Page 16 of Married to the Earl

In time, Conor thought, everyone would forget why they had judged her in the first place. The new rumor about her would become that she was reclusive, painfully shy or perhaps bitter and unlikeable. Maybe she was disfigured, people would say. After all, her father had always kept her hidden away too…

Conor would shake off those thoughts, only to be overtaken by another possibility. What if he chosenotto marry Astrid Dawson, and no one else would have him? What if he died alone and without an heir, having passed up his one opportunity at marriage?

Was it too soon to fear such a thing? Maybe. He was young yet.

But Killian O’Flannagan was out there. He was out there, propagating rumors and spreading lies. He would do everything in his power to ensure that no one thought well of Conor.

I don’t know, Conor thought, feeling as tired as if he had worked a full day, although he had done very little physical labor.I don’t know what the right choice is here. I don’t know what I ought to do.

He was wiping down tables when Henry walked in the door. His friend raised his eyebrows, surveying the scene. “Cleaning up?”

“Someone’s got to do it,” Conor pointed out.

“But notyou, usually,” Henry said. “Don’t we hire people for this sort of thing?”

“I need to talk to you,” Conor said.

“If we don’t, we really should,” Henry went on as if Conor hadn’t spoken. “I’m sure we could get more staff in here. You can afford it, right?”

This was the one thing about working with Henry that always bothered Conor. Conor did his best to separate the club’s finances from his personal wealth, but Henry always seemed to feel that Conor could invest more money and make the club better. It was probably true, so Conor knew he couldn’t be too angry about it. But he would have appreciated Henry asking instead of assuming.

“I’m not going to hire anyone new this month,” he said.

“Why not?” Henry asked.

“We took a hit, financially,” Conor said. “Come and look at the books.”

He led Henry over to the table and placed the ledger in front of him, open to the past month’s finances. Then he walked away to get them each a drink. He wanted Henry to have time to peruse the book on his own.

He wanted to see if his friend reached the same conclusion he had.

He took his time preparing the glasses of scotch.I’ve had more than my share of scotch today, he thought ruefully.If I don’t slow down, we’re going to take another financial loss just in the amount I’m drinking on the side.

That would be all right, though. It didn’t count as stealing when he was taking it from himself.

He returned to the table. Henry was frowning down at the book in front of him. As Conor placed the glasses on the table and took his seat, Henry pointed to the offending figure in the book. “I don’t know what this expense is.”

Conor sighed. “Do you remember Tobias Dawson?”

“The solicitor? What about him?”

Conor explained what had happened and his confrontation with Dawson. By the time he was finished, Henry was red in the face.

“He thought to steal from us?” Henry exclaimed. “Who does he think he is? And I can’t believe you let him walk out of here, Conor.”

“What should I have done?”

“Summoned the authorities, of course. The man belongs in a cell.”

“He has a daughter.”

“What of it! What do we care for the daughters of criminals?”

“He was in dire straits, Henry. You don’t need to be so heartless.”

“Me, heartless?” Henry shook his head in disbelief. “He’s the one who stole from you, Conor.”

“I know. I know that,” Conor said. “Believe me, I’ve been through it with him already today. You don’t have to remind me.”

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