Page 21 of A Lady's Christmas
Robert clears his throat. “Um, if you’re going after Miss Carter, you will wish to know this first, Your Grace. It concerns her.”
With a sigh and the knowledge that Gwen will be at Everton House, Theo looks at Lamb. “Hold off on my horse, please.”
Lamb bows.
“Show me what you’ve found, Mr. Geldman.” They retire to the study.
* * *
Everton House seems very quiet compared to Crestworth and Gwen paces her room. She should have said goodbye, but she didn’t want him to talk her out of leaving. Theo might have felt obligated to marry her after their night together and that is not what she wants.
Right?
Why can’t she stop thinking about him and the way he looked at her?
A knock at her door startles her. “Yes?”
Gray opens the door but stays in the hallway. “You have a visitor, Miss Carter. I’ve asked him to wait in the front parlor.”
Heart in her throat, Gwen says, “Who is it?
“The gentleman just said his name is Geldman and that he is an acquaintance of yours.”
“How strange. I’ll go right down. Thank you, Gray.” She rushes to get her notes about all of the Stratham accounts. “I’m sure he just has some questions. They must be very urgent for him to have come all this way. He could have written.”
Gray stands aside and waits for her to exit the bedroom. “I also took the liberty of informing Mrs. Chervil that her services would be needed.”
Heading downstairs, Gwen is surprised when Robert Geldman is waiting at the bottom of the stairs. She shakes his hand. “Was the parlor not to your liking, sir?”
“I wanted to speak to you before you went in.”
Confused but not wishing to make Robert uncomfortable, Gwen says, “All right. Was there a problem with the records?”
He shakes his head. “I looked back at the books from before you began keeping the estates. I found recordings of an account that was not brought forward into the more recent books. I came to London with the duke to verify that those funds were indeed still available.”
Theo is in London. Her brain tries to process what Robert is saying while not panicking over the fact that Theo is in the city. “It must be a great deal of money to have brought you both back from the country.”
Robert opens his mouth, but before he can respond, the parlor door opens.
“Indeed,” Theo says. “It is a great sum of money long forgotten.” His hair is slightly windblown and his expression is warm with a bit of worry in his bright blue eyes.
The sight of him has her heart thrumming like a racehorse. “Your Grace.” She curtsies.
“Come and sit down.” Honoria’s voice wafts from the parlor. “It’s not good to speak of business in the foyer.”
Taking a deep breath, Gwen walks past Theo without looking at him. She tries to calm herself. Whatever he’s doing here it’s about some bank account and not anything romantic or dramatic. She walks to the pianoforte and taps the cover in a fast beat that mimics her pulse. “What is this about a bank account that I missed and how can I help?”
When she turns, both men are standing in front of chairs adjacent to the sofa where Honoria sits drinking tea.
They won’t sit unless she does so, she reins in her nerves, strides over, and sits next to Honoria.
The men sit.
Leaning his elbows on his knees, Theo says, “I’m sorry to call without sending word. We came directly from the bank. I think it might be best if Mr. Geldman explains.”
Robert takes a ledger out of his briefcase and hands it to Gwen. “This is the account. It has its own books. For many years, while you were quite young, it was included with the estate. About fifteen years ago, the fifth duke separated the funds.”
Opening the leather book, Gwen reads the large sum at the bottom. “Why would he remove this from the rest of the estate?”
