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Rollo nodded. “She will want to see just how much damage she has done.”
“At the moment, she has done enough because Petal has left,” Jerry sighed.
“What do you want us to do?” Rollo asked with a frown.
“I want you to be aware that Petal is to be the new mistress of the house but, for now, keep it to yourselves. Rollo, I need you to give me directions to Petal’s father’s farmhouse. Jerry, I need you to come with me. I am able to get up and about but this will be the furthest I will have travelled since the day I left London. Just in case anything goes wrong, I need you to come with me.”
“Count me in,” Jerry assured him.
“Aggy, as the mistress of the house, Petal will need a personal maid. I take it that you and Petal are friends?”
“Yes, sir,” Aggy replied with a spark of hope in her eye.
“Then I am elevating you to being my future wife’s personal maid. She will need your help with all sorts of things. Jerry, it is for you and I go help Petal get to grips with the kind of things she will need to know to be able to live here as my wife. I hope you will support me.”
“Of course I will,” Jerry replied with a grin.
“Mrs Kempton, if you can continue as you are I am sure Petal will be immensely relieved not to have to deal with the household for the time being. You will, of course, have lost the upstairs help but feel free to advertise for a new member of staff.”
“We don’t really need one, for now, sir,” Mrs Kempton said. “Maisie can do the job splendidly with the help of the scullery maid. I am sure she is up to the job.”
“Everyone has to keep quiet about this,” Aidan cautioned. “I don’t want Edwards getting wind of anything until the marriage has taken place.”
Jerry nodded. He was immensely pleased to see this new, take-charge attitude from his brother. It indicated that Aidan had actually fully recovered from his recent ordeal, and would soon be able to take over the running of his entire estate.
The only cloud on the horizon was Petal. Given what she had witnessed, she wasn’t going to be easy to talk around, especially if she had been so upset she had quit.
“What are you going to do if Petal says no?” Jerry asked.
“She doesn’t get a choice,” Aidan reported. “When I tell you that I may need help, I mean it. I will carry her out of that farmhouse, and up the aisle, if I have to.”
Jerry began to laugh. He knew that Aidan most probably would.
“Rollo, if the dowager calls demanding to know where I have gone, tell her nothing.”
Before he could say anything else, there was a discrete knock on the door. Rollo tugged it open and spoke to the footman outside.
“Sir? Petal’s father is here.”
Aidan’s brows lifted. His heart lurched at the thought that Petal had returned with him, and strode forward to speak with the footman directly. “Is Petal with him?”
“No, sir. It is just her father. He is in the kitchens.”
“Send him up,” Aidan ordered.
“Sir?” The footman looked hesitant.
“Send him up.”
“Yes, sir.” At Rollo’s nod, the footman left.
A somewhat nervous tension hovered over the group as they waited for the farmer to join them. When he did, they all took a deep breath at the size of the man who stalked through the door, a dark scowl on his heavily bearded face. Still, in spite of his bullish size, he bowed courteously and maintained a respectful distance beside the door.
“Come on in,” Aidan ordered kindly. “We don’t do all of that pomp and circumstance in this place.”
He watched the farmer’s brows lift.
“I take it you have Petal?” he asked when the man had yet to speak.
