The question surprised her. “Well, yes, they told me this. But my sistersareprecious, Mr. Marchand. Hogarth is shy. Iamcapable.”
“I believe you.” But he said it only after a hesitation.
She bristled at the note of skepticism. It always seemed only a matter of time before Marchand made her bristle.
“And there’s no other money attached to Hogarth’s new title? No property that can be sold, no other income?”
These were admittedly probing and personal questions, but she supposed the two of them were past being precious about that sort of thing. “There’s one other property entailed. We may eventually be able to earn rent from it, but it could be some months before we find a tenant, provided we ever do. The land surrounding it would be decent for raising sheep.That is, if we were able to actually buy some sheep. Wedohave all sorts of animals at home, but no sheep. And we also have a big house and very little money left.”
He took this in. “I overheard your conversation with Lord Cambrough, of course. And I’m struggling to understand why you’re the one negotiating the wedding settlements for your sisters, and not your brother or your solicitor.”
“I’ll be better at it,” she said shortly.
“But your brother is a grown man. He’s an earl. He’s the one who ought to be managing the estate. And he’s the one who ought to be negotiating the settlements. As the head of the Woodvilles, he ought to be looking after his family, and that includes you. If he can arrange for membership in Lucifer’s Fall, he can certainly handle that responsibility. Is he impaired in some way I missed when I met him?”
She thoroughly resented this question and punished him with a moment of sullen silence.
Mainly because, in her heart of hearts, she knew he was right.
She had completely forgotten what it was like for a man towantto take charge of something.
“But I promised I would look after him, Mr. Marchand. Remember, he was just a young boy when my parents died. And...” She took a breath. “He’s been afraid of heights since my parents’ high-flyer accident.”
Marchand’s head went back then came down in a nod of comprehension. “I see.”
“He’s not impaired. But surely you understand why I’m protective of him.”
Marchand poured a little more ale into her glass, his brow still furrowed.
She sipped it and wrinkled her nose. Which made him smile slightly.
She drank a little more to please him. She would not ever crave ale, she decided, but it wasn’t horrible.
“I want you to know,” he said quietly, finally, “that I think the Earl of Sydenham is a bastard.”
She went still. Stunned.
“Treating someone else’s grave financial predicament as a game is despicable. He ought to have either forgiven the debt, rejected your request outright, negotiated the amount down, or offered a fair exchange on the spot. Not send you on an absurd hunt.”
She recalled how uncomfortable Marchand had looked when the earl had introduced his little plan about the vase. Viewed one way, she supposed Marchand’s blunt offer to exchange money for sexwasmore honorable, even if it was still on the face of it odious. He seemed to understand that her body was the one commodity with which she could freely barter.
How absolutely surreal it felt to entertain these sorts of thoughts.
But with his words, some of the tightness in her chest eased. It was a relief to hear that someone else recognized the gross indignity of her circumstances. Even if that indignity more or less had its origins at Lucifer’s Fall.
“I never liked him,” she admitted. “The Earl of Sydenham always maintained my father stole my mother away from him.”
Marchand snorted softly. “Can anyone truly be stolen from anyone else?”
“My thoughts exactly! I once overheard him say to my father, ‘I’m an earl, and you’re only a viscount. She’d have tobe a looby to choose you over me, ha ha, I suppose I dodged a bullet.’ Even when I was very small their banter made me uncomfortable. It didn’t seem funny at all. My mother loved my father, clearly. Shechosehim.”
“Men and their honor, Ginny,” Marchand said simply. Dryly.
She fell quiet.
“Mr. Marchand, I would like to go to the park to see if that man named Cook and his friend have the vase.”
“Absolutely not. Those men want to rob you.”
