Page 93 of The Bachelor
For the next two hours, she took him around the place, showing him the rooms and the impressive kitchen, with its new oven, and the garden in back. The only place they didn’t go was the servants’ quarters because Gwyn had said all servants’ quarters looked alike.
Joshua asked questions of the gentleman he’d initially thought was the owner but who was actually the agent in charge of selling the place. Then he asked questions of Gwyn about whysheliked the place.
When they were done with the tour, she asked breathlessly, “What do you think?”
“I think it would suit us very well.”
She squealed and flung herself at him, then covered his face with kisses. “I was hoping you would say that.” She waved her hand at the agent, and he disappeared down the hall.
Joshua was just contemplating kissing her more thoroughly when the entirety of their two families appeared just behind her. “Good God, what are you lot doing here?” he asked.
“Two hours, Joshua,” Gwyn’s mother said as she brushed off her sleeves. “We were in the servants’ quarters for twohours. How long does ittakeyou to decide where you wish to live?”
“I must say,” Beatrice remarked, “I agree with Aunt Lydia. There were spiders down there, for pity’s sake. I do not like spiders.”
“There wasonespider and I killed it for you,” Greycourt said. “I had no idea that a woman as forthright as you could be felled by the sight of a spider.”
“At least you had somewhere to sit,” Thornstock complained as he dusted off his trousers. “Two hours is a long time to spend leaning against a wall.”
“You were drinking champagne, Thorn,” Sheridan said. “I don’t know why that was so awful for any of you. I quite enjoyed the champagne.”
Gwyn scowled at them. “The champagne was for our celebration!”
“You were that sure I would agree?” Joshua asked, amused when his wife colored.
“Of course not,” she said. “But I wanted to be prepared in case you did.”
Thornstock came up to clap Joshua on the shoulder. “Let me know when you want to look at the finances part. It’s as I told Gwyn—you can rent it or buy it. I don’t care which, as long as you decide soon. I’ve got two people already lined up to rent it if you don’t.”
“Wait a minute!” Joshua rounded on his wife. “Yourbrotherowns this place?”
She smiled weakly. “I . . . I wanted you to see it without being biased, that’s all. And Ididsay I knew the owner.”
“Let me get this straight, Sis,” Greycourt said. “Major Wolfe said he didn’t want your dowry unless it was to go to your children. So you’re using your dowry to buy the place as an investment for your children, and you’re buying it from your brother, who is essentially in charge of providing the money for the dowry yet is getting the money back at the same time.”
Gwyn screwed up her face in thought, then nodded. “That’s about right. Assuming we buy and not rent.”
As they all laughed, Joshua shook his head. “You lot are mad,” he grumbled. “And you’d better not be counting on hiding in the servants’ quarters ever again. If I know Gwyn, she’ll want to put servants there.”
They all began to talk at once, telling Gwyn their impressions of the house and congratulating Joshua—for what, he wasn’t sure, because he’d had no voice in picking the place. But he had to admit it was ideal. It was easy to slip out the back and into the mews without being seen, even by the servants. It had enough rooms for raising a family, but not so many that they might not be able to afford it.
“By the way, Wolfe,” Thorn said, “did you ever figure out whether Malet was the one who paid that stranger in Cambridge to unscrew the bolts on our carriage’s perch?”
“He said it wasn’t him,” Joshua said.
“And I believe he told the truth,” Gwyn said. “He truly looked bewildered by Joshua’s accusation.”
Thornstock and Sheridan exchanged glances with Greycourt. Joshua walked over to whisper in Beatrice’s ear.
With a nod, she went up to Aunt Lydia. “I have to show you the garden, Aunt. I don’t think you saw it.”
“I didn’t!” she said. “That would be lovely, Bea, thank you.”
After they disappeared, Thornstock looked at Gwyn, but before he could say anything, she told him, “You’re not packing me off with the other ladies. I wastherewhen that stranger tampered with the coach. I’m as concerned about it as my brothers.”
“Fine,” her twin said. He turned to the others. “The thing is, we were considering the possibility that our fathers were all murdered, and that it had something to do with Mother. But if someone tried to murder Mother and me and Gwyn, not to mention Joshua, that muddies the waters a bit.”
“Or it was a case of the villain not really caring who else got hurt,” Joshua said. “So it could still have something to do with your mother. The question you should be asking is, who has made her—or the entire family—the object of his anger?”
