Page 83 of Not Exactly Mr. Darcy
“Are you seriously sitting there telling me that you’re holdingmyhome to ransom because you didn’t get your own way? That sounds remarkably petty to me.”
For a moment he thought his godfather might have a stroke, as he opened and closed his mouth with no sound.
“You will regret this,” Sir Humphrey warned.
He already did. How could he have listened and ever given the impression he’d be happy to sell the family home? “Please excuse me. I have much to do.”
Liam stood, acknowledged the men in the room with a nod, and then exited, his hands fisting as he hurried down the marble stairs.
They thought he’d fail? Then he’d prove them wrong.Theywould prove them wrong.
As for Olivia Bennett? Well, he’d just have to be more circumspect in his manner with her. Because she’d brought life to the Hall, to his heart, and he wasn’t going to give that up for anything.
Chapter 18
Something was different about Liam when he returned from London. George had admitted where he’d gone when he didn’t show on Monday. He was quieter, his brow furrowed like those lines of displaced earth in the walled garden. He’d been busy, was still busy, as Liv didn’t see him for three whole days.
Which made her feel a little off-balance. Like she’d missed him. And that was dangerous. Because she didn’t want to start relying on a man who had plenty of his own issues to work through. How could he have overcome betrayal by two women, one his wife, no less? The man might’ve first appeared surly and hard, but she could understand someone allowing their heart to be crusted over by such rejection and disappointment. If she didn’t regularly scour hers with reminders of God’s love and promises, she’d likely become the same.
When next she did see him, on Thursday afternoon for their now-regular planning meeting, Liam seemed distant, a little remote. He answered mechanically and then, when Patricia had departed, asked the others to stay a few moments longer.
“What is it?” Tobias asked.
He exhaled. Glanced around the table. His gaze seemed to rest on Liv for a little longer than the others; then he looked at the table, his fingers drumming the top nervously. “I had a meeting with the trustees earlier this week.”
“How did that go?” Gran asked.
His shoulders pushed back, a pulse throbbing in his jaw. What was wrong?
He cleared his throat. “I’ve been advised that the trustees will withhold all future funding.”
No. No way. How could they operate with no budget?Lord?
“What?” George looked shocked.
“They can’t do that.” Gran frowned.
Liam’s gaze met Liv’s. “I’ve been advised by my solicitor and accountant, who I’ve spent many hours on the phone with in recent days, that they can.”
“Why would they do that?” Marge asked.
“Because I objected to selling the Hall.”
“Sell the Hall?” Liv asked. “To who?”
“The Saudis. I expect Sir Humphrey and Lord Atwood will try to find a new buyer, so who knows? An American hotel consortium was interested a few years ago. Maybe them. Or the Russians.”
“What does this mean for the Hall?” Liv asked.
He slumped in his seat, as if her words had punctured his remaining hope. “I don’t know. I’ve been waiting to see if the solicitors can come up with an alternative, but it seems the trust is wound up tight.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t really understand how the trust works,” Liv admitted.
He sighed, dragging his fingers down his face. “You don’t need to be sorry. It’s so complicated I barely understand it myself. Let’s just say that when our parents died, there was a clause in their will that if I should take on the responsibility for the estate before the age of twenty-five, then there would be a trust that would assist in the organization and fund management at their discretion. The trust consisted of my godfather and two other men my father had gone to university with. The clause was enacted when I was just about to turn twenty-five, a month before my marriage.” His face twisted.
What a hard time that must have been, losing his parents then marrying only to lose his wife so soon too. She bit her lip.
“So since then, they have controlled what we can do here. There were some funds set aside, but for the most part it didn’t matter, as the Hall wasn’t opened, and there was no reason to open it. For the past two years Lord Atwood and Sir Humphrey have been in negotiations with a Saudi company to look at purchasing the Hall.”
