A Little Bit Scandalous Page 0,26

You can do this. With a click, the lock unfastened and she opened the door. It had been closed since Mrs. Murdock had died three weeks ago. Her family had already come and retrieved her belongings, so all that remained was the furniture and fastenings that Caroline’s family had left. She had not been in the house since Christopher’s death, when she’d been sent to live with Roe.

It was decided at the time to lease the house and wait until Caroline was of age and married before determining what to do with it. She’d been of age for six years, but Mrs. Murdock had been a good lessee, paying on time, and not causing trouble. Caroline had only corresponded with the woman by letter; she’d never actually met her or seen the house while the woman had resided in it. The Murdock family had told her that their matriarch had a penchant for stray dogs and had taken many of them into her home. Her son had said that there was some damage done by the large canines, but Caroline had no notion of the extent of the damage. Her heart thundered as she turned opened the front door.

When she stepped inside, the stale odor of stillness and stuffy air assaulted her. The wood paneling that lined the entryway was dull and scratched as if it had not been polished in quite a long time. She could see some small chips and holes in the floor and the baseboards, with obvious chew marks.

She walked into the first room, noticing the wallpaper her mother had put up one summer had faded and torn, peeling off the wall. Every room was in worse condition that the last, and the sight of them nearly brought her to tears. But she refused to cry. Yes, the house was in disrepair, but it was still in good enough shape.

With enough money she could make the house shine as it once had. She would have to speak to some architects, but she felt she had saved enough to get much of the work accomplished, or, at the very least, started. She could ask Roe to loan her the difference and slowly pay him back. Unfortunately, she had no real way to make any income, especially since he was doing everything he could to ensure she didn’t go back to Rodale’s to play.

She supposed she could go to another gaming hell, but she was no fool. Roe was right—her disguise might work for a time, but she’d be putting much at risk to go elsewhere. She was too practical for that. There had to be other ways to develop an income. Perhaps she needed to discuss with Roe ways to invest and create more interest for her to live on. Of course she had studied the stocks so much while in Dorset, it had become one of her favorite pastimes. It would be nice to have access to her funds in a way that she could invest in the stocks she followed.

In the meantime, she had the orphanage to work with. She knew Millie loved that board position and it meant everything that she gave it to Caroline. To assist with fellow orphans would go a long way in making her feel as if she’d done something worthwhile with her life. There had to be a reason why she was the only one in her family that was left. Perhaps this was it.

She stepped into what had been the formal parlor. Tears stung her eyes as she looked around. The furnishings were the same, though now old, faded, and worn. What had been her mother’s favorite settee was in tatters, the springs exposed where the upholstery had torn. She ran her hand over the carved wood, remembering the day her mother had brought it home. She’d been so proud; they’d all been. Her dad’s baronage had been granted by the queen, and it was so new for all of them. They’d been accepted warmly by a few of the titled families on the street, even though others never considered her father as anything more than a wealthy merchant.

Caroline looked around at the shell of the house that had once been her home, the home where her parents had lived together as a loving couple. The home where she and Christopher used to run up and down the stairs, chasing one another, him wanting to put ink in her hair and her wanting him to teach her how