‘The pigs—’
‘We will certainly discuss them too. We won’t leave them thus much longer, but we need to make a plan, and I suspect, enlist what help we can find.’
‘Very well,’ she agreed, somewhat begrudgingly, allowing him to fully take her hand and lead her away, though she threw one last despondent glance at the open doors of the building beside her as they passed.
Thorn glanced in too, his fury mounting again, though he shoved it away, somewhat safe in the knowledge his wife had taken care of those responsible.
And here I thought the house would be our greatest task to undertake, not the rescue of however many pigs are still alive in that terrible place.
‘Thorn,’ Hypatia said mournfully once he’d brought them back to their mounts, though he inexplicably refused to let go of her hand, so instead he just waited as she grabbed herhorse’s reins, and then he took his own. ‘The tea will be rather disappointing I fear, it’ll be the remnants of this morning’s.’
He couldn’t help but laugh, somewhat startling her, and he shook his head apologetically.
‘It will suit perfectly,’ he reassured her.
And seemingly content with that, she allowed him to walk her back to Gadmin Hall.
To our…new home.
Hm.
‘So that is where we stand,’ Hypatia sighed, staring down into her cup of tea whilst Thorn sipped his; not the worst he’d ever had, by far. ‘Perhaps thirty acres of land left, the buildings, three horses, a cart, an old carriage which barely survived the journey here, and three staff whom we can trust. Two beds, one dining table, four good chairs, assorted old bits such as the screen currently in my room, some cracked water jugs, a near-empty larder, two sets of linens, and however many pigs have survived that hellscape.’
‘You forgot to mention the near-complete tea-set, and bits of crockery,’ Thorn said wryly, managing to extract a weak smile from Hypatia. ‘I am sorry, I had no idea…it was this bad. Everything the solicitors gave me, the reports, the rest of it… I knew even the old earl inherited debts, and that he’d had to make hard choices to remain some manner of afloat, and then there was his passion for pigs, and his illness. I knew it was grim, however not quite so grim.’
‘Warren probably made a friend of whoever came here to tally and evaluate it all. And the rest… Your predecessor did what he could, as you say, and it wouldn’t have perhaps been so grim without that vermin stealing and swindling for—as far as I couldtell—the three years he’s been here. The poor earl, he had no idea, he just…’
‘I know,’ Thorn said gently, feeling a tug in his own heart for the previous earl, who’d suffered a long illness in mind and body by all accounts, and been apparently fodder for a swindler. ‘He will get his comeuppance, I am sure.’
‘We would be surer of that, and know he’d never harm another soul if I had kept my wits about me—’
‘Hypatia,’ Thorn stopped her, softly, but with enough force and seriousness she couldn’t but heed him, truly. ‘Seeing what had been done, I would not have kept my wits about me either. You did well. What Warren did was… The law will not let it stand. We will see to it. But neither could you be certain he hadn’t made a friend of the magistrate. You prevented more harm being done, and so we must trust that the law will find a way. If it doesn’t, in time, when we have more funds, we can hire an investigator. Most of what he took is likely gone, the damage done, but I promise, we will not let his misdeeds go unpunished.’
Hesitating for a long moment, Hypatia wrestled with his words, finding some peace or sense of it; best she could. Balance, justice, rightness, in an untidy outcome.
‘We’ll have rent from any tenants who wish to remain on the land that pathetic excuse for a human didn’t sell,’ she said finally, half changing the subject, and half not. Still not fully accepting of her own choices, yet moving forward nonetheless. ‘Though I’ve a feeling we’ve more surprises to come. There was so much which didn’t add up in the papers, and I’ve not had time to untangle it all.’
Thorn suspected as much as well—men such as Warren rarely satisfied themselves with one or two schemes when they had such a victim in their grasp—and from what Hypatia had told him, if he was content selling off land and livestock, pocketing the profits, taking all but shillings of the tenants’ rents forhimself, he was content getting up to much more repugnant mischief.
But that was neither here nor there right now, though a more responsible man would’ve disagreed. What was important right now was that Hypatia know…
‘I am in awe of all you’ve done thus far, Hypatia,’ he said most seriously, and yet again she looked up at him as though he’d grown hundreds more heads, like a creature of old. ‘I have been trying to think of what I was expecting, but I can tell you in all honesty, it wasn’t to return here and find you’d taken charge of everything.’
‘But you’re not angry.’
‘Why should I be? If anyone should be angry, it is you. I sent you here… Knowing the place was in disrepair, but even had it been the most glorious estate in the kingdom, I should’ve been with you. And when I said you were to do what you would with the house… Idiot that I was, I meant make it your own, put up some curtains or…something. Not clamber on roofs to fix them.’
Thorn said this with a smile, but Hypatia coloured deeply, mistaking his words as rebuke.
‘You’re right, I shouldn’t have,’ she said, almost shamefully. ‘Waited, as I used to, only I thought I could do it, and it felt like an adventure, and I’ve never—’
‘Hypatia,’ he said, as gently as he could, placing his hand on hers, forcing her to look at him again. When she did, he saw many things, understood much more of her than he had but moments ago. ‘Do not misunderstand me. I am not angry, nor displeased. I am astonished, and impressed. I am likely the only earl to boast a roof-climbing countess. I should be angry,’ he noted, with a very clear reassuring smile. ‘That you would endanger yourself so. But if it was an adventure, and you wished to do it, and you enjoyed yourself, well, I am glad. Still, the fault is mine, at sending you here to deal with a mess that isnot yours. You have in but a few short days, saved me more work than I’d ever know how to do, and as we’re on the topic of my shortcomings, Langton said something about you bringing funds?’
‘I had some savings,’ she told him, taking back her hand, downing her tea, and pretending her admission signified nothing. ‘Ten pounds. Now we have three.’
‘You shouldn’t have.Ishould’ve thought, given you funds for the journey, and this place, before sending you off. I’m sorry. You shouldn’t have had to use your own money.’
‘How could I keep it and what should I keep it for when this place needs so much? Though I did keep two pounds. Do not take this ill, however, I need something in the event you decide to be rid of me. Or worse.’
