“Sir, there are people who depend upon your conscientiousness. Whose livelihood is contingent upon your interest.”
He stared straight ahead, to the brightness of the afternoon beckoning beyond the door. He wanted out before Edmund began to lecture him on duty again. He’d been a Colonel with responsibility for five hundred forty-two men, leading them into battle for more than a year. He’d buried his family, been steward of their land, borne the burdens of every damn one of his decisions in the last five years, and still, it wasn’t enough.
Now, the Fairfax wealth was a cannonball he was supposed to carry around and discount its weight.
“Say what you have to say, Edmund.”Then get the hell away from me.
“I was interviewed, sir, and I feel it incumbent upon me to tell you.”
“Interviewed?” He lifted an eyebrow, waited.
“The Earl of Conley, sir. He was very intent upon knowing the exact amount of your fortune.”
“Was he?”
“I believe I erred, sir, in telling him of your largesse in regards to Her Ladyship. He was quite interested in the details.”
He didn’t know who angered him more at the moment, Edmund, or the Earl of Conley.
“When was this?” Montgomery asked, wiping his hands on a cloth.
“Less than an hour ago, sir. I came directly from our meeting.” Edmund hesitated, then evidently summoned his courage to ask. “What shall I do, Your Lordship?”
“Nothing,” Montgomery said. “I’ll handle it.”
He strode toward the door, turned, and faced his solicitor. “For your information, Edmund, I don’t want my business discussed with anyone. At any time, with anyone.”
Edmund stared down at the dirt floor. “I’ve truly erred, Your Lordship. I shall never do so again.”
“You live in Inverness?”
Edmund nodded.
“I think it’s time you went home, Edmund.”
The solicitor looked stunned. “Sir? Who will look out for your interests?”
The cannonball was growing heavier and heavier. He wanted to throw it at Edmund Kerr.
Edmund took a few steps toward him. “Lord Fairfax, I’m sorry. You have my profound apologies. The moment I realized my error, I came to you.”
“So you did,” he said. “And for that, I’m not dismissing you, Edmund. Yet I think it’s time for you to visit your home. At least for a little while. Don’t you agree?”
His look dared Edmund to offer an objection. “Yes, Your Lordship. Perhaps it is time.”
Anger propelled him across the bridge, over the path, and toward Doncaster Hall. He made it to his room to wash and change before going in search of the Earl of Conley, or to pummel the man, whichever he deemed appropriate.
Elspeth helped her change her dress and fix her hair. Veronica washed her hands, then attempted to cool her face with a cold compress, but it was no use. Her cheeks were bright red, a sure and certain sign her temper was at a boiling point.
By the time she marched into the formal dining room, their numbers being too great to be accommodated in the smaller family dining room, she was shaking with fury.
“It’s common to be late,” Aunt Lilly said, reaching for one of Cook’s scones. “I thought you better schooled in manners.”
Veronica halted in the doorway, took a deep breath, and forced herself to calm a little.
The dining room walls were covered in pale yellow silk, the deep cornices leading the eye to a frieze of fruit and vegetables carved on the ceiling. Three chandeliers hung over a mahogany table large enough to accommodate twenty people.
Uncle Bertrand sat at the head of the table, Aunt Lilly at the end, with her cousins making themselves at home wherever they chose. Evidently, her place was to be somewhere in the middle, relegated to poor relation status even here, in her own home.
