“Why have you called me here, Your Grace?” she asked, acerbically.
Justin raised one dark brow as he regarded her, as if to sayso that’s how it’s going to be. She pushed her shoulders down and clasped her hands behind her back, assuming her fighting position.
“I’m sending your sisters away in anticipation of the ball,” he said, with a sigh. “I’m going to be inviting workmen and potential buyers to see the grounds and the home. I do not want them to be distressed.”
Cordelia felt as though she’d been slapped. A large lump formed at the back of her throat, making it difficult for her to swallow.
“I know you can’t be happy about this, but it’s for the best. We should put an end to this charade. I’ve been clear to you since I first arrived that I wanted nothing to do with the estate. I have always planned on selling,” he said, his voice hard and tone cool. She’d not seen him like this since the unpleasantness at the top of Hollyhead’s road. “Peverill has gone to London to drum up interest for the property.”
“I…” she began, but she paused. Cordelia had no idea where to commence. She’d only last night uncovered the final clue, the one that would lead them to the treasure. She could not believe how quickly her good luck had changed.
“I know this must be difficult to hear—”
“You can’t send them away,” Cordelia said, finally finding the words. “Do not send my sisters away; it would kill them.”
Justin pinched the bridge of his nose. “Do you not think it would be worse to parade potential buyers through their family home?” he asked, his voice becoming gentler.
“I will make sure they are in hand for that!” Cordelia protested. “I have managed everything well enough thus far, haven’t I?”
Justin’s eyes grew wide. “Cordelia,” he said, “managed well? I’m sorry, but I fail to see that on all counts.”
Cordelia gasped. “How can you say that? Have I not been aiding you in the preparations for the ball? What about introducing you to the farmers? I have carted you over everyinchof Hollyhead!”
Justin regarded her after her outburst, crossing his arms over his chest.
“You are overstepping,” Cordelia said, feeling the familiar ice water rush through her veins. All of the warmth, the friendship she’d ever felt toward him had been replaced by a cold dart in the middle of her chest. How dare he? Howdarehe?
“Overstepping?” Justin said. He braced himself on the edge of the massive oak desk. Her father’s desk. “Portia is bloody-well ready to kill everyone she encounters, she’s so angry. Hermione can barely look a stranger in the eye, and Beatrice is running wild all over the estate. So yes, if trying to remedy the situation means overstepping, that’s what I will do.”
To her supreme embarrassment, Cordelia felt tears threatening.
“Cordelia,” he began, lowering the volume of his voice. “You’ve been well and truly tested. And you’ve held things together so well, but you can start to let go. Your… tunnel vision over saving Hollyhead is blinding you to the fact that your sisters need help.”
You need help, is what he was saying.You’ve failed.You need me.
“You are sorely mistaken, Your Grace,” she spat. “You may know how irrigation systems work, but you know nothing aboutmy family. And you never will. So I suggest you leave their care and well-being to me.”
Justin sighed, running a hand through his dark locks.
Cordelia had one last bargaining chip. “I know about the last clue.”
Justin snapped his head up. “What?”
Cordelia nodded her head, striding toward him, almost tripping over a stack of farmer’s almanacs. “I found it last night.”
“I suppose you aren’t going to tell me?”
“I would,” she started, “if you would promise not to send my sisters away.”
He banged a fist on the desk, making some of the rocks rattle. “Goddamnit, woman! Thereisno treasure. One clue will lead to another clue which might lead to another clue.”
“How do you know that?” she cried, feeling a few tears spill down her cheeks. “We are so close I can feel it! I know it.”
Justin paused, taking a deep breath. “Cordelia…” he said, trailing off. He picked up a rock from the desk and ran his fingers along the rough edges. “I am doing my best. I have to be fair to you and to your sisters. But you have to be fair to me as well. What if there is no treasure? What will become of you then?”
Cordelia wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. “This entire time I’ve known you to be an ill-mannered, sharp-tongued man. But I never once took you for a coward.”
Justin’s mouth dropped open at that. Before he could respond, she fled the room.
