‘They’ll each have a pension and a house on the estate. I’m not throwing them onto the street, but this has been a long time coming.’ He lowered his hand again. ‘It’s quite a strange feeling, to be honest, having free rein over my own property.’
‘I suppose it must be.’ She tilted her head. Now that his hand was gone, she found she wanted it back again. ‘But, just between us, it seems you’ve made the rest of the staff very happy, especially Mrs Hotham, the cook. Apparently she and Mrs Fitch have been arch enemies for the past decade.’
‘Then I shall expect a feast fit for a king tonight. And don’t worry. I’ll send word to my man of business in London for a new steward and housekeeper tomorrow.’
‘Good idea.’ She reached for the cue and leaned forward, taking aim at a red ball. ‘You know, I’m sorry it’s come to this, but I can’t help feeling glad too. Trying to have a conversation with Mrs Fitch was impossible. She disagreed with everything.’
‘Sewell too. They must have given each other tips on how to be obstructive.’ He nodded at the billiards table as her ball slammed into a pocket. ‘That was impressive. You’ve never told me you played.’
‘You’ve never asked.’ She was already lining up another shot. ‘Amabel and I used to sneak into her father’s billiards room to play. It was just far enough away from the parlour that her mother couldn’t hear us.’ She potted the second ball with a snap and then straightened up, aware of a sudden pang of sadness. ‘I still miss her.’
‘Amabel?’
‘Yes. Sometimes I think about writing to her, but I still wouldn’t know how to explain. And I wouldn’t know where to send the letter.’
‘I’m sorry.’
‘It’s my own fault. I was the one who betrayed her.’
‘Still…’ He lifted a shoulder, wanting to make her feel better somehow. ‘Maybe we should go out tomorrow?’
She blinked at the change of subject. ‘Out?’
‘Yes. It’s about time I gave you a tour of the estate. Then perhaps we can come up with some more ideas for improvements together?’
‘But the fair’s the day after tomorrow. Don’t we have things to organise?’
‘I doubt it. Knowing Mrs Fitch, everything’s already been taken care of.’
‘Oh.’ She smiled. ‘Well, in that case, I’d love to.’
‘Good.’ He wrapped his hand around the top of the cue, still clutched in her hand. ‘Now, let’s have a real game, shall we?’
Chapter Sixteen
It was a beautiful day, Florence thought, tilting her face up to the sunshine as she and Leo cantered through the park, much better than the weather had promised when she’d got out of bed that morning and seen a ridge of towering grey clouds on the horizon. To her amazement, however, by the time she’d finished her breakfast, the clouds had already moved on, thankfully without depositing a single drop of rain, leaving a swathe of crystal-blue sky behind them.
It was like a metaphor for their marriage, she reflected as they spurred their horses into a gallop. Stormy at first, becoming brighter over time. She only hoped the sunshine didn’t fade away, but for today, at least, the forecast seemed good. Unlike with his tour of the house, Leo actually seemed enthusiastic about showing her the estate.
Their first stop was the site of some half-constructed cottages. The old ones, about half a mile away, were still lived in, Leo told her, but they were old and damp and unlikely to last another winter. He’d tried for several years to convince his father to build new ones, to no avail, and after his death Sewell had repeatedly thrown obstacles in the way of finding a builder. It had taken the threat of Leo’s hiring somebody himself for the steward to finally take action. The whole saga made her own issues with Mrs Fitch sound comparatively easy.
Now they were on their way to see the new herd, something else that Sewell had tried to obstruct. If she’d had any doubts about the wisdom of letting both steward and housekeeper go at once, Leo’s many stories about their attempts to thwart even the tiniest change would have convinced her it was for the best. And in casehehad any doubts, she also took the opportunity to relay parts of her recent conversation with Jane.
‘Are you saying that, all this time, our tenants have been attending the summer fair under sufferance?’ Leo asked, his expression appalled.
‘I wouldn’t gothatfar.’ She tried to sound reassuring. ‘Obviously people were happy to attend the picnic and win prizes, but it sounds as though everyone was quite tense, worrying about saying or doing the wrong thing.’
‘Good grief, I thought I was the only one who felt that way.’ He shook his head. ‘Well, this year will be different. If people want dancing, they can dance all night for all I care. And they can behave in whatever manner they wish. There won’t be any repercussions.’
‘That might depend on the behaviour.’ She laughed. ‘I mean, we should probably draw the line at murder and mayhem. But perhaps we should make ourselves scarce in the evening? Then people won’t feel like they’re being watched.’
‘Good idea.’
‘It’s just a pity that I can’t participate in some of the contests too…’ she threw him an arch look ‘…since I’m onsucha winning streak with both cards and billiards.’
‘As I recall, we both beat each other at billiards.’
‘Yes, but I won three games and you only won two. Therefore, the overall winner would be me.’ She gave him a superior smile. ‘Don’t feel too bad. I beat my brothers in most games. Oddly enough, they always object too. It must be a male trait.’
