"Lord Vane is not our enemy. Whatever your feelings about him, remember that."
Harriet thought of Sebastian's face in the carriage, the grief in his voice when he spoke of Richard, the steadiness in his eyes when he promised to tell her everything.
"I'm beginning to understand that," she said quietly.
She left her mother to rest and went to join the men in the study.
CHAPTER THREE
"Ah, Lady Harriet. We were just discussing your future."
Mr. Thornton delivered this pronouncement with the cheerful obliviousness of a man who had spent so many years dealing in other people's misfortunes that he had quite forgotten how to recognise distress. He was a small, neat person with spectacles that kept sliding down his nose and a habit of shuffling papers even when there were no papers to shuffle.
Harriet paused in the doorway of the study, taking in the scene before her. Sebastian stood near the window, his posture rigid, and his face carefully blank in that way she was beginning to recognise as a mask for stronger emotions. Mr. Thornton sat behind her father's old desk, a liberty that made her teeth clench, surrounded by documents and ledgers that presumably contained the full accounting of her family's ruin.
"My future," she repeated flatly. "How reassuring that it's being decided without my contribution."
"Not decided, my lady. Merely... assessed." Mr. Thornton gestured to a chair. "Please, sit. There is much to discuss."
"I prefer to stand."
Sebastian's eyes met hers briefly, and something flickered there, approval, perhaps, or understanding. He, too, had remained standing, she noticed. Whatever Mr. Thornton had been telling him, he had not been comfortable enough to sit for it.
"Very well." Mr. Thornton shuffled his papers again, a nervous habit that was already beginning to grate on Harriet's nerves. "I was just explaining to Lord Vane the full extent of the... situation. Perhaps you would like me to summarise?"
"I have already spoken with my mother. I’m fully aware of the debts."
"Then you know that the estate's obligations exceed its assets by a considerable margin. The creditors have been patient…more patient than we had any right to expect, but they will brook no further delay and they look for immediate redress.”
"And by satisfaction, you mean payment."
"Or the sale of assets sufficient to cover what is owed. Yes."
Harriet forced herself to breathe evenly, to keep her voice steady. "What assets remain?"
Mr. Thornton consulted his papers, though Harriet suspected he knew the figures by heart. "The London house is mortgaged beyond its value. The investments were liquidated three years ago. There are some personal effects, jewelry, artwork, a few pieces of furniture of notable provenance, but their sale would barely make a dent in what is owed." He looked up, his expression almost apologetic. "The estate itself is the only asset of sufficient value."
"You're saying we must sell Fordshire Park."
"I'm saying it is one option. There are... others."
The pause before "others" was heavy with implication. Harriet felt her spine stiffen.
"What others?"
Mr. Thornton glanced at Sebastian, then back at Harriet. "Lord Vane's claim represents the largest single debt. If that debt were to be... resolved... through means other than direct payment, it would significantly improve the situation."
"Resolved how?"
"Mr. Thornton." Sebastian's voice cut through the room like a blade. "I believe I made my position clear."
"You did, my lord, and I respect your sentiments. But Lady Harriet deserves to know all her options, does she not?"
"Not if those options involve…" Sebastian stopped, his jaw tight. "This is not appropriate."
Harriet looked between the two men, her confusion mounting. "What options? Whatever do you mean?”
Mr. Thornton opened his mouth to respond, but Sebastian was faster.
