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‘But not me, I hope.’ Mrs Fortini—Elizabeth—squeezed her arm. ‘Do you remember when you made that beautiful evening gown for Anna to wear at Lady Jarrow’s party? And then you fixed up one of my old ones so that it looked as good as new? Well, if memory serves, I said that I was indebted that day. Now I’m thrilled to be able to repay you.’
‘Thank you, but I would never have dreamed of intruding if... Well, if things hadn’t been so difficult recently.’
‘At Belles?’
‘Oh, no, the shop’s in good hands. It’s just a situation involving my brother. You see, his wife died and now he’s run away and I’ve no idea where’s he’s gone and there’s nobody else to look after my nephews and—’ She stopped short, feeling horribly short of breath and as though she were about to start crying.
‘Oh, my dear.’ Elizabeth led her in through the great doors. ‘How terrible.’
‘But Sebastian’s been a great help. Honestly, I don’t know what I would have done without him.’
‘Good! Now let’s go into the sitting room and you can tell me all about it.’
Chapter Sixteen
‘There’s a lake!’ Michael bounced to his feet with excitement.
‘Careful!’ Sebastian swung around, grabbing hold of his waist. ‘If you break your leg falling off this cart, then I won’t let you go anywhere near it.’
‘Sorry.’ Michael settled back down again. ‘But it’s huge!’
‘Full of trout, too.’ Lord Tobias grinned. ‘Excellent for young boys to fish in.’
‘We don’t know how to fish.’
‘You don’t? Good gracious. Well, I’d be happy to teach you. A boy ought to know how to fish.’
‘Sailors need to know, too.’ Peter spoke up this time. ‘Don’t they, Sebastian?’
‘It can definitely come in handy.’
‘And there’s Feversham.’ Lord Tobias pointed ahead towards a large grey house.
‘That’s huge, too!’ Michael sounded thunderstruck.
‘I built it myself. Not brick by brick, of course, but I designed it with an architect friend of mine about fifteen years ago. My father wanted to keep the bulk of the estate together for my older brother, but he gave me enough money to be independent so I decided to build this. It gives me plenty of room to indulge my interests.’
‘It’s a fine-looking house,’ Sebastian answered honestly. The building was large, but not imposing, blending discreetly into the landscape instead of fighting against it. ‘Is the Messingham estate close by?’
‘Don’t you know?’ Lord Tobias looked surprised.
‘No. I made a point of never being interested.’
‘Ah. Well, there are properties all over the country, of course, but the bulk of the estate is in Kent.’
‘Kent?’ Sebastian looked at his uncle properly for the first time. ‘That’s a long way from Yorkshire.’
‘Exactly. Far enough away that I’m not required to visit too often.’ Lord Tobias shrugged. ‘It’s not that I don’t love my brother. I do, but we get along much better at a distance. Besides, I always loved this part of the world.’
‘What about your mother? Wasn’t there a dower house in Kent for her?’
‘Yes, but she preferred to come and live here with me. We were always very close.’
‘Really?’ Sebastian couldn’t keep the sarcasm out of his voice.
‘Forgive me, I didn’t mean to be tactless. I know that she and Elizabeth were close, too, before...well...’
‘Before she cut her off without a penny.’
