He watched the pair retreat, sipped the brandy, then frowned and murmured, “What the devil’s going on here?”
Chapter 2
“Yes, well. Thatwasn’tan ideal way to introduce Mr. Cynster to our household.” Caitlin leveled a severe look at the three painters, who all but hung their heads. “However, I hope and believe we’ll make a better impression—certainly a more collected one—this evening.”
She’d called an emergency meeting of all the business leaders, directing everyone to gather in the conservatory, far distant from the library where Gregory Cynster was presently ensconced. Everyone had come, and all were standing in a loose circle, not far from the door.
Caitlin scanned the faces of the twenty-six people—some couples, others single ladies and gentlemen—responsible for the fifteen active businesses on Bellamy Hall lands, taking in their concern.
Their understandable worry.
All of them—and Caitlin, too—had a great deal invested in the totality that was Bellamy Hall, and not all of that was time and effort. For many, their business was their life’s passion and also their principal source of income. Indeed, that was the whole point—the central tenet—of what Lady Bellamy and Timms had created at the Hall.
“First things first,” Len Sutton said. “Break it to us gently—what’s he like?”
Standing beside her husband, Isabelle Sutton added, “Has he given you any indication of what he intends to do with the Hall?”
Caitlin seized on the second question; she wasn’t at all sure how to answer the first. “I got the impression that, at this point, he has an open mind.”
As she said the words, she realized they were true. Thinking back, analyzing what she’d gleaned, she continued, “He seemed to have no firm direction in mind—or at least none he allowed me to see. I got the sense he came here to view the place, to see what was here, before making up his mind what he wished to do.”
“I only saw him at a distance,” Vernon Trowbridge said, “when he was walking from the stables to the house, but he certainly looked the part of your typical London rake. There’s no reason why our expectations won’t play out—that he won’t simply cast an eye over the place, look at the books, see how sound the income is, then happily leave the Hall as it is and merrily head back to the capital to resume his no doubt hedonistic life.”
Glancing at Julia, Joshua, and Alice—the three who’d interacted with Cynster—Caitlin saw reflected in their faces the same uncertainty that she felt.
Hugo cleared his throat and tentatively offered, “He seemed a knowing sort. Not a frippery sort of person.”
Tristan tugged one earlobe. “He was quick as a flash shutting that door and didn’t even fluster when the chicken squawked and ran at him.”
That was true. Despite her supreme exasperation at the time, she’d sensed Cynster standing like a rock—immovable and uncompromising—beside her.
She spent a moment dwelling on that, then blinked and said, “Yes, well, I think we can agree that, at this point, we can’t be certain of Mr. Cynster’s direction regarding the estate. Consequently, I suggest that our most sensible way forward will be to do our level best to impress him with the viability and financial stability of the estate’s enterprises and the benefits that will accrue to him if he allows the place to continue as it has been.”
They were hoping that, being a London gentleman-rake, Cynster would be a largely absent owner, which would suit everyone there. They’d been rolling along quite happily, first under Lady Bellamy and, for the past eight years, under the gentle hand of Timms, and with Caitlin largely filling those departed ladies’ shoes in terms of coordinating the whole, no one saw any need for—much less welcomed the notion of—an intrusive owner.
As a collective, they didn’t need anyone to lord it over them.
Recalling what had led to Mr. Cynster’s present whereabouts, she added, “That said, we don’t want to overwhelm him.” She looked around the circle. “Given this is his first evening as owner, perhaps we should limit the presentations to those who would normally be about the dinner table.”
The matter was discussed and debated, but relatively quickly, all agreed.
“You may be certain,” she assured those who, therefore, would not be making their presentations that evening—Jenkins with the carriage works, Henry Kirk from the forge, Margaret Jenkins and Monica Kirk and their weaving, the Edgars with the orchard and the cider mill, the Suttons from the leatherworks and bindery, Mrs. Poole from the Osiery, and the Cruickshanks, the Hammersleys, the Swithinses, and the Bartons from the four farms—“that I will be urging Mr. Cynster to visit each of your businesses over the coming days.”
And she would accompany him to make sure he heard everything relevant to gauging each business’s value.
Len Sutton glanced at the fading light outside. “We need to get back. It’s nearly time to shut things down.”
That was the case for most of those who wouldn’t be making presentations that evening. Caitlin thanked everyone for coming so promptly. “Once Mr. Cynster understands how Bellamy Hall operates, I’m sure he’ll see the wisdom of leaving things as they are.”And not interfering.She added, “He didn’t strike me as an unreasonable man.”
With general farewells, those who didn’t live at the Hall departed.
Caitlin turned to those remaining and narrowed her eyes at them. “Now, are you all quite clear on what you need to convey?”
She went over the salient points with them one more time; even the painters proved reasonably competent. “Very well. I’ll start the ball rolling by explaining about the Bellamy Hall Fund and how it serves to underwrite the functioning of the entire estate. That will set the overall framework for him and should pave the way for each of you to give a short description of your works, a summary of your markets and your recent profits, and the percentage you pay into the Fund. Please remember to touch on all four points, and if you can stick to the same order, that will doubtless make it easier for him to grasp.”
“So, which of us should speak first?” Julia inquired.
“And do those of us who’ve already met him need to present at all?” Alice asked.
