Page 12 of Three Weeks with a Princess
She looked so pale that Lia was afraid she would faint. Casting an irate glance at Jack—who didn’t deserve it—she crossed to the bellpull and yanked on it. “We’ll have some tea, Granny. Then we’ll figure this out, I promise.”
“There’s nothing to figure out,” Jack said in a clipped voice. “I’m going to take care of you. Both of you.”
“Splendid, just like the previous marquess,” Lia retorted.
Jack opened his mouth, but Sarah’s entrance forestalled his reply. Lia’s former nursemaid, who now served the dual roles of housekeeper and cook, threw a sharp glance at her mistress and then a suspicious one at Jack.
Sarah knew all their secrets and hopes, and their worries, too. She’d developed an unwavering loyalty to Rebecca Kincaid years ago, happily abandoning an unsuccessful acting career to take up Lia’s care. Sarah had moved north with Rebecca and her granddaughter, devoting her life to them.
If the Kincaids went down, Sarah would go down with them.
“Oh, I was expecting Elsie. I’m sorry to bother you, Sarah,” Granny said, clearly attempting to rally. “But his lordship would like some tea. Could you bring up the tray?”
“Yes, ma’am, right away.” Sarah bobbed a quick curtsy in Jack’s direction. “My lord.”
He gave her a kind smile. “It’s nice to see you, Sarah. I hope you’ve been well.”
“Well enough, all things considered, my lord,” she said in a blighting tone.
Sarah had known Jack since he was a boy. Clearly, she was no more impressed with the new marquess than she’d been with the grubby lad who’d tracked mud into her kitchen. And Jack’s sigh indicated he’d received the housekeeper’s message. Lia was almost beginning to feel sorry for him.
Almost.
She stood. “I’ll help with the tea tray, Sarah.”
The housekeeper looked scandalized. “I should say not. You’ll sit here with his lordship and act like the proper young lady you were raised to be.”
“Oh, Lord,” she sighed, sitting back down.
After another scowling glance in Jack’s direction and a few dark mutterings under her breath, Sarah exited the room.
“Sorry,” Lia said to Jack. “She’s very worried about us.”
“She needn’t be,” he said. “As you said, we’ll figure it out.”
“Then along those lines,” Granny said, “why don’t you apprise us of exactly where things stand? I knew Arthur was concerned about some investments he’d made, but he didn’t like to discuss such matters with me. He was concerned that I would worry.”
Lia had to swallow a snort. The truth was, his lordship had liked to live in a pretty fantasy when he came to Bluebell Cottage. Financial discussions would have injected an unsavory note into a relationship where both parties worked very hard to maintain a steadfast air of unmarred domestic bliss.
How stupid and shortsighted of them all.
“Yes, no doubt,” Jack said dryly. “As to how bad it is, I won’t insult you by trying to minimize the situation. The last few harvests have been disappointing, and my uncle did not, perhaps, make some of the best decisions when it came to managing certain aspects of estate business.”
“That’s obvious,” Lia muttered.
It was well known that Lord Lendale had frequently ignored the advice of his cautious and wise estate manager. But when the old marquess had gotten an idea in his head about how to make money, there’d been no talking him out of it.
“None of that, my dear,” Granny said in a stern tone. “I will not have you tarnish my Arthur’s memory.”
“Unfortunately, Lia’s assessment is correct,” Jack said. “My uncle meant well, but he had a poor head for both estate business and investments.”
Over the next few minutes, he outlined how appalling a businessman his uncle had been. By the time he finished, Lia felt almost faint with horror and Granny looked as if she might really faint.
Thankfully, Sarah chose that moment to bring in the tea tray. Lia immediately poured her grandmother a cup and then handed one to Jack. Sarah had piled the tray high with biscuits and cake, but they remained untouched. After Jack’s gruesome report, they’d all, apparently, lost their appetites.
With a weary sigh, Granny placed her teacup on the occasional table next to her chair. “I’m truly sorry, Jack. On top of everything else, you have the added burden of two useless women on your hands.”
Anger flared like a torch in Lia’s chest.Shedidn’t consider herself useless, and her grandmother had given up everything, devoting her life to a man who’d left her in an appalling situation. And where had such selfless behavior left poor Granny? Utterly betrayed by the man she’d loved.
