harriett, to know your words had an impact upon my poor, under-used conscience.”
