Scandal at the Dower House Read Online Free PDF Page A

wretched man said. ‘If you permit me to check them, I will soon discover the mistake.’
    ‘A systematic cheating is no error. How did you become agent here at Marshington? You are young for such a responsible position.’
    ‘I’m old enough,’ the man replied, looking frightened. ‘I came when my father died. A year ago, that was. He’d been agent here for many years and the late earl had promised him I would have the position after him.’
    ‘What did you do before?’
    ‘I worked for a merchant in Bristol, as a clerk in the counting house.’
    ‘Then I suggest you apply to have the post back, for I will not permit you to remain in my employment, cheating and lying to me. I will not, of course, be able to give you a reference.’
     
    Nicholas helped Catarina into the curricle and she directed him towards a side path which led towards the cottages. He stole a glance at her to confirm his memory. For some reason he had not been able to forget her. She was truly lovely, though the stark black mourning dress did not flatter her golden skin. Her face was oval, her eyes a golden brown, and her mouth wide and kissable. She seemed to have gained weight since March; her cheeks were fuller, as was her bosom, partially revealed by the lighter gown she wore and visible under the shawl casually draped round her shoulders. He felt a frisson of desire. Why on earth had such a girl married a man so much older? There must have been other suitors apart from Walter,for her money as well as her delicious person, even when she was only sixteen. Recalling Sir Humphrey’s unctuous leave-taking he had an unwelcome thought. Surely Catarina was not contemplating a connection with him? Not with another elderly man. She deserved something better. In any case it was far too soon for her to be contemplating another marriage.
    Then he recalled a conversation with Olivia soon after they reached home, when he had agreed to her pleas that she might return to Brooke Court and Miss Shipton for another year. He had, besides, promised that he would find someone other than Lady Keith to sponsor her debut into Society. She had been in a confiding mood, such was her relief.
    ‘Joanna was expelled,’ she had told him.
    ‘Expelled? From your seminary? I didn’t know she had been a fellow pupil.’
    ‘Yes, but she is two years older than I, and we had little in common. She had her own friends. She remembered me, of course, but I don’t think she’d have recalled my name if I had not been with you.’
    ‘Was she as outspoken there?’
    ‘Yes; she never cared what she said, but that wasn’t the reason she was expelled.’ Olivia blushed. ‘She was caught climbing out of a storeroom window to meet a young man!’
    Somehow that had not surprised Nicholas. All the time they had been at Marshington Grange for Walter’s funeral, Joanna had been flirting, discreetly but with intent, with Jeremy. Was Catarina similarly inclined, another flirt? She had not seemed like that. Had there been some scandal which had induced her guardians to marry her off? It was not unusual for girls to wed straight from the schoolroom, and Walter, though so much older, had been a good match, but from what he had seen of Catarina’s spirit, he would have expected her to protest. Yet she seemed to be encouraging Sir Humphrey.
    He pushed aside such distasteful speculations as they came to the first of the cottages. What had looked picturesque from theterrace at the Grange was, close to, rather more squalid. Several cottages had, it appeared, already been demolished, and piles of rubble showed where they had stood. The thatch was old and in dire need of renewing. The wattle and daub walls were pocked with gaps where the mud had fallen away. The window frames sagged, with spaces through which the wind would whistle.
    ‘These things can be repaired,’ he said to Catarina, as he halted the curricle and took stock of the scene in front of him.
    ‘Of course, but I must show you