“Well, winter will shortly be upon us, will it not?” She took the ledger from the man and opened it. The haphazard penmanship looked like foreign writing. The words and numbers made sense to her, but it would take a great deal of time to really understand the full scope of what she beheld.
But she would not admit to that.
Instead, she focused her attention on what she could learn. “I do not recall tenants being evicted when my father managed the estate. How do you account for it now after so many years of success?”
“A very late frost,” he mused at last, “the summer before last took out a great deal of the orchards on the Cullen property. As you can see, they had been behind on rent for quite some time.”
“There must be more to it than that. Not all the tenants have orchards and crops. There must be other reasons.”
Mr.Greenwood shook his head. “You’re quite right. About half the farmers raise sheep, and under the arrangement your father made with Mr.Prior, the wool is being shipped to Leeds for processing. The charges are high, but under the agreement between your late father and Prior Mill, they must, as tenants, process their wool and textiles there or face additional charges.”
She stiffened as the meaning of what was said sank in. “My father never would have agreed to such strict terms.”
“Well, to be fair, the arrangement has been modified since your father’s passing. It seems that when your husband gained control of the property, his solicitors adjusted the rental agreements.”
The heat of anger consumed her. “Could he do that?”
Mr. Greenwood shrugged. “He who owns the land can do whatever he wants.”
The sickening realization that her husband had been taking advantage of the very people she’d grown up with drizzled over her. All the work her father had done, ruined. By Roland. “And the other tenants?”
“The others grow wheat and barley. They are faring better than the sheep farmers, but their profits are down as well.”
“Why?”
“A similar situation. An agreement is in place with Clarett Mill, but it is a good way away. The travel to get it there and back adds time and money.”
“Is there no closer option?”
“Apparently years ago some of them used to conduct intermittent business at the Welbourne Mill, but unfortunately it is no longer an option.”
Anthony’s uncle’s mill.
She closed the ledger.
She had hoped for good news, but instead of feeling optimistic, she was overwhelmed. “And what are the tenants saying? Are they satisfied with the state of things?”
He scoffed, doing little to hide his pretension. “Would you be satisfied with numbers like this? Some have forfeited their holdings and have moved for jobs in Leeds and other bigger cities. We’ve not had a single person interested in the available farms, when at one time a queue of people were waiting to get in. Times are hard, not to mention unpredictable.”
“Yes, times are difficult, but then again, my father ran thisestate for many years and in the midst of other trials. Quite successfully, I might add. The Cullens and the Swans are proud, hardworking people. So I am curious to know what we could have reasonably done to assist them.”
She resisted the urge to prove herself further—to fight a one-sided battle and convince him that the estate could be run prosperously. Such an argument would only serve to bolster her pride, for it would likely fall upon deaf ears. There was one final question that needed to be asked—which would determine the future for Henry and her both. “And the estate itself? Does it turn a profit?”
He blinked at her, as if surprised the question was posed so bluntly.
The few times she had asked Roland about the Hollythorne House holdings he silenced her, declaring he was too busy or he did not have the facts before him, all the while claiming that a competent man was overseeing it and that no harm would come to it.
Growing annoyed, she tilted her head to the side. “Is there an income to it? Does the estate have debt? Surely, you can tell me that.”
“It enjoys a modest income.” He took the ledger from her, flipped through the pages, and pointed to a number. “There are the profits and there are the expenses.”
At this revelation, simple as it was, she could finally breathe. The sum was moderate, but at least money was coming in. This amount, combined with what she would get from Roland’s will and Henry’s trust, would be a step in the right direction.
But there was still a great deal of work to do.
“Leave this with me,” she said. “I wish to examine it. And before you go, there are a couple of tasks I would like you to see to for me. My servants are temporary. I will be hiring a staff, and I prefer to engage local workers. Can you spread the word? And I should like you to accumulate a list of the gristmills and wool mills within a reasonable distance. I will not force our tenants to send their goods so far for processing.”
He raised his brows, as if entertained that she would have an opinion.
