Page 5 of The Baron’s Perfect Match (Twist of Fate #1)

A fter breakfast, the three Parker sisters did a methodical search of the house for things they could hide from their father’s grubby hands.

“Sisters, look in every drawer and closet. We don’t want to overlook anything,” Audrey said.

Unfortunately, as Grace had mentioned earlier, Mama’s candlesticks were nowhere to be found.

Even the silver tea service Mama received as a wedding gift had disappeared.

The set should have gone to Audrey, the eldest daughter, when she married.

She had always dreamed of using that tea set in her own home.

Another keepsake from her late mother was gone, and there was nothing she could do about it.

Luckily, their pianoforte was still here, probably because Papa wouldn’t pay someone to take it away.

He preferred taking items he could carry and easily sell to fund his gambling and drinking.

“Miss Parker, may I help with something?” Beckwith asked as they walked from room to room .

“We’re trying to figure out what Papa has already sold. There seem to be many items missing from the house of late,” Audrey said.

Beckwith nodded. “I have noticed, these past few weeks, that Lord Fletcher was leaving home with various items tucked under his arm, and I could guess what he was doing, but it was not my place to say anything.”

“Of course. We understand. Papa would have sacked you if you’d confronted him,” Audrey said.

“That’s what I thought as well, but I hated to see the house stripped bare. May I show you something, Miss Parker?”

“Of course.”

The three sisters followed the butler down the hallway to the small closet where linens were stored. “I know what these mean to you, Miss Parker, and I couldn’t let the baron take them,” he said, lifting a pile of linens to reveal their mother’s silver candlesticks.

For the second time that day, tears filled Audrey’s eyes. “The candlesticks! How can I ever thank you for hiding these for us?”

“No need to thank me, Miss Parker. When I realized what Lord Fletcher was doing, I first tried to move things around, thinking he would lose interest, but he was persistent. I watched him cart family heirlooms out the door day after day while you were away, and I had to do something. Unfortunately, the baron found most of the items I moved around, so I hid these.”

“I don’t know what to say. You risked your position for us, and I have no words to express my appreciation. Somehow, thank you doesn’t seem like enough,” Audrey said.

“Just looking out for you, that’s all,” Beckwith said with a bow before walking away.

“Oh my, I cannot believe Beckwith did that for us,” Grace exclaimed.

“I know. It was a lovely thing to do. I hope that after all the trouble he went through to save these, we aren’t forced to sell them, as we’ll have to do if I can’t secure another position soon,” Audrey said.

“Oh, you mustn’t sell them. Mama wouldn’t want that,” Mia said. “We can make do.”

“Thank you, Mia. That’s very kind of you to say,” Audrey said, wrapping the candlesticks in a drying cloth and pushing them behind the stack of linens.

The closet was the one place her father wouldn’t look for something to sell.

At least, that’s what she hoped. She wondered if he’d opened the door, seen nothing but linens, and promptly moved on to pilfer other treasures.

Much to their dismay, their search didn’t turn up much of anything else of value.

Papa had been methodical in the decimation of their treasures, stripping most of the household’s valuables from the home.

The loss of so many things in the three and a half weeks that Audrey had been working as a maid was staggering.

Had he merely been waiting until she was gone to do this?

That was likely to be the case. After all, there was no way her father could leave the house with their valuables under his arm without Audrey noticing.

She would have fought him at every turn, and he probably knew that .

Was that why he kept pushing her to find a paying position outside the house, insisting it was necessary because they didn’t have enough money for food?

She should have questioned him about their remaining funds, but first, he probably wouldn’t have told her anything, and second, she didn’t want the fight that would have started if she challenged his authority. That would not have helped anyone.

With so many things missing, it was evident their father had pawned something every day until there was nothing left to sell.

It had only taken three weeks to make their cozy home a mere shell of what it used to be when their mother was alive.

Mary had filled the walls with such beautiful paintings, but now they were all bare.

The only painting her father hadn’t sold was the one of Mary that was painted early in their marriage.

Audrey was grateful for that, at least. Even her father wouldn’t stoop that low.

“Audrey, do you think Papa sold Mama’s jewelry too?” Grace asked.

Audrey whirled around at her sister’s question, stricken. Her mind temporarily froze, and then she cried, “Oh, no! I hadn’t thought of that. I must go check at once.”

“Audrey, wait! If Papa comes back and catches you in his bedchamber, there will be dire consequences,” Grace said, reaching out to stop her.

“Grace, I have to find out. You two stay here in the parlor. Keep a lookout for Papa while I go upstairs. I must know if he sold Mama’s pearls.”

Audrey raced up the stairs and burst into her father’s bedchamber.

She was shocked at the mess she saw. Everything had been turned upside down.

Her mother’s clothes were emptied from the armoire and strewn across the floor.

Even the little trinkets like the hair clips she’d kept on her vanity were missing.

“Oh, Papa, what have you done?” she whispered as she surveyed the damage.

The chaos was a perfect representation of what their lives had become.

She didn’t dare clean everything up, in case her father accused her of snooping in his room, which, in essence, was exactly what she was doing, but it was for a good cause.

The pearl necklace was her mother’s prize possession, and Audrey would never forgive her father if he’d pawned it.

Everything else was replaceable, but not those.

Audrey stepped into the room and closed the door.

She found the small case where her mother kept the pearls lying on the floor near the foot of the bed.

It used to sit on the vanity, and now it was empty.

Not even a single pair of earbobs was left.

Her heart broke as tears flowed down her cheeks at the utter disregard her father had shown for her mother’s belongings—jewelry that had been passed down to Mary from her own mother.

Jewelry that should have gone to Audrey and her sisters.

All gone. Nothing was left.

The worst part was that none of them would ever get to wear even a small piece of jewelry as a reminder of their mother. She fell to her knees and pounded her fists on the carpet, her distress threatening to overwhelm her. “Papa, how could you be so cruel?” she sobbed .

When her mother was alive, they’d been a happy family.

James had been devoted to Mary. However, when her father unexpectedly inherited the title, Audrey began to notice that things became strained between the two of them.

Peers of the realm did not work if they wanted to be accepted by Society, so James had reluctantly given up his work as a barrister.

That was when Audrey noticed the first change in him.

Without his work to occupy his mind, he became unfocused and began drinking more than she’d ever seen him do before.

He was like a man lost at sea without an oar to get back to shore.

From what she could gather from a few of her mother’s comments over the years, inheriting the title wasn’t the magical fairytale world her father had expected.

He had no friends amongst his peers, although he did have a few acquaintances from when his late brother had held the title.

However, he’d never cultivated any of those friendships and took little interest in the estate business.

His brother had asked him on numerous occasions if he wanted to understand how the estate functioned, but James always declined.

His brother was healthy, and James had always said no, believing there was no chance he’d inherit, even going so far as to rebuff most of the invitations his brother sent when he was entertaining.

When his brother had died unexpectedly in a carriage accident without an heir, James was thrust into a world he didn’t understand.

To make matters worse, after he left his job as a barrister and assumed the title, he hadn’t been invited to join any of the men’s clubs.

He rarely attended Parliament and showed no interest in helping to sponsor or argue for the various bills.

She once heard her father tell her mother that the other lords were just too uppity in their opinions.

Without his barrister work to keep him busy, there wasn’t much to keep him occupied.

His brother had been a good steward of the estate, and it had provided a decent income.

It had allowed the Parker family to move into the estate’s London townhome on Curzon Street and pay the staff who’d been employed when her uncle was Baron Fletcher.

Unfortunately, her father did not follow his brother’s careful management of the income and spent lavishly initially.

Mary had tried her best to keep her husband’s spirits up, but to no avail.

James grew increasingly dissatisfied with his life.

With careful management, they could have all lived a happy life. And they were happy for a while. Her mother was thriving and had renewed some acquaintances from her debut.