Chapter 19

CHAPTER 19

B eth left for the study the moment they returned, but Adam remained in the doorway, watching her leave.

She had been all too proper with his tenants, but they hadn’t seemed put off by her. If anything, she had been welcomed quite quickly, which was not what he had expected at all. It was as they had explained to her; they had been without a countess for a long time, and the late earl was not a good one either. Then, when Adam abandoned them, they must have given up entirely.

Beth would change that, however, Adam was certain. With the way she had left for the study, Adam knew that she had already thought of ways to help them just as he had, and she had emboldened him greatly. If she could do good for them, he could too, and he had never known just how much good he could do until she had been there to show him.

He wanted to thank her, but she had been so determined to work that he had decided to let her do so uninterrupted. It was vital that she remained happy, for as long as she was, he was too.

Instead, he set about handling a matter that he knew he could help with. He marched to the stables, James and Nathaniel seeming rather shocked to see him.

“Are you wanting to ride the horses, My Lord?” James asked, “You can, of course, but it is peculiar to see you here without the countess.”

“No, boys, don’t you worry about that. However, there is something that I must discuss with the two of you, and it is important.”

Both boys looked at one another, almost scared of what Adam was going to say to them. It was true that they were not the best at what they did, but they were not so bad that they would be in any sort of trouble with him.

“Should I be angry with either of you?” He asked.

“Not at all, My Lord,” Nathaniel said quickly, “But it is not like you to do this, that is all.”

“It is not, you are correct, but something has been brought to my attention and it is something that the two of you can help with. Would you mind following me?”

He couldn’t take them to the study, for Beth was in there, but the dining room had a table and chairs and that was all that was truly necessary. Adam wondered if they truly had been doing something that they shouldn’t have been, because even as he directed them to sit down, they were looking at one another as if they were going to receive a lecture, or even worse.

“What is it?” He asked.

James broke first.

“Are you going to get rid of us?”

“Why would I do that? Have you done something to warrant it?”

“It is not as though we have done anything to warrant staying. You hardly ever horse ride, and so it would be no surprise to us if you decided you did not need us at all.”

Adam laughed gently. With what he was about to suggest, they may well see it that way, but it was not his intention.

“I do not think you are useless, if that is what you are afraid of. However, it has come to my attention today that a lady in the village is in need of assistance. She has lost her husband, and her two sons are not old enough to help with their livestock. As you both are good with horses, I imagine it will not be too much of a change to tend to cows and sheeps instead. What do you think?”

The two boys exchanged looks before turning back to Adam.

“It would be a good idea,” Nathaniel nodded, “Especially if the poor woman cannot do it all herself. What would that mean for us?”

“I was thinking that you might take it in turns to work here and there? I know the two of you enjoy working together, but it would be a lot of help to her.”

“You need not convince us, My Lord,” James replied, “We are more than happy to do it. When will this begin?”

“I do not know, for I am yet to speak with the l;ady in question. I wanted to ask you both first, for if you had any strong objections then I would not have forced you. It isn’t the sort of thing that I like to do.”

“Well, you need not force us regardless. Tell us when we are needed, and we will do what we must.”

It was an easy discussion, and Adam was proud of the two young men. They had always been hard workers, even if his other servants had claimed the contrary; it was not their fault that he didn’t enjoy riding horses, after all, and they cared for them well. When all was said and done, they were good men, and that made Adam’s task a lot easier.

With Beth in his study, he had to think of his own ideas alone. He spent a good while doing so, and suddenly it was night. Beth had not come down to dinner, and so he fixed a plate for her and took it to the study. He entered, only to be greeted by papers strewn around and his wife with her head in her hands.

“Is everything alright?” He asked, almost dropping her food.

“Hm? Oh, yes! Yes, everything is fine, I was simply looking over these numbers again. Your solicitor gave them in today, and I cannot make any sense of it all.”

“Do not pay it any mind,” Adam said gently, pushing her work to one side and placing her meal in front of her.

“Did I miss dinner? I apologize. I was the one that begged to eat with you, after all.”

“It is quite alright. I know how it is when you are working. Believe me, you are doing well. I was actually considering interrupting you earlier, but I did not.”

“You could have. It is your study, after all.”

“I believe it is ours, given that you seem to do more in here than I do. It was in regards to the stable hands. I have suggested that they help that lady in the village.”

“Oh, that would be splendid. Then again, Harry said she is a proud woman. Do you suppose she will accept the help?”

“I am hoping that she sees that she has no other option. It is not fair on her boys. I was thinking of speaking to her tomorrow, but I believe you would be better at it. You understand her position in a way that I never could.”

She seemed to think about his words for a moment, and then looked down at her plate.

“I believe you are right. Now, are you joining me?”

“I can, if you wish.”

He took a seat beside her and she explained her ideas as she ate. She had made plans for crop rotation, and drawn out where the drainage ditch could go to maximise its efficiency. Adam looked at it for a good while, not because it was difficult to understand but simply because the drawing was good.

“Where did you learn to do all of this?”

“My late husband, again. He left a lot of his tasks to me. I had to do them. Well, somebody did. It just so happened that I was the only one to care about it all.”

“I see how much you care, you know. It astounds me. I used to think that I was incapable of caring at all anymore, but you have shown me that it is quite the opposite. I want to be as caring as you are, Beth.”

“Then it is just as well that you already are.”

“I am not.”

“You are,” she affirmed, “It was your idea to help this lady, and to ensure your tenant’s happiness. You may not have been able to do it before, but you are now and that is what is important. They are grateful to you, and soon enough you will see why. I am simply grateful that you want my help, too.”

“I have needed it more than you could know.”

She finished her meal and he took her plate from her.

“I shouldn’t be much longer,” she promised, “I simply want to understand what your solicitor is trying to say.”

“It truly does not matter if you put it to one side, I assure you. He has been with me a long time. He knows what to do.”

She seemed to shrug it off, looking at them again. He chuckled, shaking his head as he left. When his wife wanted something, she was quite determined to get it, and he admired that about her. It was simply a shame, as far as he was concerned, that what she wanted was to understand the workings of their solicitor rather than to play chess with him, or share a drink in the drawing room.

Then again, he could hardly scold her for wanting to help their family.

Family. Is that what they were? It was a deal to begin with, but now that he truly knew her he wondered if that was something he could keep up. She was making him enjoy England, and the thought of that almost paralyzed him. He hated England, and every aspect of it with the exception of his sisters, but Beth had made him see it differently.

England was where his tenants were, good people that did their work and didn’t ask for much. It was where his home was, even if he had another elsewhere. It was where his family was, and he had reconnected to them all thanks to his wife, and his wife was, of course, also in England with him.

He couldn’t say that he loved the country, but for the first time in his life he could truthfully say that he at least liked it.

Hours passed once more, and it was now too late for them to do very much of anything. Adam decided that, if she was still working, he would have to put a stop to it. It would not be good for her health to work so much, even if it was a great help to their tenants. She couldn’t help at all, after all, if she was unwell.

He entered the study, and it was dark. The candle she had been using had burned out, and she was sitting with her head on the desk on top of folded arms. She was asleep, and had he left her there then she would not have woken up in a good way. Without a second thought, he lifted her carefully from her seat and carried her out.

She was as light as a feather in his arms, and when one of the floorboards creaked beneath his feet, she stirred. He knew she was awake, but he did not want to make that known to her. She would have been afraid of being seen as improper and demanded to be placed on her feet, and he certainly did not want that. He wanted her in his arms.

Nevertheless, when he placed her down gently onto her bed and she knew there was no longer a moment to ruin, the adjusted herself so she was more comfortable. He chuckled, watching her slowly move with her eyes closed gently. He, once again, didn’t think and kissed her gently on the forehead. She didn’t move, and he was tempted to give her another but he did not dare tempt fate.

“Goodnight,” he whispered, “And thank you. You have helped me, Beth, more than you could possibly ever know.”

She hummed, which he took as his response, and left. Not one word had been a lie, but he still felt as though he could have said more to her. Then again, with her pretending she couldn’t hear him, it perhaps was not the best time for all of that.

As for his own night’s sleep, he expected to struggle, but he did not. He was sleeping mere moments after laying down, and he awoke with the sun. He went to Beth’s room, pushing the door ajar to see her still sleeping in her bed. He had wondered if she would leave her bed chambers to work more, but mercifully she had taken his carrying her away to mean that it was enough for one day.

He, however, wanted to know what she had meant about the solicitor’s papers.

He entered his study, looking over them, and at once he understood what she had been saying. It was not done in the same way it had been before, instead being unorganized by either topic or date or anything else that would have some semblance of reasoning behind it, and there were amounts written that he simply could not recall.

Another husband might have placed the blame on his wife for that, but he did not. She was the only one of the two of them that cared for how much money they had, and so it would not have been anything she had done.

And so he began to rewrite the papers. He rearranged them, this time by the type of purchases he had made, and by what he had received and when, and wrote them carefully, crossing each item as he went so that he would not make any errors.

It was then that he saw the problem, one that he should have seen long before.

“Good morning,” Beth said, appearing in the doorway, “You told me that I am doing too much, but here you are before breakfast. Is everything alright?”

“I… I do not think so.”

Her face fell at once.

“It is those papers, isn’t it?” She asked, “I knew that something was amiss. What has he done?”

“I do not know,” he replied, “But I intend to find out, and when I do, I am going to fire him.”