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Chapter 8
“I’m really pleased that you could take on this position, Mr Sidney,” Professor Ainsley said as he led Richard down a corridor. Richard hurried to keep up with the older man’s longer stride.
“I’m pleased you agreed to take me on, Professor. I wasn’t expecting you to be so readily agreeable.”
“Well, Nathan Cohen had talked you up when we spoke, and I remembered your enthusiasm from our last meeting.” Ainsley beamed. “Plus, it’s always nice to have a fresh young face around the place. My last assistant, while very efficient, was a little dreary. He did bring the mood down a bit.”
Richard didn’t respond. There wasn’t really much he could say to that. He almost tripped over his own feet, catching himself before he collided with Ainsley.
“I’ve come straight here from the coach, Professor, so I haven’t been able to get my bearings. Do you know of any good places I can use for my lodgings?”
“Easy. There are some here.” Ainsley waved at a point above his head. “In the top of the house, where my last assistant was. It’s a bit cramped, but it’s yours to do as you wish.”
Oh. At least that was something. Richard was glad he didn’t have to go traipsing around London looking for somewhere to live. Things looked very cramped in the immediate area.
But that was minor compared to what he was experiencing right now. He was here, with Professor Ainsley, about to start his employment. It felt like a strange dream. Richard had pinched himself several times on the journey to London, sure that this was going to fade away and he was going to wake up.
It wasn’t a dream. He was really here.
“Here we are.” Ainsley opened a huge wooden door and gestured inside. “This is my study. It’s where the majority of my work is conducted. Just be careful, it is a little messy in there, but everything is filed where it needs to be, so don’t knock anything over.”
Richard stepped into the room and stared. There seemed to be books and papers on every available surface. A huge desk was in front of the massive windows, with a smaller desk just off to the side and books piled on the tabletop and chair. Floor-to-ceiling bookcases were lining opposite walls, except for a door in one corner. The pathway to that door was surprisingly clear.
“That’s to my laboratory where we do our testing and examining.” Ainsley made his way to the desk. “You’ll be in there a lot of the time. Mostly to take notes while I work, but if you show some aptitude, I’ll make sure you can help out.”
“I’d like that, Professor,” Richard said earnestly.
He would love it if he were able to do that. Especially when he knew that Ainsley was examining various artifacts brought back from West Africa by another explorer. They had been permitted to pore over his diaries and publish his works, with full credit to the explorer, of course.
This was going to be a job he would really enjoy.
“I need to go and make sure that things are well with Mrs Robson with regards to your stay.” Ainsley waved towards the smaller desk. “That will be yours. I got all of these books off the shelves to look for something, and they need to go back on. Authors in alphabetical order.”
Richard didn’t need to ask. He knew what his first job was. Putting all the books back onto the shelves. He swallowed back his sigh.
“I’ll get going on that right now, Professor.”
“Excellent.”
Still beaming, Ainsley left. Richard took a closer look at the books, inspecting the spines. At least they all seemed to come from one part of the alphabet. It shouldn’t be too difficult to organize it all out.
Then he looked at the mess on his desk and saw it was for the other bookcase.
This was going to take longer than he thought.
Sighing, Richard shrugged out of his jacket and hung it on the back of his chair before he rolled up his sleeves. Not exactly the first job he expected to have when he arrived, but at least he was getting paid for it. Ainsley had already discussed a salary with him, and it was a nice amount. If Richard saved up and was frugal with how he spent his salary, then he would become a wealthyman in his own right within a couple of years. Then he wouldn’t have to worry about anything, certainly not if he could borrow money from his father.
Not having to rely on anyone did feel good. As did not having his brother in his ear telling him that he was wasting money on frivolous things. Thomas would be happy that Richard was out and away from the house, and then he could get the allowance he wanted.
Also, having his own salary meant he didn’t need to worry about an allowance from Thomas once he took over. That wouldn’t be for several years, but Richard wasn’t going to wait around for that.
As he began to move the books around and put them into some sort of order on the shelves, Richard found his mind wandering to Isabel. She was somewhere in London, settling into a new life that would be very different from what she was used to. Was she doing all right? Did London frighten her or excite her? Richard could imagine how hard it was to go from wealth to practically nothing in such a short space of time.
It was a shame that he hadn’t been able to see her before she left for London. Richard hadn’t even been aware that something was going on, and he had been hurt when Cohen told him. But the more he thought about it, the more he understood why Isabel didn’t reach out to him. She had to be embarrassed by her sudden change in social status and be kicked out of the house she was born in …
Richard had never been in that position, but he felt for her. This was not fair on her. How could the current Lord Dunley think this was the right thing to do? The new viscount was meant to deal with the old viscount’s debts himself, not pass it onto the wife and her family to deal with.
Richard had thought this was awful conduct. Then he had met the new viscount and his wife and realized that he could very much see these two passing a family debt to someone else. They were very snobby and wanted the best for themselves, and they didn’t want a stain on their names.
