“You aren’t going to come here again unless I’ve been informed. Now leave before I remove you myself.” Ethan stretched out an arm towards the exit. “Needless to say, our meeting next week is cancelled.”
“Cora, come,” Jacob tossed over his shoulder as he marched towards the entrance hall.
Cora didn’t follow him. She rubbed her forehead. “I’m so sorry. There’s no excuse for his behaviour.”
“Cora,” Jacob yelled.
She curtsied. “I’m sorry.” She went to leave, but Ethan caught her hand gently.
“Forgive my boldness. How are you, my lady?” Ethan’s presence overwhelmed her, and she wasn’t sure if it was in a good or bad way.
“It’s complicated. Please, I have to leave before he grows angrier.” Goodness. She wished she’d sounded more confident. She wasn’t Jacob’s slave, but that was the picture she painted for Ethan. “I don’t want Jacob to vent his frustration on David.” She’d talked too much.
He didn’t say anything for a long second before releasing her hand slowly, making her feel the callouses on the pads of his fingers. “You will always find a friend in me. If he hurts you, send for me. I’ll be with you in a moment.”
He probably had no idea how much his words meant to her. How wonderful was the feeling of being cared for?
“Thank you.” Her voice cracked. Without looking at him, she hurried down the corridor to catch up with Jacob.
With no honour, there’s no respect, Ethan had said.
She feared the warning concerned her as well.
four
ETHAN PUSHED AWAY the account books of the rest home. After the unpleasant encounter with Roxbury and the pleasant one with Cora, he found it hard to concentrate on numbers. Not even his warm, comfortable office could help him collect his thoughts. He scratched his ear, or rather, the place where his right ear had once been. From the moment a pirate had sliced it off, the skin itched sometimes, and his hair tickled it.
Great. Another distraction from the bills and papers.]
The bills to pay weren’t the problem. The rest home’s endless legal quagmire was. He had enough money to pay for the food, coal, and medical supplies for the centre, and Lady Kingsley, the third owner of the building, sometimes offered small donations.
Luckily, he’d become a surgeon in the army, which allowed him to apply his medical knowledge to the centre. But that bastard Roxbury had a point when he’d said he could bring down the rest home. Ethan had behaved cockily in front of the earl, his temper fuelled by Roxbury’s aggressive manner towards Cora, but the earl had the law on his side. Also, Ethan might have exaggerated his influence on the queen.
Roxbury owned the largest share of the land where the rest home sat, but that wasn’t the only worry Ethan had to face.
The building had been turned into a recovery centre for veterans by his late father, while according to the law, it was designed to be a residential area. An oversight on the part of Ethan’s father, who had founded the Royal Veterans’ Society site years ago without proper consultation. The late Lord Roxbury had been a caring gentleman, who had given Ethan’s father the freedom to do whatever he’d wanted. A judge might rescind the use of the building as a rest home if he wanted to, considering the place was halfway between an asylum and a boarding house, hosting a higher number of people than it should, and operating in a residential area.
Roxbury had only to ask his solicitor to take a closer look at some very old land registry documents. The only good thing was that the obnoxious earl had no idea that the tiny, restrictive clause existed, for which Ethan was grateful. He suspected the late Lord Roxbury might have had a role in that.
Likely, Roxbury had never checked or cared for the documents of the formerly decrepit building he shared with two other peers. The area of London where it stood had never been profitable until now. With the city expanding at an alarmingly quick rate and the people of all classes growing wealthier, that anonymous part of London was becoming fashionable, and Roxbury would soon see the value of that land.
Yes, Ethan might find another place although time was slipping away. He’d searched for another suitable building and owned other houses, but having a place up and ready to accommodate around one hundred and twenty soldiers, whom society did its level best to forget, required time and preparation. A few of them needed peace and quiet and to stay away from others.
These men wouldn’t survive if they found themselves in the streets even for a few weeks, not with their broken bodies and troubled minds. Unscrupulous people would take advantage of their precarious conditions in the best of cases. Some of them couldn’t provide for themselves and needed constant assistance. Ethan would never, ever leave them to their own devices.
“Ethan?” A knock sounded from the door. “It’s me. I know my voice is music to yourear.”
Ethan shot his gaze up. “Come in.”
Grinning after his daft pun, Finn limped inside. His wooden leg thudded against the floor at each step.
“I hope you came with important news and not to make silly jokes.” Ethan scratched his missing ear again.
“My jokes are very clever. You lack sense of humour.” He plonked down onto the chair in front of the desk. “I visited the old St. George Hospital as you asked me to do. The place is rotting to its core as we suspected. It’ll need at least a year of solid work before anyone can spend a day there without catching consumption. Not to mention the road needs new cobbles and pavements. And street lamps. And a new sewer. Shall I continue?”
“Damn.” Ethan tossed the pen on the desk. “How can it be so difficult?”
“Simple. The best buildings in London have been taken to become fancy houses, hotels, and gentlemen’s clubs. The worst ones are those left for the poor or are classified as non-residential, and with the speed at which London is growing, it’ll be increasingly difficult to find a place for our soldiers. No one wants a centre with veterans in their quarter. Can you imagine a place like the Royal Veterans’ Society in Belgravia?” He leant closer. “It doesn’t help the fact half of the peerage considers you an ass.”
