The Governess Club: Bonnie by Macdonald Ellie

Author:Macdonald, Ellie [Macdonald, Ellie]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2013-09-16T21:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

* * *

“Is there something I can help you with, sir? You seem perplexed.”

Stephen glanced up at Renard. “No.” He turned his eyes back to the ledger. The numbers remained the same. The estate was bleeding money through bad investments, ineffective estate upgrades, and general mismanagement.

It wasn’t too difficult for Stephen to recognize the mismanagement. It was well-hidden, but with his experience, Stephen knew what to look for; it had taken nearly three years after his father’s death to pay off creditors and bring the title back to solvency.

How could George let things come to this? Had Roslyn known? For as long as he could remember, Stephen’s mother had known of his father’s monetary problems, but those had already been severe by the time he had become aware of them. It disgusted him to know that George was on the brink of doing to Roslyn and his sons the exact same thing Stephen’s father had done to him.

How could he not have recognized this in his own friend? True, he hadn’t been to visit in more than four years; the responsibility left to him on his father’s death left little time and money to leave Scotland. Surely it hadn’t always been like this.

A thought occurred to Stephen and it surprised him that he hadn’t thought of it before: He needed to see previous ledgers going back several years. That would give him more of a clue as to what went wrong.

He glanced over at Renard, bent over his work. As much help as the man had been, Stephen still didn’t trust him; he was too eager to point out George’s mistakes and failings. A man of business needed to be discreet, no matter the circumstances.

He shifted his gaze to the bookcase that held previous ledgers; it held the estate records for the last fifty years. He would have to wait until he was alone in the study; he did not want to raise Renard’s suspicions.

“Sir?”

Stephen jerked his head back around to Renard. He raised an eyebrow in response.

“The letter requires your signature.”

Without speaking, he took the letter being held out to him and signed it. His mind began to ponder how he could get the man out of the room.

“Sir?”

Another eyebrow raised in response.

“If I may say, you seem distracted this afternoon.”

“You may not.”

“My apologies, sir.” The tall man sat back down at his desk and resumed his work.

With a loud sigh, Stephen stood and moved to the window, taking in the view of the back garden entering winter dormancy. Gray clouds hovered in the sky, threatening to bring the inevitable rain that accompanies the English winter.

He hated this part of investigating, the distrust. Suspecting everyone, questioning every action. That suspicion followed him in his dealings with his father; it had been his steady companion both while the man was alive and after.

He was tired of being suspicious.

Movement caught his eye as two young bodies entered the garden from the drawing room terrace. Henry bounded down the stairs, a ball in his arms.

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