Page 22 of A Lord in Want of a Wife (Daring Debutantes #2)

C edric disembarked as soon as it was possible, then found some of his old friends. If nothing else, he was rich in old friends. Better yet, though it was barely three in the morning, they were awake and in their cups.

They fed him good English food that wasn’t damp and had excellent meat. They plied him with brandy that went straight to his head. And as soon as it was light, he borrowed his friend’s horse and headed to his family estate.

Maybe Lucy was right. Maybe his family’s fortunes had recovered on their own. Maybe…

He stopped when the manor came into view. Of all the things he had imagined—both good and ill—none came close to what he saw now.

First and most disturbing, the roof was still in pieces. Fortunately, it was only one section of a very large house, so there was room for his sisters on the other side. But the damage was extensive, and he flinched every time he got past a tree and saw the whole of the mess again.

His second look showed him children, lots of children everywhere. Every urchin in the county was somewhere in front of the house. His mother had hated noisy children, so their home had been a silent tomb. But now it teemed with life. Noisy, arguing, giggling, singing and running about life!

Eventually, he spotted his two sisters. The youngest, Lilianna, sat under a tree, telling a story to several children while she painted in a book. Lilianna had always had a pencil at hand. Right now she seemed to be adding watercolour to the book while entertaining several little ones.

His middle sister, Rose, was standing at a large table sorting…

vegetables? As he neared, he could see that she was giving a mathematics lesson using cabbages, watercress and peas.

Several of the children had a slate and chalk, showing their answers to her in turn while she began to chop up the cabbage.

Good God, when had his frail sister developed muscles?

He remembered her as an elfin child, but all of a sudden, she dropped the knife to lift up two fighting boys—one in each hand—as she gave them a stern talking to.

Rose! The girl who spent most of her childhood with her head in the clouds as she sang to the fairies.

She was scolding two boys while she held them aloft in her two fists.

That alone was shocking enough, but then he saw his oldest sister, Cora.

She was the most level-headed of all of them.

Responsible and always calm in a crisis.

He was just rounding the corner when she stepped out the front door.

It wasn’t so much the way she walked, but what she did when she stood still.

She looked fondly out at the sea of children and let her hand drift slowly over her belly. Over her rounded belly.

It was possible that she had simply gained weight from an abundance of food, but given the thin size of his other sisters, he doubted it. It was possible that some ailment had filled out her lower half, but again, she didn’t look ill. What she looked like was a woman who was increasing.

Cora was pregnant.

He spurred his horse forwards, no longer content to watch from the road.

He was tired and had a sore head, but this…

this was not something he could take quietly.

Had he missed a wedding announcement? Surely one of his friends would have mentioned it to him.

A pang hit him hard that he had not been here for her nuptials.

He dismounted as soon as he got close, walking his horse forwards when he really wanted to run. With all these children around, someone might get trampled. So he took care while he tried to see his sister’s hand. Was she wearing a wedding ring? Who could she have married?

He knew—or thought he knew—all the local gentlemen. Not a one was good enough for her. This is what came of not having a Season! Had she settled on someone who was unworthy of her? And who could blame her with no dowry and no relief in sight?

Thoughts spun uselessly in his head as his sisters finally noticed him.

All three cried out in their particular ways.

Lilianna looked up with a small start of surprise.

Rose giggled in the way he remembered, the sound more like bells than laughter.

But it was Cora who held his attention. She flushed red and slowly lifted her hand from her belly.

Dread settled deep in his gut. She looked guilty rather than happy. And while the children fell into chaos around him, he smiled grimly at her.

‘I came as soon as I docked,’ he said by way of greeting. ‘And I can tell that there is a great deal that has happened while I was away.’

Cora shrugged. ‘We had to do something, Cedric. We couldn’t just sit around and starve.’

He looked at her face. She didn’t look on the verge of starvation.

None of them did. But none of them had the full blush of health either.

Not the way the daughters of an earl should.

He could already see that their hands were rough, their bodies unfashionably strong and of course, there was the pregnancy. He would be an uncle soon.

The thought wasn’t displeasing. Just the circumstances which, truthfully, he didn’t know yet. So he shouldn’t judge. And he shouldn’t be afraid.

And yet, as he greeted each of his sisters in turn, he could see guilt written in their downcast faces and hear it echo in their overly loud greetings.

Good God, what had happened here?

It took a while to get everyone sorted. The children’s lessons had to be finished, the vegetables collected and set to cooking and he had to groom his horse.

There were no servants, not that he’d expected any.

But it was still a shock to see that his sisters had no help whatsoever.

His mother had always insisted on a full staff.

All of that took a couple hours. And though he tried to talk to his sisters along the way—when he came out of the stable, when he entered the kitchen to find some water to wash and on the way to and from the well with two heavy buckets—all three women pushed him off with one excuse or another.

‘At dinner,’ they said. ‘We’ll explain everything at dinner.’

So he took matters into his own hands and went to inspect the collapsed roof. He needed to know if the house was about to crumble into dust.

‘It needs repair,’ Cora said. ‘Immediately.’

Cedric turned slowly, forcing his expression and his tone to be gentle when everything inside him teetered towards violence. ‘Cora, what happened?’

She frowned. ‘A storm blew the roof right off. Didn’t you get my letters?’

He nodded. He had one, in fact, in his pocket. ‘I’m referring to the baby.’

Her cheeks pinked and her gaze slid away. ‘You’re uncomfortably observant, brother.’

He swallowed, doing his best to keep calm. ‘Were you forced?’

Her eyes widened as her gaze jumped to his. ‘What? No!’

He exhaled slowly. One fear dissolved. But there were so many more concerns pushing forwards. ‘Who was it? And where is he?’

‘So you can call him out? So you can—’

‘Cora,’ he interrupted. ‘I’m trying to help. And I’m sorry I wasn’t here earlier.’

She sighed as she looked back at him. ‘This is not your fault.’

No. It was his father’s fault for impoverishing the estate, for continuing to disregard his own daughters, for not being here to protect his own children. And yet, guilt still ate Cedric.

‘Who, Cora?’ he demanded.

‘Eric Wells,’ she said.

He frowned. Did he know that name? He certainly hadn’t gone to school with the man. Nor was he a local, as far as he could remember.

‘He’s the engineer I wrote to you about. The one I hired to look at the canal.’

Cedric thought back to the letter. ‘I thought Lilianna was interested in him.’

His sister shrugged. ‘Lilianna is interested in every eligible bachelor. But he liked me best.’

‘And so you… You and he…’ He couldn’t even say the words.

‘We’re engaged,’ she said, her expression lifting.

‘And where is he?’ Why wasn’t there a ring on his sister’s finger?

She sighed. ‘He’s in Yorkshire—’

‘Yorkshire!’

‘He got work there.’ She sighed. ‘He’s fixing a canal up there, and when he’s done, we’ll have enough money to marry.’

‘It doesn’t take money to marry!’ he snapped back.

She held up her hands to stop him. ‘He doesn’t know.’

‘What?’

‘He left before I realised. We were planning on marrying as soon as he got back, as soon as he was paid. We didn’t know…’ She dropped her hand onto her belly. ‘It’s not something I want to put in a letter.’

Cedric swallowed, panic clutching his throat. ‘How far along are you?’ He guessed maybe four or five months. But what did he know about pregnancies?

‘Six months. You’ll be an uncle this summer.’

The panic exploded in his brain, making his knees go weak. Good God, three months to get her a dowry. Three months to find this engineer and force him back here. Three months to fix the roof and get them a decent place to live.

Three months to prevent a bastard.

‘We’ll be fine, Cedric,’ she said, her voice strong. ‘I have it all worked out.’

‘Really?’ he said, sarcasm fighting hope in his voice. ‘Please tell me.’

‘He’ll be back in time. His letters say he’s nearly finished.’

God, he prayed that was true. ‘Does he have family money? Any way to support you?’

She stiffened. ‘He’s an engineer. He’s working!’

In other words, no.

‘His grandfather is Viscount Copekett.’

Copekett, Copekett, Copekett. He wracked his brains for who that was.

And when he finally placed it, he groaned out loud.

The family had tons of children. There was no way this Eric would inherit the title.

Worse, theirs was middling money, all reserved for the title.

Nothing at all for the cousins and second cousins.

At best, they could get a good education among the elite.

At worst, they could end up no better than the average labour man.

Eric, apparently, split the difference. He was educated, but not flush.

‘Do you have a place to live?’ He couldn’t imagine raising a child in a home with half the roof caved in. He hated it for his sisters!

Cora extended her hand to her brother. When Cedric touched it, she tugged him out of the damaged section of the house. ‘We can talk over dinner.’

‘I think I want the answer now. I get the feeling everyone’s trying to hide things from me.’

She turned to him. ‘We’ll live on old Samson’s farm.’

‘What!’ he exploded. His sister—the daughter of an earl—would live in a tenant’s cottage? He imagined a vermin-infested hovel. He knew how badly his father had neglected those homes.

‘Oh, don’t get high-handed with me. Do you think this is better?’ She gestured behind him at the damaged area of the house. ‘Besides,’ she said as she flushed pink. ‘It’s private.’

He did not want to think about that! Instead, he focused on the facts of the situation. ‘You cannot want to live there,’ he whispered.

‘It’s the best we could manage,’ she said flatly.

‘You cannot raise a child there!’

She shrugged. ‘Then repair this house.’

‘I sent you every penny I made!’

‘I know,’ she said, her tone softening. ‘Thank you, Cedric. It’s because of you that we have managed at all. But we are living people. Life must go on for us.’ She set her hand on her belly. ‘And it has.’

She was happy with her fiancé and her growing family.

He could see that. But all Cedric could think was that the child was another mouth to feed.

Another generation to raise. There would be more children who would grow.

They would need a proper education with tutors and eventually school. All of that cost money.

He never realised how heavy that burden felt until the weight doubled at the thought of the next generation.

‘He’s a smart man, Cedric. There is not a waterway, bridge or lock that he cannot improve. He’ll get work all over the country. Yorkshire is just the beginning.’

‘That’ll take him away from you.’ And the child. God, could this get any worse?

‘I’m not the one you should be worrying about,’ Cora said, her voice tart. ‘Lilianna has met someone.’ She sighed. ‘Someone very unsuitable.’

Cedric groaned as he collapsed down into the nearest chair. He’d never felt more weighted by responsibilities.

He spent the next day and night inspecting Eric’s work on their canal (impressive), Cora and Eric’s future home on Samson’s former plot (not as bad as he feared) and going over the family accounts which were every bit as disastrous as he’d imagined.

He wouldn’t have understood it before, but thanks to Lucy’s tutelage he understood exactly how desperate the situation.

As for Lilianna’s gentleman, the man was no gentleman at all. A little investigation turned up the man’s other wife and children in a neighbouring county. Lilianna was crushed, but that only emphasised the need to get her to London for a Season. And that required coin.

Which left him with the only solution as the one he’d already been working on.

He must marry an heiress. Nothing was more important or more urgent.

Indeed, he wanted to have a woman’s dowry in hand by the time Cora and Eric married, which had to be before she gave birth.

He would not let that child spend his first years shivering in a tenant’s hovel or a dilapidated manor home.

Which meant any dream of marrying Lucy was gone.

He accepted that fully now. What tiny portion of him had hoped was now smothered beneath the weight of the account books.

Despair hit him hard. Despair and fury and crushing responsibility.

That made him rash. And stupid. And completely, bull-headed.