Chapter 3

Rothwell listened. He asked questions. She answered them without the defensive elaboration of someone managing the inspection, and without the false modesty of someone concealing competence. She answered them accurately.At the end of the room, in the corner where the younger children sat with a different set of materials, a boy of perhaps six was staring at Rothwell with the open fascination of a child who has not yet learned to perform indifference."That is Thomas Buley," Agnes Burch said without looking. "He is six, and he is very interested in new people. Thomas, this is Lord Rothwell."Thomas Buley considered Lord Rothwell with the gravity of six. "Are you very rich?" he said."Thomas—" Agnes Burch began."Moderately," Rothwell said.Thomas Buley accepted this with the equanimity of a child satisfied by accurate information. He returned to his slate.Agnes Burch looked at Rothwell sideways—the first moment that was not professional assessment—and there was something in it that was briefly, very nearly amusement. "He asks everyone," she said."I assumed," he said.They concluded the tour in the small room at the back that served as her office: a desk, two chairs, a bookshelf containing teaching materials, three volumes of natural philosophy, and one novel, he noted with a private curiosity he did not express.She had prepared the summary she had offered in her letter: two pages, clear and organized, setting out the foundation's current income and expenditure with the precision of someone who had been watching the numbers for three years and had made the best of them.He read it. It confirmed the shortfall. It also, in its own spare documentation, told a story about what had been done with the money that was available: not wasted, not comfortable—every shilling accounted for and directed toward the children."The roof maintenance," he said. "This entry from last year. You had it done from the operating budget?""The endowment does not cover capital repairs," she said. "The operating budget was the only available source.""Which further reduced your margin for the current year."

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