“They agree with Your Grace. She is no fool.”
“What else?” the duchess asked. “Go on, Ellsworth. I know you hear everything that goes on around here.”
Henry stifled a snort.
“They like her, Your Grace. They say she is thoughtful and doesn’t make unreasonable demands, but she has no authority in the house and knows little of what her father plans.”
“And what does her father plan?”
The butler looked at the teapot. “That is a question even I cannot answer, Your Grace.”
The butler withdrew, and Henry narrowed his eyes. “Why can’t he ever hear when I speak?”
“I have no idea what you mean. Ellsworth might be elderly, but he has all his faculties, else I would force him to retire and then pay him the pension he has earned. As it is, he prefers to continue working. He says it keeps him young.” She lowered her voice, presumably so the periodically deaf butler would not hear her. “I give most of the difficult tasks to the underbutler.”
“Mama, I believe you have more staff at the dower house than I had in London.”
She sipped her tea. “One must keep up appearances, dear. You would be surprised what one can afford when one doesn’t spend every last farthing at the tables.”
“Touché. I know I asked you before about the information Lady Katherine gave me about France. Are you certain there’s nothing you remember?”
“Nothing. Your father never mentioned any land in France. It does sound as though it was your grandfather who dealt with that land, though. He was a very difficult man. I never spent much time with him. Surely if there is land it would be mentioned in the legal documents. Your solicitor would know. He is the same man who worked for your father, and with the same firm your grandfather and his father before him used.”
She had a point, and it was one Henry had considered. He could go to London and ask to see his father’s will, as well as other legal documents pertaining to land belonging to the duchy. The problem was that Henry hadn’t been on good terms with the solicitor for the past year. The man had argued that Henry should curb his gambling, and Henry hadn’t liked that and told the man, in colorful language, to mind his own business. Then there was the small issue of payment. Henry hadn’t paid the solicitor in almost a year. He couldn’t very well go ask for the man’s help without paying him.
And the solicitor wasn’t the only person in London to whom Henry owed money. There wasn’t a tailor or haberdasher who hadn’t extended him credit. He could hardly go back to London without those merchants descending on him now that the news had surely spread that Henry had lost almost everything.
No wonder Beau Brummell had fled to the Continent when he went into debt.
“I’m not on good terms with the solicitor at the moment,” Henry told his mother. She sighed. Henry wondered if mothers were trained in ways to express to their offspring disappointment with only a single sound. “But,” he added hastily, “Lady Katherine thinks there might be a document ortwo pertaining to the land somewhere in the library at Carlisle Hall.”
The duchess looked thoughtful. “Clever gel. I imagine she is correct, though I can’t imagine where such information might be. Of course, the library was always your father’s domain. I rarely used that chamber. As I recall, you only used it to sell what valuable books we had to finance your vices.”
Henry gave his mother a tight smile. “I need to search the library and find out what I can. If the land is in the Carlisle name, perhaps I can trade it to Shrewsbury for the return of Carlisle Hall.”
“Doubtful. If the man wanted the land, I can’t imagine why he wouldn’t simply ask for it or have his solicitor and yours argue the matter in court.”
“I don’t think we can know that until we understand more about the land. If it is in the possession of the Carlisles and Shrewsbury won’t trade for it, at least I could sell it and take possession of those funds.”
“Heaven help us all. You’ll be back at the tables within the hour.”
“Your faith in me is inspiring, Mama. Can you not see I have reformed?”
“A reformation takes longer than a handful of days. But…” She pursed her lips and stared out the window at the gray, windy morning.
“But?” Henry prompted after the pause dragged on.
“But I wonder if you might offer Lady Katherine something more than a bribe. What if you were to showheryou’ve reformed?”
“You just said a handful—”
“Henry, pay attention. You want Lady Katherine to give you access to the library. You need to do something for her.”
“I bought her paints.”
“Which she cannot use without sneaking about. But she is allowed to visit the tenant farmers and try to improve their lives.”
“Yes, I told you she scolded me for not helping repair roofs or some such thing.”
