"Truly, the fault is mine for bringing business to you so late. I only…." her words were coming out rushed.
"Is everything all right?" he asked.
Alethea steeled herself.Just say it plainly.
"Oh!" she gasped softly. In her nervousness, the top few sheets slithered from her grasp and cascaded to the floor in a flutter of parchment.
In an instant, Oliver dropped to one knee to retrieve them. Flushing with embarrassment, Alethea also scrambled down, and they nearly bumped heads in their haste to gather the escaping documents.
"I'm so sorry," she murmured, mortified by her clumsiness.
"No need for apologies," Oliver replied lightly. He was quicker, already collecting two other sheets from the floorboards. As they both stretched for the same piece of paper, their hands brushed. She blushed wildly but he seemed unaffected, handing back the sheets of paper to her.
She remained on her knees a moment longer under the guise of organizing the papers, but truly it was to collect herself.
Good heavens, pull yourself together!she scolded inwardly.
Clutching the stack of papers to her chest once more, Alethea rose to her feet, keen to put a little distance between them. Oliver stood as well. He loomed over her now by a good measure, being much taller.
He gestured to the leather armchair opposite his desk. "Please, sit," he said kindly. "You look as though you have something rather important to discuss. Let's be comfortable for it."
Alethea perched on the very edge of the offered chair. She realized that his entire focus was on her, patiently waiting for her to speak.
"I wanted to make a few suggestions."
"By all means, proceed."
She took a deep breath, gathering her thoughts.
"Earlier today," she began, her words coming out a touch faster than she intended, "I was going over the ledgers with the housekeeper and we noticed there's a surplus in the household budget from last quarter. Savings from the new dairy herd producing more butter than expected, apparently. And I had this idea that perhaps we could use those extra funds to refurbish some of the tenants' cottages before winter. Their roofs, in particular, are in dire need of repair after the last storm. Since this surplus isn't allocated elsewhere yet, I thought…" She realized she was rambling and forced herself to pause for a breath.
She wondered if Oliver was going to shut her down. Surely, if he had meant to, he would have done so already? No, instead he seemed to be listening to her intently. It gave her a much needed boost of encouragement.
"Additionally, the housekeeper. Porter brought up that much of our staff's bedding and winter uniforms are quite worn," she said. "I think it would be both be a good idea to purchase new blankets before the cold truly sets in. The surplus could cover that as well. And of course, any significant expense beyond those I would consult you on, but these seemed both necessary and immediately doable improvements."
Oliver had remained silent throughout her little speech, watching her instead.
Why was he not saying anything?
"...I—I'm sorry," she blurted into the silence, her face heating as she sat back. "That was terribly forward of me. Of course you must have your own priorities for the estate."
Suddenly Oliver rose from his chair. Her heart lurched.Now I've done it,she berated herself.I've overstepped dreadfully.
She half-expected him to stride out of the room or chastise her. But he did nothing of the sort.
"Alethea," he said softly, reaching up to gently take one of her hands from its white-knuckled grip on the chair arm. "Breathe."
"I…" she realized that he meant no harm to her, and only then did she allow herself to calm down.
"Why have you gotten so worked up about this? It is a simple matter," Oliver said, slowly. "Those are all excellent ideas."
"Do you really think so?"
"Yes," Oliver nodded. He did not appear to be lying.
"I just wasn't sure if it was my place to allocate funds like that without asking," she admitted after a moment, now that her breathing had slowed a bit.
He gave her an expression as though she had lost her mind.
