Immediately, Gregory responded, “Everyone here is hoping you will. Martin Cruickshank sings your praises, and I’ve seen the interest in your instruments build—and the profit you can turn on them.” Gregory flashed Rory a grin. “And then, as you say, there’s Millie, and none of us want to disappoint her.”
Rory sent Gregory a grateful look and shifted his gaze to his father. “So that’s what I’ll do.”
“As for me,” Hamish leapt in, “like Rory, I’ve found my talents as well as my knowledge can be put to good use here. I can’t keep up with the demand for stonemasonry, and it’s not just for building walls, and helping out at Home Farm keeps my hand in with the sheep.” He met Patrick’s eyes. “This place has given me the sort of chance that anyone with a brain knows comes only once in a lifetime.”
He looked at Caitlin and smiled surprisingly sweetly. “When I followed you and Rory south, I had no idea that I would stumble onto such a chance, such a place. So if you’ll have me, I’ll be staying on, too.”
Caitlin arched her brows. “And Madge?”
Hamish looked at her warily. “Madge and I…share a lot of likes and dislikes. What might come of that…?” He shrugged his big shoulders. “The answer can only come with time, but I admit I’d like to find out what it is.”
Smiling, Caitlin inclined her head and slanted a glance at Gregory. “If you truly wish to stay, we’ll be happy to have you.”
“Indeed,” Gregory affirmed.
“Hmm.” Patrick eyed his eldest sons. “Well, you’re men grown, and if you’re sure…?”
“We are,” Rory and Hamish said in unison.
“Benbeoch won’t be able to support you,” Patrick warned.
Grinning, Rory replied, “That’s all right. Bellamy Hall doesn’t pay us, either—our businesses already do.”
Surprise showed in Patrick’s expression, but after a second of reading his sons’ expressions as well as Caitlin’s and Gregory’s, he accepted that as fact. A difficult fact to swallow, but a fact, nevertheless.
Patrick shifted his gaze to his third son, and his expression grew stony. “I hope you’re not going to try to tell me that your daubs are turning a profit?”
Entirely unperturbed, Daniel smiled—and in her quieter cousin, Caitlin saw a flash of inner confidence that reminded her forcibly of Gregory. “It’s too early to claim that,” Daniel said, “so instead, I’m going to ask Gregory to explain how the Bellamy Hall system works and how it is that the estate boasts not one not two but three other painters, all of whom are making good livings from their works. What’s more, those three think my daubs, as you call them, fit nicely alongside theirs, and they’ve invited me to join them in responding to an invitation from a London art dealer, one who runs an exclusive Mayfair gallery, to show our pieces.”
Head tipping, Daniel paused, then admitted, “One can’t, of course, say for certain—not about anything to do with art—but those who know about such things think my style will appeal to many within the ton.”
Patrick looked thoroughly disconcerted; it was clear he’d expected Daniel, at least, to meekly go home with him. He looked at Gregory, his expression equal parts uncertainty and disbelief.
Smiling faintly, Gregory said, “The three gentlemen involved in the Hall’s painting business feel there’s a definite place for Daniel and his paintings within that enterprise. I’ve seen for myself that his style with watercolors, educated by his years of painting misty Scottish scenes, is peculiarly suited to the current craze of ghostly scenes of gothic ruins and atmospheric landscapes. While I’m no art expert, given my uncle is Sir Gerrard Debbington, I’m reasonably confident in knowing what will sell to the ton.”
Patrick grunted.
Gregory’s lips curved. “Now, as to how the Hall’s business collective operates…”
Caitlin watched her uncle’s expression as Gregory outlined the structure that lay beneath the Hall’s businesses, tying them together in a mutually supportive way. Listening to his exposition, she realized that, under his direction, that structure had grown significantly stronger, more able to withstand the vicissitudes of shifting market demands for this business or that.
Apparently comprehending the disbelief that lingered in her uncle’s eyes, with an understanding smile, Gregory concluded by admitting, “When I inherited the estate and arrived at the Hall, it took me quite some time before I believed such a system could possibly work. But after I’d gone through the accounts”—he tipped his head Caitlin’s way—“which your niece so conscientiously keeps, I was completely won over. In terms of keeping an estate of this size, with the type of land and agriculture it can support, permanently on a solid financial footing, having the other businesses—in general, built upon the original and necessary agricultural framework—to balance the collective books makes the estate as a whole well-nigh impervious to any ill winds that might blow.”
Her uncle’s disbelief had faded, but he remained unconvinced.
“For instance,” Gregory went on and nodded at Rory, “Rory’s business of crafting musical instruments is an addition to the carpentry workshop, which itself grew out of the handymen’s workshop and also the carriage works, and the carriage works, in turn, grew out of the stable. If you consider the forge, which was originally an adjunct to the stable, as well as the standard blacksmith’s business run by Henry Kirk, the forge also supports his daughter Madge’s ironwork sculptures—which have grown very popular in the district—as well as giving rise to the glassblowing workshop, which utilizes the same furnace as the forge. And the glassblowing business is currently poised to expand significantly into London and the ton.
“Each business that runs on the estate enables the business owners to build wealth from their profits, while the collective fund ensures they will always have a roof over their heads and food on the table, regardless of the vicissitudes of fortune.” Gregory met Patrick’s eyes. “As one responsible for an agricultural estate in these uncertain times, you’ll appreciate that such certainty is a huge advantage.”
Patrick made a gruff sound of agreement. “You’ll get no argument from me on that score.”
“In addition,” Gregory said, “as Rory and Hamish have mentioned, they are also active in two of the other businesses, namely with Nene Farm, our cattle stud, and Home Farm, which runs our sheep flock, respectively. They each earn a stipend from those businesses. As for Daniel”—Gregory looked at Caitlin’s younger cousin and smiled—“I’ve been waiting for him to declare his decision regarding whether he will remain here or not to suggest that, given what I understand was his experience at Benbeoch Manor, he should work alongside both Caitlin and myself, initially as my assistant, but with the goal of becoming the estate’s steward, a position that we really need to fill.”
Gregory met Patrick’s eyes and calmly stated, “That will give him a second string to his bow as well as benefit the Hall business community as a whole.”
Daniel’s face had lit at the suggestion; no one needed to ask if he thought it a good idea.
Patrick humphed and, frowning, stroked his chin, but Caitlin sensed most of his resistance to his sons’ defections had been overcome. After a moment, he looked at Rory and Hamish, then at Daniel. “Regardless, you’ll essentially remain landless, and in the future…”
