The Duke Didn't Want Love — He Wanted a Practical Wife. Then Her Carriage Arrived 40 Minutes Late
Chapter 5
Theme:
Font Size:
24px
"Not always. When it does, we move."The damage was easy to overlook unless one lived beneath it.Back at the hall, Helena asked Avery to read the estate summary."'Complete renewal of roof slates and supporting timber,'" he read. "'June 17th, paid in full.'""Mrs. Elwood saw only two days of work.""Perhaps the repairs failed.""Perhaps. Or the materials were inferior, or the bill is wrong.""You have three explanations ready.""I should be uneasy if I had only one."They went to Mossfield the next afternoon with Marian and a member of the household in attendance. Avery entered Ruth's cottage without ceremony and stood beneath the damp ceiling. Ruth seemed more alarmed by the Duke's presence than by the water dripping beside him."Your Grace, I did not mean to complain of the estate.""You complained of a roof," he answered. "You were entitled to do so."He examined the wet wall and the patched slates visible from the yard. The timbers were sound enough to support immediate temporary work, but the replacement described in the books had plainly not occurred. Avery felt anger rise and chose not to spend it on Ruth."Until we establish what happened, I shall order a temporary covering and the worst broken slates replaced. That may keep out ordinary rain, but it is not the renewal you were promised. You shall not be charged for it."Ruth asked when the men would come. He gave her a day and wrote it down. Simon Fenwick would be sent with materials already available, but the larger order remained unaccounted for. Helena admired the practical order, though it did not settle the matter.Simon Fenwick, the cottage carpenter, approached as they were leaving and removed his cap. "We had enough slate for part of the north slope, Your Grace. The rest was to follow.""The accounts record the whole roof completed."Fenwick's face changed. "I signed a sheet when the first timber came. Mr. Vane said it would save another journey to the office. I never signed for the whole of the work.""Were you paid for the whole?" Helena asked."I was paid something. Not what I was promised."Avery asked Fenwick to bring his own notes before saying anything further.When the carpenter had left, he looked out over the cottages, where thin smoke rose from chimneys and a woman bent to pull vegetables from a patch of ground."For years I have signed summaries brought to my desk," he said. "I could tell you how much land we hold and how much wheat we expect. Yet I did not know Mrs. Elwood moved her bed when it rained.""Not knowing is a reason to look," Helena replied. "It need not become an excuse to despair."He turned toward her. "You are very gentle with other people's mistakes.""Only when they are willing to mend them."There was a new stillness between them. She had seen authority in him from the first day; now she had seen embarrassment and a willingness to act. He, in turn, had watched her speak to Ruth without treating poverty as an occasion for performance; it left him strangely grateful.