a woman Lady Audley is.”
Priscilla smiled wryly. “Yes, I know.”
“And Miss Lloyd is such a treasure!” Miss Ashbrooke trilled. “I adore her, you know, and it was going to be quite a task to find a gentleman suitable, but thankfully Orrinshire came on the market, and so of course, I had to have him before anyone else snapped him up.”
Priscilla’s smiled faded. She had never envied Charles his fortune, his title, or any of the splendors that being a duke offered. Not when your life story was written for you. Not when a gentleman could make few decisions on his own without a lady such as Miss Ashbrooke making them all herself.
“You know, I have a few gentlemen in mind who would appreciate an introduction with you,” Miss Ashbrooke said with a smile. “There, you would like that, would you not?”
“I would not,” said Priscilla firmly. It was time to take this conversation in hand. “Who are you meeting here, Miss Ashbrooke?”
It was a wild guess, but thankfully it hit home.
“A Miss Lymington,” Miss Ashbrooke said smartly. “One of them, anyway, their father has not yet informed me whether he wishes to engage my services for all of them. There are four, you know, and three of them currently out, which is a rather shocking thing, but I am informed the elder two are twins, and really, one cannot treat them differently.” The woman sighed. “I should go and secure a table for myself at the earliest convenience, the place is filling up! Thank you, Miss Seton, and be sure to tell your mother that there is plenty of space for you on my roster. I am short on ladies.”
She rose, leaving behind nothing but crumbs, curtseyed low, and wandered over to the other side of the room.
Priscilla sighed. That had been a fortunate escape. After not running into Miss Ashbrooke for almost a year, she had now encountered her twice in the last two weeks. It could be a coincidence, or perhaps her mother had had a word with the matchmaker…
It was not until she had allowed her coffee to cool for another ten minutes and finally finished it, and the fruit cake, that she realized something had been missing in her conversation with Charles.
In all their conversation about breaking his engagement to Miss Lloyd, Charles had not actually stated that he would then marry her.
Chapter Thirteen
The fifteenth year since the debt was accumulated saw interest rates increase by half a percentile, overtipping the land mortgage by a not inconsiderable amount. The damage to the original debt, therefore, cost the estate in the year of 18—a total of four hundred pounds, seventeen shillings…
Charles rubbed his tired eyes and put the letter down. Exhaustion filled his bones. He could barely tell whether he was reading the letter correctly anymore. Fifteenth year, half a percentile increases, mortgages, debts…
He was not a stupid man, he was sure of that. He had managed to graduate, and he had always told himself it was a lack of effort that meant it had taken him five years, and not three, at Oxford.
Perhaps he should have paid more heed in the lectures, which included numbers. He had never found them easy, and even when written out in words here, it was challenging to take them in.
The candle on his desk flickered, threatening to gutter. Charles sighed and rose, walking around the study to a cabinet on the other side. In one of the drawers were the candles, and it took but a few moments to have another one lit.
The increase in light did nothing to soothe the itchiness in his eyes. It had been a long day, full of boring meetings and long discussions.
Bankers, lawyers, solicitors…he was sure they were all very clever, but what he needed was someone to explain the damn thing in plain English.
The first candle guttered for a final time and burnt out. The study dimmed once more, throwing flickering shadows onto the paneling.
Charles sighed heavily. This was hardly conducive to concentration. With his mother dining at the Axwickes, he had locked himself away in the study as soon as he returned from London, and that was…what, two hours ago? Three?
A quick glance at the sash window startled him. It was pitch black. Even in the earlier afternoons, they were experiencing as they moved through autumn, he had not expected it to get dark so quickly.
The drawing room. That would have a blazing fire, more than enough light to make out these