An Inadvisable Wager (The Curse of the Weatherby Ball Book 2) by Eliza Lloyd (the best novels to read txt) 📕

“You mean our marriage?” he asked calmly. “I’m afraid that was nearly impossible. And that I’m not prepared to explain.”

“Nothing can adequately explain this.” She waved her hand around the room. “How could a proper earl allow such a fine home and estate as Henbury Hall to fall into complete ruin? Forget that it was my home. Forget that you knew it was the most important thing to me and Timothy. Why wouldn’t you tell me? Why let me build fantastical dreams about the joy I would find here? Why wait until last night? Why marry me at all when you could have handed this derelict eyesore over to me and never have to spend another shilling? Why marry me when I allowed myself to be as much of a ruin as Henbury Hall?”

“You cannot guess?”

“Carlow, I have had to guess about everything in my life since I was eight. For once I just want someone to tell me simply. Why? My God, how you must have laughed at me! I just want to go home to Whitmarsh. I can’t bear this anymore.”

He took a deep breath and looked around the room. “One day Henbury Hall will be restored to its former glory. When I look around, I see the incredible possibilities. After the repairs are done, I think you will be happy to call this home again.”

“You should just sell it to Exeter. Let it be his problem,” she said.

“Well, at this point, it’s a matter of principle to do all in my power to see that Exeter doesn’t get within a country mile of Henbury.” He stretched his hand toward her. “Dinner is ready, Nora. Shall we?”

* * * * *

Gabriel didn’t beat the life out of Nora, but the effect was the same. She sat next to him at the table eating slowly and finding no words to his questions except those needing only a yes-or-no answer.

The sounds of the kitchen surrounded them. The new cook at Henbury wasn’t one of his French chefs. She made solid meals of meat, vegetables and bread, which was appreciated by the laborers who sat at the table with Gabriel and Nora. Their conversations were about the weak second rung of the tall ladder, the missing handsaw and the soundness of the house structure, with a few questions directed to Gabriel about tomorrow’s labor.

Maybe Nora was quiet because she did not want to air her emotions in front of strangers.

Gabriel glanced around the kitchen. They’d done an astounding job bringing it back to life. Well, the whole house, really. The roof was the first thing they had replaced, and then they had tackled the masonry. Water was the enemy and had already taken a toll on the structure’s second floor, where the roof had leaked.

The cracks in the chimney had been repaired with new mortar. They’d leveled the flooring in the kitchen and added a modern commode at the side of the scullery. They’d even solved the rank odor problem with an s-shape pipe for the waste discharge. Gabriel had read about a raised cistern to expel the waste with the water, but he hadn’t had the time to investigate that particular invention yet. A bowl and pitcher were kept full for use.

Mayhap he could cheer Nora by assuring her the house would have the most modern conveniences one day soon. Or perhaps he just needed to show her the practical amenity so she could experience the ease for herself. He was quite proud of the advancement, base as it was.

Yet the rest of the house was still a disaster, which was likely all Nora saw. The workers cleaned every bowl and plate before they departed for the evening, leaving Gabriel and Nora some privacy with only the cook cleaning up the dirty wares and storing the uneaten portions in the pantry.

Nora set her cutlery aside, an unspoken statement that she was done with the dinner. “Gabriel, where am I to sleep tonight? I would like to retire soon. Or are we traveling back to the Red Lion to sleep?”

“No, we’ll stay here. Would you like to stroll before you turn in? Or I could show you the few things we have repaired at the house?” He tread lightly. The questions would come, and he would have to explain more about his father’s inexplicable madness. He would have to tell her why he could do nothing about it at the time. And he would have to tell her the strange and utterly impossible reason why anyone would believe there was hidden treasure. At least it had nothing to do with her father’s betrayal of his children’s legacy. He did not want to add more to that steaming pile of manure.

“Maybe tomorrow. I am rather tired,” she said.

“Are you sure? There is much to see.”

“You have won, Carlow. I am defeated. We can leave for London at your convenience.”

He braced his elbows on the table. Nora’s defeat wasn’t wide or deep; she would recover once she found new footing. Once she saw the possibilities for Henbury Hall and the estates, she would find new life to sustain her. “There is no hurry.”

“It was all for naught,” she said, lifting her linen napkin to her face and dabbing at her eyes.

“You got a husband and the property you’d hope for. That seems some reason to celebrate.”

“Celebrate? You have a jaded sense of humor. What do you want me to say, Carlow? That I am happy my childhood home is dilapidated and nothing like I remember?”

He stood. “Come with me. I have a few things to show you.”

Gabriel led her to the back of the kitchen through the scullery. One door led outside, another to the new commode. He opened the door. “What do you think of this?”