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father's excellent library, and as she had little else to do—her father not having much social intercourse with the rest of the neighborhood—she had spent much of her days there reading and exploring whatever had happened to catch her interest. 31
    The Willful Widow
    by Evelyn Richardson
    Slowly it was borne in on the marquess that he had raised himself an excellent companion, and from the time that Diana was sixteen, he began to notice his daughter and—and as much as a man of his reclusive habits could do—took pleasure in her company. Also at that point, he made another surprising discovery: that his daughter had learned to run his household without the least bit of help from him and had been the nominal head of Buckland for some time. The few servants who took care of Buckland for their erratic master had felt sorry for the lonely little girl and often invited her to sit and talk while they completed their tasks. By the time Lady Diana's father began to recognize her as a presence, she had gained considerable knowledge as to the functioning of Buckland. She had learned household management from Cook and the housekeeper, Mrs. Tottington. From Mr. Tottington, who was the butler, the steward, and the general factotum, she had picked up everything else in the administration of the estate, which, according to him, was not all that it should be; but without the interest of the master, his hands were tied. Gradually, the young lady of the house began to discover that ancient as her title was and comfortable as the manor could be in its own shabby way, Lady Diana's inheritance was less than one might expect from such a place as Buckland. The fields had run fallow as the marquess was not interested in farming them or paying others to do so. He was such an indifferent landlord, that the rents he could charge the tenants in the few cottages on the estate were minimum. "For to put it to you straight, my lady," Tottington had been forced 32
    The Willful Widow
    by Evelyn Richardson
    to admit one day, "he is generating precious little income, and has spent most of what was left to him by his father on building that library of his."
    Diana had promised to do what she could to improve things. She had gotten her father to spend some of his remaining inheritance on repairs to the cottages, but it had been too little too late. The marquess, emerging for once from his perpetually abstracted state, had taken stock of his affairs and realized that unless he were to do something, and do it soon—even though his estate was not entailed—his daughter would be left with nothing except the rapidly decaying manor and some unfilled fields.
    Casting about for a solution, he had determined that he should marry her to someone who could provide for her. That decided, he suddenly began to take an interest in local affairs. Much to his neighbors' surprise, he was soon often seen in the village or attending church with his daughter—both locales where he had been only the rarest of visitors. The marquess had dimly remembered from days gone by that Lord Hatherill had had a son just a little before Diana was born. Inquiries revealed that the Viscount Hatherill was still unmarried, and further investigation proved that his widowed mother was hoping that he could be made to offer for someone who could act as a settling influence on him. Armed with this information, the marquess called on the Hatherills, who had been delighted by his proposition. Even Ferdie himself was taken with the idea. A good-natured, but feckless youth, he was uneasily aware that his duty lay in choosing a wife and providing a Hatherill heir, especially now 33
    The Willful Widow
    by Evelyn Richardson
    that his father was gone. Such a course of action seemed a most uncomfortable fate to one who spent his days drifting pleasantly from one sporting event to another and his evenings at the gambling table. He had known however, that sooner or later his mother would make it impossible to