Page 48 of Miss Hawthorne’s Unlikely Husband (The Troublemakers Trilogy #3)

L eaving Ellie behind was a tactical error.

Richard discovered that the moment he’d tried to get comfortable in the carriage as he left the train station.

He’d already decided to stop off by his uncle’s country home to speak to his aunt before he acted.

He’d decided even before his wedding that he was ready to cut his uncle off.

He didn’t care about what happened to him and he was only too willing to throw him to the wolves.

Now that he had incurred the wrath of no less than three noble families, he knew his time had come.

But before he did, he needed to know how far he should go when it came to his aunt and his nieces.

After he finished his business at Durant Mills and made sure the accounts and staff were in order, he headed down to Redfern Hall.

He’d seen it a few times before when his father was alive, but since then he hadn’t felt a need to return to see it.

He’d barely recognize his aunt as it was.

He vaguely remembered a brown-haired woman with a serious face but the distinct features of that face were elusive at best.

He handed his card to the butler who blinked once and nodded.

“I’ll get the mistress, sir.”

“Thank you.” He turned in a small circle as the man walked away and took in the foyer as he waited for his aunt to arrive.

It seemed a bit worn. The wallpaper was faded and the wood paneling was in desperate need of revarnishing.

What had his uncle been spending his money on if he had so many debts to cover?

“Who are you?” a small voice called. He turned to see a small girl of no more than five with straight brown hair much like his father and uncle.

“I’m your cousin,” he replied.

“You’re too big to be my cousin,” she reasoned.

“Are you Bethany?” He knew his uncle had managed to have a second child. No doubt he’d been disappointed that it was a girl.

“I am.”

“Betty, who are you—oh.” An older girl closer to fourteen stared at him. “Who are you?”

“He’s our cousin.” Bethany went to her sister and took her hand.

“Winifred?” He hadn’t seen her since her baptism when she was a squirming red-faced newborn.

“How do you know that?” she asked.

“I make it my business to know,” he replied.

“Are you a Chinese?” Bethany asked.

He turned to her. Not quite the way to ask that question but her big blue eyes were so earnest, he knew she couldn’t mean anything by it. Better for her to be curious instead of suspicious. Richard crouched down to her level. “You are about half right in that assessment.”

She rubbed the side of her nose. “I think you look Chinese.”

“My mother was Chinese.”

“Oh.”

“Richard?” An older woman’s voice announced the arrival of his aunt. He looked up to see a middle-aged woman with dark blonde hair, brown eyes and a thinner face than he remembered. Was that due to time or care?

“Aunt Cordelia,” he replied, rising to his full height.

“What are you doing here?” She glanced at her two girls and then back to him. There was no outrage on her face, only well-hidden concern.

“I am here to speak with you about a matter of reasonable importance to you.”

She blinked and took a deep breath. “Oh. Then I suppose you’d better come into the salon.” She crouched down near her daughters. “Go outside and play, darlings, while I speak to Cousin Richard.”

“Yes, Mama. Come, Betty.” Winifred took her little sister’s hand and walked down the hallway, sending a worried glance over her shoulder.

Cordelia glanced over at him and gestured for him to follow her.

“They are growing well,” he commented, for lack of anything else to say.

“Yes. I don’t know if you’ve ever met them before.”

“I may have met Winifred when she was a baby. Your husband was never keen on my sister and I meeting your family, especially after Father died.”

“Yes. The last time I saw you might have been your parents’ funeral.”

He didn’t respond to that. Based on his calculations, Winifred had been born well after his parents passed, but it made sense that she didn’t quite remember that.

In the salon, she invited him to take a seat before settling in an armchair that needed to be reupholstered.

In fact, all the furniture needed new covers.

Like the foyer, the room was clean but worn.

“Simon told me that your sister Adelaide married two years ago.”

Adelaide. Not ‘that girl’. It was promising. “Yes. Did he tell you why my sister was forced to marry so suddenly?”

“I…” She swallowed hard, her gaze shifting away from his for a moment. “He has been under a significant amount of pressure lately.”

“Did you know that he had me kidnapped two years ago?” he asked.

Her gaze slid down to the floor, her hands clenching in her lap.

Interesting. It was just as well, at least he wouldn’t have to expend any energy convincing her of anything. “So you did. Good. He’s never liked me, that much has been clear, but that dislike has now escalated in a way that has caused real harm to me and those I care for. I have had enough.”

“What did he do?”

“In my defense, I’ve given him multiple warnings. But his most recent infraction was to assault my fiancée at our engagement party.”

Her head came up to meet his eyes now. “You’re engaged?”

“Married now,” he clarified.

“Oh. Congratulations.” She seemed dazed. How much had Simon kept her in the dark?

“Thank you.”

“What are you going to do?” she asked.

“I’ve cut him off financially.”

She gasped, her eyes widening. “You haven’t… you can’t do that.”

“Yes, I can. He is recovering from the thrashing I gave him, but soon the creditors will arrive.”

“Richard, they will take everything.”

“Yes. I imagine they will. Everything in his name at least, but it won’t be enough to cover his debts.”

“I knew he’d had troubles,” she mumbled, rubbing her forehead. “He told me that you weren’t giving him enough, that—”

“He has received roughly ten thousand pounds a year as was determined by my father before he died.”

“Ten thousand?” She stared at him in bewilderment. “But we never had… he always said we had no money because of you. I don’t understand.”

He supposed in his uncle’s mind he was poorer than he would have been because of Richard’s existence. Although he wondered if he would have been quite so bitter if he had been white.

“They will take him to debtor’s prison now,” Aunt Cordelia continued.

“Yes. They will.”

“How long will you leave him there?” she asked.

“As long as it takes,” he replied.

“Does he know?”

It was interesting. He half expected her to plead his case for him, but she seemed uninterested in that. Considering his lies and neglect, he couldn’t blame her. “No. But he will find out soon enough.”

“What will become of me and the girls?” she finally asked.

“That rather depends on you. It is said that the clever learn from their own mistakes but the wise learn from the mistakes of others.”

She swallowed hard and stared at him.

“What kind of person are you, Aunt? Are you wise?”

For a moment, her face didn’t move, then she gave a slow nod. “I am.”

He smiled. “I am glad to hear it. In that case, you and your daughters will be provided for. The annuity I provided to your husband will come to you instead until your death. No doubt you will make better use of it than he did. You will be placed in a comfortable home and your daughters will have dowries provided. Any questions?”

She shook her head.

“Good. Now I have another question for you. What do you think of Bath?”

“Bath?”

“When they take this house, then you will need another at least for the time being. I have a property there you and the girls may use until we find a more permanent place for you. It’s healthier than town, but not so far from society for at least part of the season. Does that suit you?”

For the first time since he’d arrived, she smiled at him. “I like Bath.”

He nodded. “Good, I shall make the arrangements. My aim is for you to be out of this house before they take it.”

“What about the staff here?”

Better and better. “You will still need them when you find your house. They will be provided for until they can join you. Or if they do not want to leave the county, we will find a new position for them.”

She let out a relieved sigh. “Thank you.”

He nodded and rose to his feet.

“Will you stay to dinner?” she asked.

She wanted him to stay? It was a novel experience but not an unpleasant one. For a moment, he wondered if it had truly only been his uncle all along. “No, thank you. I have to get back to town. I simply wanted you to receive the news from me so you could prepare.”

She let out a short chuckle and shook her head. “Yes, that would have been quite a shock.”

How had his uncle managed to find a woman like this to marry? She was levelheaded, responsible, kind and pretty. She’d given him two adorable children. Perhaps his neglect had served them in the end. No doubt his daughters would have been nightmares if he had been allowed to influence them.

Cordelia walked him out to his carriage in a comfortable silence that he couldn’t have imagined he would have with his uncle’s wife.

“Tell your daughters I said goodbye.”

“I will. I hope that this means we will see more of you. It was never my will or intention for you and your sister to be strangers.”

“I would like that,” he replied, surprised to find that he meant it. He climbed into his carriage, and she pushed the door closed.

“Richard, thank you for not holding his behavior against me.”

He stared at her for a moment, wondering what their marriage had been and what other lies he’d told her to make her think that he would see her and her girls in a poor house due to his actions. “I am not him. Continue to raise your daughters well, and you will have nothing to fear from me.”

She nodded and he knocked on the carriage ceiling, signaling he was ready to depart.

*