The Rakehell Regency(52)

"What, no women at all?" she asked in surprise. She was sure Gerald had said...



He held his gaze steady. "You would know better than myself, having been there for three weeks. So far as I am aware, there are no women working there apart from the little crippled maid.



"Admittedly, I have not been a guest at Hawkesworth House very often in recent years. But since all the servants in the district know each other, we would all hear about the latest people being hired. There have been no women at Hawkesworth House for years except Gerald's old nanny, and her granddaughter, the hunchbacked scullery maid with the clubfoot. Your father made a special provision for her in his will that she and your nanny would always have the dower house and a pension. I know because Gerald tried to oust them from there a few years ago in order to sell the dower house, but your solicitors stopped him."



"I see. Well, thank you for telling me. I shall speak with him and them about the matter," she said coolly, though inwardly she was terribly distressed to hear this news.



"After you marry me, it will no longer be your affair."



"Suffering and injustice is my affair."



"What I meant was, it will be my affair," he said patiently. "I shall see to it all is well with the household, and with Gerald. He has had a hard time learning how to manage money. We can make him an appropriate allowance, with certain conditions attached."



"That's exactly what I said to him the other... night," she trailed off.



She looked away from his piercing stare, but he had caught the look of consternation which had crossed her features.



He asked in an even tone, "What were your conditions?"



"I beg your pardon?"



"What were the conditions of the allowance you were offering your brother?"



She sighed. "That he would have to make over the deed of the house to me, and live within his means in an appropriate manner fitting his prospects, and not keep spending as though he were the Prince of Wales himself."



Clifford nodded with satisfaction. "Very good. I shall have my solicitors draw up papers to that effect, and see that he signs them before he receives one penny. Then everything will be settled, and we can be wed at once."





CHAPTER NINETEEN



Vanessa sighed. If only it were so simple to quell her brother and stop him from interfering in her life and mismanaging their family affairs. "It sounds like an excellent plan, except for one thing. You're forgetting that he has the money from the card game."



"I'm not forgetting it. But nor, I think, are all his creditors. Word has no doubt spread like wildfire that he's had a windfall. If his debts are as high as they are rumored to be, then the money will be just about gone. They will be after him as soon as they can find him."



She nodded wearily. "It is all gone. He said he had applied it towards the mortgage. That is why I was asking for time to reimburse you."



Clifford stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Hmm, it will be easy enough to discover if he was telling the truth about that. I fear he may not have applied as much of his windfall as he declared, and that he will go into default before anyone can intervene."



Vanessa frowned. "I will do what I can to preserve my family home. I just need more time."



He ventured to observe, "I do find it passing strange that though we've left word at every single house in the district, he has not come here to inquire after your health." It was not strictly true, but he wanted to gauge her reaction.



She shrugged, as if she had not thought of it herself, and was not the least concerned in any event. "Well, perhaps he's not in the district. I would not put it past him to go off to London for a bit of pleasure-seeking."



"That's the first time I've heard you be critical of him. Is it possible that you see his faults at last?"



Her gaze lifted to his candidly for the first time. "It's not that I don't see them. It's just not my place to air them in public. Nor should I dwell on them. Nor should I be criticizing someone older than myself who has not had all of the advantages I have had."



Clifford stared at her in surprise. "Indeed, my dear, he has had far more, being born a man in a man's age, and with all of the wealth and property he inherited from your father, as compared with what you have received. Your fortune is a good one, but it's been earned by both you and your aunt working hard."



"You sound as though you admire us for it," she marveled.



"Why should I not?"



She shrugged one white linen clad shoulder. "Not many men of our class admire hard work. Nor do they like the idea of women owning their own property, controlling their own lives."