“No ‘but.’ We can talk while we walk. Gather your cloak and bonnet. I’ll meet you downstairs by the estate offices. A footman can direct you there.”
His own hat and coat hung in his office. He found Marshall and Jem in conversation when he made his way there. An odd glance passed between them, and Jem departed with a bow. Gideon watched him go and turned to find Marshall studying him, his posture rigid as if bracing himself for a blow.
“How is your audit coming? You’ve said nary a word,” Marshall said.
He responded with the bald truth. “I found the first seven sloppy. Your writing is difficult to decipher, and the numbers are sometimes off but never by much. More careless than fraudulent. I began with the ledgers from nine years ago. I’m working forward and just started the books from three years ago. It is more of the same.”
Marshall squirmed a bit. “Let me know if you have questions,” he muttered.
Gideon hadn’t lied about the 1815 ledger. The first pages were more of what he had been seeing. However, a month into it, a different hand had taken over, one that was tidy, neat, and invariably correct. Odd, that. Gideon wasn’t ready to confront Marshall, but the books had obviously been turned over to someone else—probably Jem. He needed time to study them more carefully.
“You have company,” Marshall said with an inclination of his head.
Gideon added promptness to his growing list of virtues in his future bride.
“May I offer my good wishes on your betrothal, Miss Selwyn,” Marshall said.
“Thank you, Mr. Marshall. I’m not yet used to it,” she said.
“Your uncle was rel—pleased with your announcement,” Marshall said. “He tells me the wedding will be soon.”
Relieved, no doubt. Anxious to give up all responsibility for her.“We have not yet settled on a day,” Gideon said before retrieving his hat and coat.
The path that led from the manor to the stables passed through hedges and a few trees, providing some privacy.
“That is twice someone has announced we’re to hurry our wedding. Perhaps we should settle that first. Is that what you want?” he asked.
“Is there a choice?” she asked.
“Always. It will be your wedding; you should decide. If marrying quickly is your choice, I could ride to London for a special license and be back in three days, and we could marry in private the hour I return. Or I could ride to Bristol and obtain a common license from the bishop there, and we could be married at Saint Peter in eight or nine days—two for travel and seven for the mandatory wait. But it will be less private. Or we could ask the vicar to call the banns, it being your home parish, and be married in three weeks.” His own choice was to do it as soon as possible, removing her from Clavering’s authority and his spoiled daughter’s demands.
Walking at his side, she bit her lower lip, mulling over his words.
A young woman dreams of a fine wedding, not a rushed hole-and-corner affair.“Would you prefer to take a few months to court properly?” he asked. “It would give you time to plan the wedding you want.”
“There would be scandal if we did that,” she replied.
“Perhaps.”No doubt.“You would move back to Selwyn Court in that case.” From what he’d heard of Selina’s brother and his friends, he hated that idea.
“If we wait, you could bring your children here for the wedding. Would you want that?” she asked.
It was his turn to consider the possibilities. “I would like it but perhaps not enough to weigh against other considerations.” He found that he wanted to take her under his protection—to make her his—as soon as it could be arranged. He paused in the privacy of the walkway and told her so.
“This marriage is being forced on you, Gideon. If you prefer to get it over with quickly, then that is what we will do,” she said.
“I would rather keep you at Woodglen, frankly,” he admitted. “The wedding itself matters little to me.”
“Won’t we live in Wales? How long do you plan to stay here?”
Good question.“I thought I would be here a month. It has taken much longer. Now there’s this business of Lizzy Carter to consider. We need to get to the bottom of that. I’m not easy about the Tavernash pair camping out in my brother’s house, either. There is more I need to share with you.” He needed to examine those family papers.
She peered at him. “You mean to find Lizzy?”
“Someone must investigate it. She could be in danger, and rumor and innuendo won’t fix it.”
“I agree,” she said fiercely. “Perhaps I can be a help to you. With all of it.”
He rather liked the sound of that. They walked on toward the stables. “Gideon, one other thing.”
