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They followed the housekeeper into the adjacent chamber, which was very pretty too.

Its walls were papered in a green pattern.

A great white canopy draped over the headboard of the bed.

The dark-stained cabinets and tables looked to be antiques.

Again there were fresh flowers, beautifully arranged, this time in pink and green.

Deb nearly ran into the room and went straight to the three windows that let in the light.

“Oh look!” she said. “You can see the river and the forest from your windows! How beautiful! Oh, Margaret, can I have this room instead?”

“Of course.”

“Are you sure, Margaret?” Christopher asked. “Deb already claimed the other chamber.”

She lowered her head. “They are both nice rooms. I do not mind taking the one she doesn’t want.”

Margaret always gave Deb whatever she wanted, as did Christopher.

Sometimes he wished his middle sibling would stand up for herself more.

Deb was becoming quite spoiled and harder to control.

She was the reason his sisters had gotten into trouble at boarding school and Christopher was forced to remove them.

It was unfair to Margaret, since he was certain she had never made even one false step.

Deb danced around the room and touched every piece of furniture. “What would the girls at school say if they saw us now?”

Margaret sat on the edge of the bed, folding her hands demurely in her lap. “I am sure they would be happy for us. Thank you, Mrs. Harmony; that will be all for now.”

The housekeeper curtsied and left the room, closing the door behind her. Christopher was finally alone with his two sisters. He exhaled a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding.

“Phew!” Deb said in a loud voice and fell back onto the bed next to Margaret. “I am glad she’s gone. Your housekeeper’s face is positively Gothic, and her hair is frightful. You ought to pension her off and get a smart, new, young one.”

“Deborah,” Margaret hissed in a whisper. “Speak softer. She might have heard you.”

Christopher swallowed. “Yes, quiet, Deb. We have not even been here a day. It is much too soon to make changes.”

Deb sat up and stretched out her arms as she yawned. “I do not see why that is. You are the owner of this estate. You can do whatever you would like. And since you are our brother, we can do whatever we would like.”

He scraped his fingers through his hair and sighed. “It does us no good to set up these people’s backs. We want to be accepted by the local community.”

Deb took off her bonnet and stuck out her chin mulishly. “She is only a servant. Their feelings and opinions do not matter.”

“Servants have both ears and mouths,” Margaret said in a low tone. “And you know how damaging malicious words can be to a lady’s reputation.”

His youngest sister kicked her feet impatiently against the wooden frame of the bed. “But that is all forgotten now.”

Margaret placed an arm around her sister. “I sincerely hope so. We can start fresh here, if you would only learn to behave with some semblance of proper manners.”

Deb clenched her teeth and wrenched out of her sister’s hold, standing up and walking toward Christopher. “You are neither my mother nor my guardian. And you are not as perfect as you think you are, Margaret, despite the airs you put on.”

Christopher glanced from one angry sister to the other.

They both looked at him to support their side.

Deb was only two years younger than Margaret, and he could see how having an elder sister boss her about could be irritating.

On the other hand, she needed an older woman to guide her through the change from girlhood to womanhood.

Too often she behaved like a spoiled child.

“Stubble it, Deb. You two settle into your own rooms. I need to meet with the steward.”

He left the room with the housekeeping keys still in his hand.

Giving them to Margaret would only fan the flame of rivalry between his sisters.

Deb would be jealous if Margaret asserted any authority over the house or the servants.

How different his sisters’ manners were from Lady Sarah’s poised ones.

He reassured himself that she was also probably five to seven years older than Margaret, but the difference was stark.

But he was not going to think about her anymore.

And he didn’t, not until he sat down with his steward and the man presented him with yet another list written in a beautiful copperplate hand.

“Lord Manders hasn’t been in residence for nearly seven years,” the steward said, stroking his brown beard.

“Not since before the tragedy of the late countess. But Lady Sarah has run the estate effectively. She created a catalog for you of repairs that need to be made. She prioritized them by necessity.”

Christopher looked at the long inventory. It felt daunting. “This is quite the list, Mr. Pryce.”

The steward nodded, continuing to stroke his beard. “Aye. Lord Manders took nearly every farthing the estate made and put nothing back into it again.”

“It looks like we have our work cut out for us,” Christopher said, holding out his hand.

Mr. Pryce shook it readily, smiling. “Aye, sir. A young, strong man like yourself is just the one to do it too.”

Christopher smiled politely, but he had his doubts.

His business was canals, not agriculture.

He glanced down at the paper. It would seem that Lady Sarah was very knowledgeable about estate business.

She had ranked the improvements needed from the most immediate to the least, and she had notated the costs of each item.

It was well thought out and efficiently planned; still, Christopher felt like a drowning man.

He’d wrongfully assumed that owning an estate was similar to running a business.

He tucked the catalog away and determined not to think of the beautiful stranger again that day.

But when he sat down to luncheon, he could not help but realize that all the dishes were delicious and paired beautifully together.

Lady Sarah certainly knew how to run a household well.

And even though he didn’t know the names of the dishes, they were very fine indeed.

Unfortunately, his sisters quarreled through most of the meal, although Margaret always gave way to Deb’s stronger personality in the end.

He realized that what they needed, and what he required, was a wife.

Someone who could guide both of his sisters in the way of Society.

A woman like Lady Sarah.