The Bride Insists by Jane Ashford

Author:Jane Ashford
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Sourcebooks, Inc.
Published: 2013-12-29T16:00:00+00:00

Fourteen

The young builder came up to Trehearth House the following day, and his comments on Clare’s plans were so intelligent and helpful that she engaged him on the spot. He promised to begin work the very next morning, bringing along two boys who were interested in learning the building trade.

The trio arrived as promised, rucksacks of tools over their shoulders. They cleared the small bedchamber Clare had chosen for the bath and set to work.

Jamie discovered them there when he passed by the room after breakfast, on his way out for the day. He was startled, and then humiliated, by his ignorance of their project. The young builder didn’t appear to notice, full of ideas on how best to add a drainpipe that would take the water carried up from the kitchen out and away from the house. He naturally assumed that milady’s husband had added his ideas to the plan and approved it. Jamie went to look for Clare and found her in the solar going over the household accounts. “You hired builders without telling me,” he said.

Clare held up a hand to show that she was totting up a long column of numbers. When she was finished, she said, “It all happened so quickly, I forgot to mention it. Reverend Carew recommended—”

“Repairs and alteration to the estate are my responsibility,” interrupted Jamie tightly.

At his tone, Clare abandoned her account book. “We had discussed adding a bath to the house.”

“And I told you it had to wait.”

“Yes, because your builder had more important work to do on the tenants’ cottages. I understand that and agree it must come first. But I found a way to manage the project without taking any workers away from…”

“By engaging a complete stranger to work here in our home.”

Clare could see that Jamie was angry, but she didn’t understand why. “I told you, the vicar recommended him. And I spoke to him myself. He seems a…”

“Seems! And that is beside the point. You hired him behind my back, against my express wishes.”

This seemed to Clare utterly unfair. “You said I could change whatever I wished in the house.”

This perfectly true remark only added to Jamie’s rage. The unexpected sight of the young workmen in his house had touched off all his objections to their financial situation. It also reminded him that he hadn’t yet told Clare that the repair work on the estate was costing more than he’d estimated, and what he’d done about that. His resentment at having to beg for permission to cover his far-more-vital projects flared. “We had set aside a certain sum for renovation and repair. This was not included.”

Was he simply worried about the cost? Clare wondered. “No. But it doesn’t matter. His fee is quite reasonable, and I will cover it from…”

“When will you give up this ridiculous idea of controlling our money?” burst from Jamie. “You have a home now and more proper things to occupy your mind.”

“What?” Clare couldn’t believe she’d heard him correctly.

“You are a wife; you stand in the position of mother to my sisters.

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