A Ravishing Redhead (Wedded Women Quartet) by Eaton Jillian

Author:Eaton, Jillian [Eaton, Jillian]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Jillian A. Eaton
Published: 2012-04-12T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIX

As summer gave way to fall and the nights grew cooler, the days shorter and the leaves began to change their colors, the Duke and Duchess of Heathridge began a slow, fumbling courtship of sorts.

With the mutual goal of restoring Heathridge to its former glory, the two worked closely side by side and soon fell into a comfortable routine.

Margaret tended to the stables in the morning – something she refused to give up, even when Henry hired not one but three grooms – while Henry poured through ledgers in his study. Each afternoon they chose a different room to scrub top to bottom, a task normally delegated to servants, but as Margaret pointed out “it was their bloody house” and for once Henry saw logic in her argument. In the evenings before dinner they always went for a long walk to discuss the tasks accomplished or simply drift along in silence, content with each other’s company.

Slowly but surely Heathridge began to reclaim some of its former glory. The windows began to sparkle. New rugs and paintings arrived by the cart load. The fields were tilled. Under Margaret’s insistence two new paddocks were put in and a new, larger barn was well underway, all funded by the wealth Henry had accumulated from his business ventures abroad. Unfortunately, Heathridge’s coffers were not as deep as they should have been.

It did not take Henry long to discover the depths of his accountant’s betrayal. By all written accounts Peterson had been robbing the estate blind for years. Only recently had he grown bold enough to make obvious errors, such as taking all of the money Henry had been sending back to Margaret instead of siphoning it off little by little as he had from the late Duke. It was a betrayal of the highest order; one Henry had not yet decided how to deal with. He knew Peterson was in London, a fact that was substantiated by the number of bills that were piling up in Henry’s name.

Did Peterson think him a fool? Or did he simply no longer care if he was caught? Perhaps, Henry thought darkly, the accountant merely thought him to be as ignorant and foolish as his father. If so, it was a mistake that would soon cost the man dearly.

Crumpling the latest tally of figures totaling the losses Heathridge had sustained over the past year, Henry tossed the wad of paper over his shoulder in disgust and crossed the room to gaze out the window

It was no accident he had chosen to make this particular room his study. It was the only one on the first floor of the estate that faced east, towards the stables. From here he had a clear view of the paddock and the barn and the horses, as well as the red haired vixen that tended them.

A smile rose unbidden to his mouth as he recalled what had transpired out this very window yesterday afternoon.

Three times the new gardener had thrown a fit over having his tulips devoured by the shaggy beast Margaret referred to fondly as a horse.

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