Page 49 of Undercover with the Heiress
‘Show me!’ Iris roared. Mr Sanders startled, then turned a few pages before pointing at a column. Iris raised a shaking hand to cover her mouth. Her shoulders sagged, and she pinched her eyes closed, drawing a deep breath. When she opened them again, she turned to Mr Sanders. She pulled out her purse and unclasped the fastening. ‘You are going to sell the company to me. The entire company. Every building, every share, every piece of old merchandise. I will make you an exceedingly generous offer. I will pay one pound to you…’ Iris laid a coin on the table. ‘One for Mr Vincent.’ She placed another beside it, then two more. ‘One for Mr Collins. And one for Lord Richard. I will manage everything from here. If you try to launch anothercompany, my associate Mr Babbage will have you all denounced at the Exchange, and you won’t even be able to open a bank account or get a line of credit at the grocers. Do you understand?’
Mr Sanders slid the coin from the table into his palm. Still not meeting her gaze, Mr Collins and Mr Vincent nodded.
‘That’s not enough,’ Lord Richard protested. ‘I need more than a pound. I need—’ He looked straight at Rosanna. ‘You.’
Desperation drove some men to violence and depravity, but in others, it brought on intense stupidity. Lord Richard, a man of panache, flair, and smooth words, was clearly one of the latter. His foolishness made him fast, and with a lunge and a cry, he grabbed Rosanna and wrapped his elbow around her neck. ‘Don’t think I won’t hurt her!’ he shouted. ‘I will. Give me her money. All of it.’
Fear lit Rosanna’s expression for a sharp second before she found Phineas and he held her steady gaze until the nip of terror dissolved. With an eye roll and a smirk, Rosanna brought her heel down hard on Lord Richard’s boot. When he yelped, she slid from his hold, but instead of running like Phineas had taught her, she turned and shoved Lord Richard in the chest. He staggered, but before he could fall, Phineas strode forward, caught him by the collar, and dragged him away. He hauled the lord across the dusty floorboards, then shoved him against the wall. Lord Richard winced as his head collided with the bricks.
‘No one touches my wife!’ Phineas spat. Fury engulfed every inch of him, more than the coward deserved, but when it came to Rosanna, everything engulfed him. ‘Where is Pennington? Why is he in London?’
‘I never met him, only his men,’ Lord Richard spluttered. ‘He swears he’ll hurt my family if I don’t pay. I have a sister. She’s so little… Please. I never meant to hurt anyone. I don’t know what to do.’
Phineas tightened his hold on the lord’s collar. He tried to draw upon cold indifference. To let the man be the victim of his own stupidity. What was it to him if Pennington went after Lord Richard’s family or the man himself? Phineas would be so far away by the time the news reached the papers, he’d never even know.
His grip slackened. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his cheque book and a pen. Then he scrawled Rosanna’s worth across the bill of exchange. ‘You no longer owe Pennington.’ Phineas tucked the note into the man’s pocket. ‘You owe me, and you will repay me by staying away from my wife. One step wrong, I will call in my debt. I’m not a monster like him. I’m a far simpler man. I won’t come for your family. I will come for you. Understood?’
Lord Richard coughed as Phineas twisted his collar. ‘Understood,’ he scratched out. ‘I’ll settle with him, then go abroad. I swear it.’
Phineas let go and turned away. Behind him, Lord Richard crumpled to the floor. Before him, Rosanna splayed a hand across her chest. He tried to read the look in her eyes, the grimness in her expression, but he ached, his body too wrung out and depleted to decipher any of it.
‘It’s done,’ he said to her, his voice echoing hollow in his chest. ‘You’re free.’
Chapter Twenty
Rosanna hauled herself into the carriage. Free. She was free. Free of Lord Richard’s bungling, free of their arrangement. Except maybe what Phineas meant was that he, himself, was free of her. The liberation tasted bitter as she forced herself to swallow.
Free.
Iris and Hamish climbed into the carriage, and Phineas clambered in after them. Like pins on a map, all four of them fastened themselves into the corners. Iris held a fist to her mouth while Hamish crossed his arms over his chest. Phineas spun his hat. The vehicle pulled away, streaming past the warehouses and away from the river. Silence, brittle and angry, buzzed between them.
‘Two companies?’ Hamish shot at Iris. ‘How are we to manage two companies? And the estate? The earl is not getting any younger. Neither are we.’
‘I’m not going to run the company.’ Iris kept her steady focus on the street. ‘Not even a miracle could save it. I saw the numbers.’
Rosanna turned to Phineas, who nodded sagely. ‘The ledgers don’t lie,’ he said.
Iris gasped her next breath, then tried to choke down a sob. Tears welled in her eyes, and with a blink, they spilled down her cheeks. Hamish slid across the seat and gathered her into his arms. Iris, strong, stubborn, and intelligent, collapsed against her husband’s chest and snuffled into his coat with a wail.
Rosanna moved a little closer to Phineas. ‘What will happen?’ she asked.
‘To settle the debts and refund the shareholders, any assets will have to be sold.’ He kept his voice low. ‘Property, stock. Invoices called in and payments squared. Some of the accounts have not been addressed in more than a year, and the board drew off heavy profits. Some traders, especially smaller ones, won’t be able to find the money they owe. You could force their hand, but for what? To create more misery? Most will seek terms. Some will ignore the demands.’
‘Everything he built. What we built. Gone.’ Iris rocked with the sway of the carriage.
‘What about the workers?’ Hamish asked.
Iris wiped her cheeks. ‘We’ll give them notice of what’s coming. Pay what they’re owed, which is more than they would have received if the company had failed. They’ll have time to find new employment. If there’s one thing London always needs, it’s willing hands and strong backs.’
‘And those that can’t find work?’ Hamish asked.
‘We’ll find a way.’ Iris sniffled. ‘We always find a way.’
‘Phineas.’ Rosanna leant close. ‘You can’t let Iris sell off the company alone. It will break her.’
Phineas flicked her a scowl, then tucked his hands tight against his chest.
‘Can’t you help her?’
