“Ample, perhaps, but that is still a large bite out of the purse. Do you think Geoffrey will sell it to us?”
“No, he is quite happy there and had done well enough that he never failed or even struggled to pay the lease. There is also a list of things to be done with Miss Primrose’s dowry, the lands and the money. It is not too long now before she is five and twenty, which would be when she would be handed it all to do with as she pleases.”
“What does she get?”
Jenson listened as Sutton listed several nice little properties and an enviable purse. That was not going to please Augusta at all.
“That is ridiculous. She is the daughter of a baron, not some princess. Willow Hill cannot afford to lose so much property or such a heavy purse.”
“This is what the baron wanted for her and he was well able to afford it. So is Willow Hill.”
“This kind of thing could bankrupt the estate.”
“Nonsense. I researched it carefully and he could see that, although when it is first handed out money will be a little less for a year or two, Willow Hill will fully recover.”
“And these things cannot be argued.”
“No, ma’am, and I see no reason for it to be. There is no case for what you claim, that it will bankrupt this estate.”
“I must think on this, Mister Sutton, but we will be sure to discuss it again. Now I need some funds to deal with the cottages.”
“What is wrong with the cottages?”
“They need new paint and roofs.”
“I just rode past them and their roofs looked fine.”
“I believe the word of the people living in them should count for more than the opinion of a man who just rode by and looked at one or two.”
Jenson could almost feel Augusta’s fury and he was certain Sutton could. It did not surprise him to hear her thank him in only a few minutes and then send him on his way, asking him to tell Mrs. Jakes to send in Jim Petty. He was just wondering what he should do when she left when he heard the door open again. This time he could actually hear a booted tread cross the floor and he knew it was another of Augusta’s hirelings. He had never met a Jim Petty, though.
“I need you to take this to a man named Geoffrey and tell him he must sign it or he and his family will pay very dearly. If he still objects, come find me. I will probably be in here struggling to find a way to keep that little bitch from taking such a big bite out of Willow Hill.”
“You want that threat vague or very, very clear?”
“I want it to make him shake in his muck-covered boots.”
The moment the door shut, she cursed, fluently and profanely. “This cannot be allowed. That fool Peter wrote a will that was going to beggar me,” she complained as she paced. I cannot and will not allow it, she decided. Geoffrey would be crushed and when that was done, she would see to making Sutton pay for standing in her way with all his papers and laws. She knew he disliked her, did not respect her, and looked down his long nose at her all the time. When she ran Willow Hill, he would have to find himself a new position, or, even more to her liking, a grave.
Jenson waited and waited. Even had another little nap. Then, just as he gained the courage to see if she was gone and get himself out of the smoking room, out of Willow Hill, and even out of the parish, a soft rap came at the door. He hesitated, terrified she had figured out where he was.
“Jenson, I know you are in there. You probably have about a half hour to get away from here so you better move.”
He quickly stepped out and stared at Mrs. Jakes. “I need to warn Sutton that he is stirring up the wrong woman.”
“He knows. That boy needs to get here and take his place. He is the only one with the power and right to get the magistrate after her.”
“That boy has been running for his life as has Miss Primrose. If Augusta gets her, she will either kill the poor girl or marry her off to Sir Edgar Benton.” Jenson nodded when Mrs. Jakes looked at him in horror. “Payment for gambling debts. Augusta has blood on her hands. Lady Wootten and her babe and the baron. She killed them both.”
Mrs. Jakes sat down heavily in a small chair near the desk. “Are you certain?”
“I am and so are Miss Primrose and Lord Simeon. There’s just no hard proof to get her to the hangman. She has been chasing them all over the countryside and kills anyone who knows what she is up to when she has no more need of them. I only got free of her with my life because of Miss Primrose and some man helping her, a Sir Bened Vaughn. Now, before I run and hide as I was strongly advised to, I am trying to find something, just one little thing that will help them in their fight against her.”
“Not her husband, I suppose.”