Ned brought his horse up alongside his host. Softly falling snowflakes gathered on the brim of his hat and melted into his horse’s mane. It was getting colder by the minute. “It must have been quite an expense.” Upwards of five thousand pounds, unless he was mistaken. A hefty sum, even for a gentleman who was well-to-do.
He wondered how much of that amount had been Sophie’s dowry.
“I won’t be so vulgar as to discuss the cost,” Sir William said. “Except to say that it was worth every penny.”
“You haven’t any regrets?”
“Bah! What is there to regret? Appersett House has a reputation to uphold. My lady wife would’ve rather had the drawing room repapered or the carpets replaced. What’s unique in that, I ask you? But gaslight. Oho!” He practically crowed. “How many other estates in the country are fitted for gas, sir? Appersett House is unique among its kind. And when I’ve finished the next phase of modernizations—”
Ned looked at him sharply. “The next phase?”
“Plumbing, my good man. By this time next year, we’ll have tiled bathing rooms and water closets, shower baths and sinks with hot and cold running water. Just think of it!”
Ned thought of the expense. Was he meant to subsidize it? Or was Sir William expecting a windfall of some sort? Ned saw no reason to beat about the bush. “These are costly improvements for a man in your position.”
Sir William’s body went rigid in the saddle. “My position?” His horse commenced an agitated dance. “And just what is my position, sir?”
“You mentioned having lost your daughter’s dowry on speculation.”
“Eh?” Sir William attempted to calm his mount. “Ah, yes. Speculation. Quite right. I don’t advise it, Sharpe. One shouldn’t gamble.”
“I never do, sir,” Ned said gravely. “I’m exceedingly careful with my money.”
“A common philosophy among men of your class. Counting every shilling. But you’re not a poor man now. If you were, I’d never permit you within a mile of my daughter. She’s a fine young lady. Far too elegant for a tradesman, as anyone can see.”
“I won’t dispute that.”
“And whoever is fortunate enough to marry my daughters may one day have Appersett House. The jewel in the crown, some might say. A prize more valuable than a mere wife. I’ve yet to decide who I’ll leave it to.”
“It’s unentailed?” Ned couldn’t conceal his surprise. “I thought—”
“That it would go to some nephew or second cousin or other? Poppycock. Do you think I’d modernize my estate merely to hand it over to an insignificant twig on the Appersett family tree? Not on your life, sir. My father and grandfather executed a deed of disentailment decades ago. Needed to sell off some of the land, more’s the pity.”
“But if it’s unentailed, it could be sold to pay your debts. Don’t you realize the risk—”
“Appersett House sold?” Sir William gave a booming laugh. “The idea of it!”
Ned stared at the man in disbelief. Didn’t he understand the danger in which he placed his family? The risk inherent in these endless improvements and modernizations?
His horse stamped beneath him in impatience. Ned loosened the reins. The stable was in sight and both horses were anxious to get back to it.
A stable lad met them in the yard. Ned dismounted and handed him his horse. Sir William did the same, pausing to bark instructions.
Ned was obliged to wait for his host, though he didn’t feel much like doing so. He needed a moment alone. Time to think. Better yet, he needed another moment with Sophie. She was the whole point of this visit. The entire reason he was even considering subsidizing Sir William’s latest scheme.
“I have the plans in my study,” Sir William said as they walked back to the house. “An architect in London has drawn them up for me. He’s keen to start work.” He glanced at Ned, his eyes hard as flint. “Come by after you’ve changed. We can discuss the estimates.”
The attics at Appersett House were a vast honeycomb of hidden spaces filled with ramshackle crates, leather trunks, and Holland-covered furnishings from generations past. There was no exact order to the way things were stored. A painting with torn canvas here, a faded tapestry there. Sophie peered under quite a few sheets before finding what she was looking for.
The family’s Christmas decorations resided in three enormous trunks. As she swept away the covers, the dust stirred up in a cloud. She sneezed mightily.