Sebastian opened his eyes and looked down at the frayed cuffs of his only civilian coat. He bit his tongue against the protest that rose to his throat.
Every spare penny of his captain’s pay went to Matt and Connie, leaving nothing for himself. Despite Bennet’s best efforts, even his dress uniform was second-hand and prone to moth holes.
Captain Sebastian Alder had no money to spend on new clothes, but Lord Somerton could hardly appear in public in a coat so old that the black of the fabric had turned to verdigris.
He looked around the bright, sunny room. A glazed door led out into the walled garden he could see from his bedroom window and he longed to throw it open and stride out into the fresh air.
‘Now that you are on the road to recovery, I will arrange for Bragge to meet with you,’ Isabel said.
‘Bragge?’
‘You may not remember him from the hospital, but he was Anthony’s man of business and his father’s before him. There is nothing he can’t tell you about the Somerton estate. The lawyers also wish to meet you to explain the details of the entail. You will have plenty to occupy yourself until you are fit to make the journey.’
Sebastian frowned. ‘Please forgive me, Lady Somerton, but do you mind if I ask how my cousin died?’
Her lips tightened and she looked down at the cup she was holding.
‘A riding accident. The girth of his saddle broke as he was taking a hedge and he fell. He broke his neck.’
‘I am sorry.’
‘Thank you,’ she responded in a flat voice. A lock of dark blonde hair escaped from her cap, but Isabel made no attempt to restore it or to raise her eyes.
Sebastian considered her for a moment. His concern was with the living, not the dead. Was it grief or something else? Anthony was dead, just as Inez... He pushed that memory to the dark corners of his mind. The recent fever had resurrected the old pain, and it gnawed at him like a wound that would not heal.
‘Can you tell me more about yourself, Lady Somerton? Did my cousin leave you provided for?’
She raised her head, regarding him for a moment with clear, grey eyes.
‘Thank you, Lord Somerton, I have a jointure and the use of the dower house. I shall be quite comfortable and indeed, it is my intention to vacate Brantstone Hall once you are settled.’
‘You’ll continue to live in the dower house?’
She nodded and her eyes brightened.
‘As soon as some urgent repairs are complete but I assure you I shall be quite well occupied and do not intend to be of the least bit of trouble to you.’
He smiled, seeing the excitement light up her eyes. ‘And what is it you will be doing to keep yourself so busy?’
‘Now I have my own income, it will be the means of financing a school for the daughters of mill workers in the town I came from.’
As she spoke, he heard an animation in her voice he had not heard before. Something within her seemed to come to life, and a flash of the beauty she could have been, were it not for the drab clothes and severe hairstyle, flashed across her oval face.
When he didn’t respond, the light in her eyes died, and her chin rose in defiance of the objection she no doubt expected him to raise.
‘That sounds like a splendid plan. I look forward to hearing more about it,’ he said, rather too quickly, but, in truth, he had neither the strength nor the interest to pursue the subject further at present.
If the woman wanted to start a school, who was he to argue with her? She seemed ideally suited for the role of school ma’am.
He looked at the pale liquid in the delicate cup she had given him. The cup looked absurd in his large hand. He set it down.
‘Lady Somerton, I assume that my sudden elevation comes with corresponding duties and responsibilities. Apart from yourself, of course, are there others at Brantstone I should know of?’
She straightened in her chair. ‘Firstly, my lord, let me assure you, I am not your responsibility. As to the others, Anthony’s impoverished cousins, Mr. and Miss Lynch, are residents at Brantstone but you owe them no duty or responsibility. Then there is your grandmother ...’
Sebastian raised his head. ‘My grandmother?’
‘On your mother’s side. She lives in the village. There are also three aunts and a large assortment of cousins.’
