Page 24 of Entrancing the Earl
“Because you won’t let me improve them!” Summoning up his courage, Barkley finally spoke up. “I been telling you that you can’t make money without spending it. The trees need replacing regular like.”
“The orchard is a significant part of our income. I know the budget isn’t large, but we had aplan.” The earl waited for his agent to explain.
Iona was still furious at his carelessness, but she tamped down her temper at this evidence that the earl was guilty only of expecting loyalty from his employees.
“Tell Lord Ives what this year’s budget was spent on,” Iona suggested, using the pleasant voice she’d learned from her mother—just before she swatted someone, literally or metaphorically.
“A prettier cottage for Bess,” Blakely spit out.
He’d been a little cruder when telling Iona where the money had gone. Beekeepers didn’t rank with earls. It was amazing what one could learn from this side of the class divide.
“Bess? In the village?” The earl didn’t raise his voice, but the question demanded answer. “Have we purchased her lot?”
“It’s a good property, my lord,” Avery replied defensively. “Brings in a decent rent.”
“For whom?” Ives demanded. “I’m fairly certain I didn’t notice the rents on the books. Perhaps we should go back so you can show them to me. I trust the income is more than the lost cider profits?”
“Perhaps you should speak with your tenants more often, my lord,” Iona said evenly, unable to resist digging in the knife just a little. “People can tell you more than books.”
She walked away. What the earl did next would tell her if she could trust him with her future and that of her sister.
She didn’t need the bees rising protectively around her to tell her he was furious. She could smell it. She reassured her workers and sent them back to the hive.
When she returned to the house to wash hours later, the ladies were all abuzz.
“He threatened to horsewhip him!” Grace said, scandalized.
“I heard he flung him out on his ear,” Simone murmured in wonder. “I’ve never seen the earl angry. He’s always been such an even-tempered, polite boy.”
Iona hesitated on the bottom stair. “What happened?”
“Avery!” Winifred said, obviously disgruntled. “My nephew has gone mad and thrown out his estate agent. I know Avery is an arrogant toady, but he’s all we have. Who will be in charge of the harvest now? I certainly don’t have time or knowledge.”
“The earl let Avery go?” Iona asked in astonishment. She hadn’t thought he’d go that far in dealing with a gentleman who had evidently worked here for years.
“He wasstealing,” Grace whispered. “He had such a good position too. It doesn’t make sense.”
“Of course, it makes sense,” Mary Mike said callously. “The earl took charge of the estate when he was barely out of school. Avery thought he knew better than an Oxford scholar. I daresay he’s been fudging the books all along, but he got greedy.”
Avery had done more than pad his mistress’s cottage?
Lord Ives had given Avery the boot.What would he do now?
But mostly, he’d proved he could be trusted. Holding hope in her heart, Iona hurried up the stairs to wash for dinner. If she could trust him...
She could leave her hive and head for Edinburgh. Maybe she could borrow a pistol.
Unlike Mr. Winter, she’d learned to shoot to protect what little was hers.
Ten
Lowell snipped at a loose thread,straightened Gerard’s cravat, and stepped back to eye him critically. “You’ll be needing a trim shortly, but you’ll pass for these parts. Your wardrobe, however, is in severe need of replenishing.”
Gerard resisted rubbing his newly-shaved jaw and gritted his teeth. It had been a long rotten day, and he was in no temper for debating the cost of a new wardrobe for riding herd on sheep.
Booting Avery had been necessary. He couldn’t have thieves working for him. But it left him seriously in the lurch.
“Clothes are my least concern. My bank account needssevere replenishingfirst,” he admonished. “And if I’m surrounded by scoundrels, I may have to examine the damned bank as well.”
