An Elegant Façade (Hawthorne House Book #2)

by Kristi Ann Hunter

  “No doubt they are.” Hairs rose along Colin’s arms, rubbing uncomfortably along his shirt sleeve. Crestwood was one of Riverton’s estates. Their underutilization was at Colin’s instigation. The land’s potential went far beyond what most people thought. Not that Colin was about to share that information with the earl. Instead he tipped his head in a motion to continue.

  “I’m afraid I don’t have the funds at the moment to develop appropriately.” The earl cast Colin a cold sideways glance. “An investor or two would be welcome. Discreet ones, of course.”

  Colin bit his cheek to refrain from making a derogatory comment about the earl maintaining the social façade of old family money, despite the fact that he’d inherited little but a debt-ridden title and a crumbling estate in Cheshire. He’d done well in the past few years but had spent almost as much as he’d made. Everyone had bought into the illusion of grand success. Even Georgina. “Discretion is the mark of every good business decision.”

  The earl’s smile was smug, no doubt thinking he was maneuvering Colin neatly into his plan.

  A careful sip of the lukewarm coffee combated the burn of bile in his throat. Was this really what God wanted Colin to do? All the intrigue, whispers, and flimsy images were becoming harder and harder to stay away from. He’d worked his way into the aristocracy in the hopes of being a solid Christian example of a good businessman, but it didn’t seem that anyone was noticing his efforts. Maybe this was God’s confirmation that it was time to leave London.

  But he still needed to know if Ashcombe was planning something. Colin was too close to the Hawthorne family to ignore any potential threat.

  Ashcombe leaned back in his chair. “I’ve considered setting up a factory. There are good roads running through that land.”

  Colin pursed his lips, adopting a confused look. “Don’t those lands belong to Riverton?”

  The smile on the earl’s face slid from smug to slimy. “For now.”

  Thankfully, surprise was an appropriate response because Colin couldn’t refrain from expressing his shock on his face. “He’s indicated repeatedly that he has no inclination to part with it.”

  And with good reason. If these new steam engines ever became something more than a lark or flimsy amusement ride, the land would be a prime spot to utilize their shipping capabilities. The inquisitive men who were obsessed with the smoke-churning energy were one day going to make something that could actually transport goods more than a foot or two, and Griffith’s land in Cheshire would make a perfect connection point when that happened. It was worth holding on to.

  Ashcombe set his empty glass on the table. “Never underestimate the power of reputation in changing a man’s mind.”

  Colin scoffed. The earl intended to blackmail the duke? He had quite a bit more nerve than Colin had realized. “You have nothing on Riverton.”

  “I know. The dangers of being a family man, hmmm?” Lord Ashcombe stood and straightened his coat sleeves. “And I’ll even gain a pretty wife in the bargain. Useless, but pretty.”

  Colin forced himself to breath evenly, though it felt as if very little air was actually making it into his lungs. The earl was going after Griffith’s family? And as for the wife . . . Georgina? It certainly appeared that the earl was Georgina’s first choice, but that preference wouldn’t be enough to sway Griffith to part with the land.

  Unless . . . Colin choked. “Useless but pretty.” Ashcombe knew. There was no other explanation.

  “Lady Georgina has shown a preference for you as her waltz partner, as I hear.” Colin forced himself to continue his calm sipping of coffee.

  “Yes. Society considers her quite a catch. It’s amazing what fools we can be.” Ashcombe rose. “Be thinking of my offer, Mr. McCrae. I know you’ve worked in that area before, and I would prefer to work with a man who is familiar with the land.”

  “Of course.” Colin nodded his head even as his thoughts went in three different directions.

  Ashcombe tipped his hat and left.

  Colin gulped the last of his coffee and then went for a walk. He didn’t know where he was going or what he hoped to find. All he knew was that staying in one place wasn’t an option. The churning emotions, his equally unbalancing thoughts. Dear God, what was he supposed to do with it all?

  Eventually he found himself in the gardens beside Grosvenor Chapel. A peaceful oasis, mere steps away from Hawthorne House, the center of the anguish he’d drowned in over the past month. He didn’t know what to think anymore.

  He sank down on to a bench, looking at the side of the chapel, admiring the windows framed with lush plants. It looked different from the outside. Still beautiful and God-honoring, but different. Perhaps that was what he needed in this situation. A new perspective, particularly one from God.

  Yes, some time alone with God was exactly what this situation needed.

  Georgina slammed her bedchamber door hard enough to make the latch bounce and the door swing open once more.

  So she kicked it.

  Harriette stood in the middle of the room, eyes wide. “My lady?”

  “He’s gone.” Georgina threw her reticule onto the dressing table. “We’re halfway through the Season, Harriette. What am I going to do?”

  The maid reached a hand out to try to catch Georgina’s shoulder as she paced by. It did little more than graze a sleeve. “Who is gone, my lady?”

  “Last night Lord Ashcombe told me to make sure Griffith was available this morning. He’s been by twice to see him this week, but my brother has apparently been too busy.” Georgina stopped and waved a hand toward the door. “What could he possibly be doing that is more important than settling my future?”

  Harriette folded her hands together in front of her. “Perhaps he didn’t know that’s what the request was for.”

  “Of course he knew.” Georgina resumed pacing. “Why else would Lord Ashcombe be requesting an audience with him?”

  Silence met Georgina’s question as the maid waited patiently by the dressing table. Of course there were other reasons for a man to request an audience with Griffith. Men were in and out of her brother’s study all day long, but for some reason he’d always been too busy for Lord Ashcombe. Georgina had had to beg him to set aside time this morning for the earl. She’d never had to beg Griffith for anything before.

  And then the man hadn’t shown up.

  She’d been prepared to lecture him on it at that evening’s dinner party, but he hadn’t shown up there either.

  What was it with men disappearing? She hadn’t seen Colin in well over a week. Even the little Colin in her head had made fewer and fewer appearances in the past few days. Tonight she’d given in to curiosity and discreetly mentioned him to Trent. Her brother hadn’t even seen the man in a week either, and they’d been meeting at the club every other day before that.

  “He’s gone, Harriette.” Georgina plopped onto the stool in front of the dressing table. She didn’t have the energy to keep the despondency from her voice.

  “Who?” Harriette approached Georgina slowly, as if she were an unpredictable horse.

  “Lord Ashcombe.” Yes, surely it was his absence that had her so melancholy. Colin’s absence was nothing more than a curiosity.

  Georgina sighed. “And according to Lord Eversly, it could be a very long time before he comes back.”

  Georgina refused to admit out loud that it was something of a relief. He hadn’t sent any more notes across the room this week, but he’d kept looking at her strangely, watching her even more closely than before. She’d been more careful than ever, and it had left her exhausted.

  Harriette began plucking pins from Georgina’s hair. “Where did he go?”

  “Home to Cheshire. Apparently the man overseeing his estate and interests up there got a better job offer and left for it immediately. Jane said the man sent notice that he was packing and moving his family with the intention of being gone by the time the letter reached London.” Georgina began to brush her freed loc
ks.

  “That must be quite a job.” Harriette undid Georgina’s laces and encouraged her to stand and remove the dress.

  Georgina grunted. “Lord Eversly said the man left to manage a shipping yard in Glasgow. I know Cheshire isn’t the most civilized of counties, but to leave it for Scotland? Who wants to go to Glasgow?”

  I’m from Glasgow.

  Georgina frowned at the little man in her head. Now he chose to make a reappearance? She shooed him away with a large mental broom. She wasn’t interested in his version of her conscience.

  “You spent a lot of time with Lord Eversly this evening, then? He’s very popular. They mention him in the paper nearly every day.” Harriette slid Georgina’s dress over her head and moved to place it in the wardrobe.

  “He’s a viscount, Harriette. He won’t do at all.”

  “Neither will the earl.”

  The maid’s quiet words snatched Georgina from her sullen reverie. “What?”

  Harriette rushed forward and caught Georgina’s hand in her own. “You don’t truly want to marry the earl, do you? It doesn’t seem as though you like him very much.”

  Without a word Georgina moved toward the bed, avoiding Harriette’s gaze until she was lying down, blankets pulled up to her chin, and tears threatening to spill over her lashes. “What am I going to do, Harriette?”

  Harriette smoothed a hair back from Georgina’s face. “What we always do. Find a way.”

  It was what Harriette had said since they were children, sitting on the side of a lake, reading children’s stories. They’d become a team that day, Georgina and Harriette against the world. Tonight, however, the confident assurance didn’t make Georgina feel any better. She was standing on a cliff, watching her last bridge start to smoke. What if the only way left was down?

  Colin grumbled at the knocking sound that interrupted his sleep. He was blissfully enjoying a morning in his own bed for the first time in well over a week, and he did not care to be interrupted. “Go away!”

  The butler opened the door instead. “I do beg your pardon, sir.”

  “Is the house on fire?” Colin grumbled into the pillow.

  “No, sir.”

  “Has someone fallen down the stairs?”

  “Er . . . no, sir.”

  Colin was fast running out of options to merit the butler’s interruption. “Did the prince regent come knocking?”

  “Very nearly, sir.”

  Colin lifted his face out of the pillow and turned his head to look at the butler. “I beg your pardon?”

  “You’ve a summons from the Duke of Riverton.”

  A groan ripped from Colin’s chest as he dropped his head back into his pillow. He had traded on Riverton’s trust and friendship when he’d sent the message asking the duke to avoid the Earl of Ashcombe for a few days. What he hadn’t been able to do was come up with a good reason for the request. He’d had several days to think about it, knowing the duke would demand answers eventually, and he’d yet to think of anything besides the truth.

  A truth he couldn’t share, because then he would have to reveal Georgina’s secret.

  “The footman is belowstairs waiting for your reply, sir.”

  With another groan Colin rolled out of bed and grabbed the note from the butler as he crossed to the desk on the other side of the room. The paper had a single line on it.

  Please see me at your earliest convenience. —R

  The underlying command jumped out from the overly polite words.

  He scribbled his answer on the bottom of the paper and returned it to the butler. “Send breakfast up so I can eat while I dress. And coffee. Lots and lots of coffee.”

  “Very good, sir. Perhaps I should arrange for a bath as well?”

  The breeches and shirt Colin had fallen asleep in were covered in road dust and wrinkled beyond hope. And he was beginning to itch. “Yes, I believe a bath is in order.”

  The butler nodded and left the room, leaving Colin alone with thoughts he didn’t want to dwell on.

  He rubbed rough hands over his face. What was he going to tell Riverton? It needed to be something good, because he was also going to have to come up with a story for Ryland as well, though he probably had a few days before that happened.

  Not that the past eight days had been all that helpful.

  After spending well over an hour praying in the chapel garden, Colin had come to the realization that he had to save Georgina. He had the means and the overwhelming feeling that God wanted him to use them.

  Even if it changed the very course of Colin’s life.

  Part of Colin wanted to leave her to her fate. A fate she’d sought with her every breath. The fact that it wasn’t going to happen quite the way she’d envisioned wasn’t his business.

  Why was he forever landing in the middle of other people’s disasters, or at the very least, Georgina’s disasters? Did God think Colin had all the answers, or did He simply get pleasure from making Colin uncomfortable?

  Faced with deciding between protecting his family and maintaining his honor would have been very hard on Riverton. It wouldn’t have been the first time someone had tried to force Riverton into doing something. Never before though, to Colin’s knowledge, had someone threatened the duke’s family.

  It wasn’t right.

  And Colin liked things to be right.

  So he’d sent the message about Ashcombe round to Riverton, and then he’d borrowed the best horse Ryland had in London. Ryland’s man hadn’t questioned Colin’s use of the animal, but he had no doubt sent word to Ryland about it immediately. Even now there was probably a letter from Ryland on Colin’s desk.

  He’d ridden the horse as hard as he dared all the way to Cheshire.

  During his hour of prayer, bits and pieces of Colin’s communications with Ashcombe’s estate manager had come to mind.

  The man had grown up playing in the sea, on the coast of Northumberland, very near the Scottish border. He’d started in shipping before moving into estate management to better support his family.

  He’d mentioned hoping to eventually do something more than oversee Ashcombe’s meager holdings, but he had been unable to grow them as he’d intended because Ashcombe kept spending the profits.

  Alastair may have wanted Colin for family purposes, but when it came to managing the Glasgow Atlantic, Hugh Carson was as good a choice as Colin was.

  Hugh had jumped at the chance to utilize his skills at the shipping company. The bonus Colin had paid him to resign and move immediately hadn’t hurt.

  The plan had been risky, but it had paid off. Colin passed Ashcombe on his way back to London, though he’d taken pains to make sure the earl hadn’t seen him. The earl was going to have a hard time replacing a man of Carson’s caliber. In the meantime, Ashcombe would have to see to managing his own holdings.

  With any luck it would be enough time for Georgina to safely marry someone else. It couldn’t guarantee that Ashcombe wouldn’t still use the information to try to force Riverton into selling the property, but his power would be decidedly diminished if Georgina were already settled.

  At the very least the girl would be free from a man willing to use her as a pawn in a business deal.

  Because he’d run the horse ragged on his way to Cheshire, Colin had taken three times as long to return home, and his door had been a welcome site indeed.

  Even that leisurely journey home hadn’t provided enough time to figure out what to say to Riverton. He couldn’t even think of a viable lie. He didn’t feel right about lying to explain this situation, but he couldn’t tell the truth either.

  As he soaked in the tub, he wondered what he was going to do now that he’d given up the job in Scotland. What did that do to his convictions that it was time to go home? Should he simply go home and manage his investments from there? It would be difficult to stay abreast of the things that didn’t find their way onto reports.

  The answers to his questions weren’t in the near-scalding bathwater.r />
  Nor were they in the clouds as he meandered across the square toward Hawthorne House.

  As the mansion’s columned façade came into view, Colin took a moment to drop his head forward in prayer, begging God to put the right words in his mouth. His mind was still blank as he climbed the stairs and knocked.

  Chapter 26

  Harriette held the door open with her hip as she carried in the tray with Georgina’s morning chocolate and the collection of society papers sitting atop a large book.

  Georgina was already up and dressed, with her hair rolled into a simple chignon. “Will you tie me, please?”

  After setting the tray down, Harriette fastened Georgina’s dress before crossing her arms over her chest. “What are you doing up this early?”

  “I couldn’t sleep.” Georgina spun around on her stool. “Is there anyone remaining on our list? Anyone who hasn’t married, fled the city, or turned into an absolute and total wretch?”

  Harriette gave Georgina an assessing look. “We’ve marked off marrying wretches, then, have we? I don’t remember that being a requirement before.”

  Georgina became very interested in her mug of hot chocolate and the ripples caused by her short, shallow breaths. “It isn’t too much to ask that I have some modicum of happiness in my marriage, is it?”

  “Of course not. I’ve always said as much. I just don’t know that you ever have.” Harriette took the book and the papers over to the desk.

  Distracted by curiosity, Georgina set her mug on the dressing table and crossed to the desk to open the book. It was a ledger. “What’s this?”

  “Oh.” Harriette looked up from sorting the papers. “The household accounts.”

  Georgina lifted her brows in silent inquiry.

  “You’re going to be getting married soon, and those lessons your mother gave you on running the household were one of the few things I didn’t always get to sit in on.” She shrugged. “I’ve been helping Mrs. Brantley with them so that I could learn before you marry and we’re taking care of a house on our own.”