Thomas followed him to the windows which looked over the rectangular pond that reflected the house. “Hopeless. The estate is mortgaged to the hilt, and I don’t know how I can possibly pay my father’s personal debts or the tradesman’s bills.”
“I could lend you some money to help you through.”
Thomas shook his head. “You would just be throwing good money away. I am about to be rolled up and there is nothing that will change it.”
“I know what could save you.”
“What?” Thomas said in disbelief, mingled with hope.
“Marriage.”
Thomas colored and he could feel sweat forming on his brow. “There’s always been an understanding between Penelope and me. My father suggested it when we were children and he became her legal guardian. Now I realize that Father only wanted to spend Penelope’s inheritance. Which he did. Money was like sand in his fingers.”
“Have you made Penelope an offer?”
Thomas shook his head. Penelope was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen, and he’d always planned to marry her but not immediately—in some distant future. He was only twenty-one, after all.
“Then you are not honor bound to marry her.”
Thomas shrugged his shoulders. “But my father wasted her inheritance.”
“And you won’t be able to pay her back unless you marry well,” Oliver stated. “You should do what I have done.”
“Marry an American heiress.”
“Precisely.”
“I didn’t know that you married Lois for her money.”
“Not entirely,” Oliver said, blushing. The only sign that he felt discomfited by their conversation. “I was smitten from the first time I saw Lois. She was like a revelation to me of how wonderful a woman could be. But I never would have married her if she hadn’t had money, and she would not have chosen me if I was not the heir to a dukedom.”
“I could always marry an English heiress.”
“Not a bad idea, Thomas, but there simply aren’t as many of them. Plus, most of the English heiresses come from the lower classes and you’ll have to deal with the vulgar parents on a regular basis. They’ll be expecting you to host them whilst in town. You won’t be able to show your face in London.”
“I hadn’t thought of that.”
“American girls are an entirely different breed from their British sisters. They’re prettier, wittier, and come with more than enough cash to solve your every financial difficulty,” Oliver said. “I have never made a better decision in all of my life than when I married Lois.”
“Even if I could get enough credit to go to America,” Thomas said, “what woman in her right mind would want to marry me? I have little more than a title to my name.”
“Americans love titles and they’ll pay millions for them,” Oliver stated. “Once you’re married, your wife’s dowry is money inyourpocket. Lois’s parents still send her a yearly allowance. You’ll never have financial difficulties again and you’ll be able to dower Penelope. I don’t doubt that she’ll marry well, with her looks and a respectable dowry. And you’ll have enough money to bring Ashdown Abbey back to its original glory.”
Thomas sighed. “I don’t know. It seems morally wrong to marry a young woman for her money—even an American.”
“If you don’t, you’re facing bankruptcy. Your estate will be foreclosed on. Your tenants will lose their farms, which have been in their families for generations. Your mother and Penelope will be homeless. And your family name will be smirched forever. It is time to grow up, Thomas.”
He swallowed uncomfortably, his throat dry.
“Not only will your family be ruined and homeless, but all of your staff who have stayed on to help you, despite irregular wages, will be uprooted. Poor Mr. Hibbert’s been here since my mother was a little girl. What is he going to do now? Mrs. Cook and the housekeeper, Mrs. Norton, who have devotedly stayed without pay? They are all senior members of your staff, which means they will have to find new positions at another house and start again from the bottom. And despite their vast experience, they aren’t getting any younger. It may prove impossible to find another position for many of them. You owe it to them, to your mother, and to your family’s ward to try and marry an American heiress immediately.”
Thomas mulled this over in his mind. “I suppose you’re right.”
“I’m always right,” Oliver said with a smile. “It’s a burden.”
Thomas attempted a smile, but it was a pathetic one.
Oliver put his hand in his coat pocket and pulled out a stack of papers. “I’ve booked you and your valet passage on theQueen Adelaidefor this Saturday. Lois has written you letters of introduction to several prominent New York families. And here is a bank draft for one thousand pounds—as long as you’re careful, it should see you through until the marriage. I suggest a very short engagement. I’ll do my best to hold off the foreclosure on Ashdown Abbey until you arrive back home.”
