Free Far Beyond Scandalous by Bethany Sefchick

a great risk for him, and, from her perspective at least, he
received nothing but aggravation in return.   "What if someone finds out?   What shall we do then?"   He
had mentioned the possibility of gossip a moment ago, not that she particularly
cared.   She had endured far worse, not
that he knew anything of it.   Nor would
he, if she had her way.
    Gibson shrugged casually, not
wanting her to dwell on that possibility. "Then we come up with a
plausible explanation.   But they won't
find out.   We will conduct everything
behind closed doors, if such actions are deemed necessary."  
    He paused for a moment, thinking
hard.   "How about this?   We will make certain that Michaels believes
that a runner is taking the information to Bath so that Marcus can make the
decisions.   If he is your father's
steward, then Michaels already knows Marcus' location, and will not find it an
odd thing to do.   In fact, it would be
extremely logical.   It will, of course,
also be a lie, but a necessary one."  
    Gibson flashed her a grim smile,
the fact that she hadn't protested the part about being behind closed doors
with him a great deal of the time not going unnoticed.   "It has been a very long time since I
have studied the art of estate management and, in truth, have never done so in
practice.   I may need time to help you
make the proper decisions.   By allowing
the steward to think Marcus is making them, we will gain that necessary
time.   No one but Hastings, your family,
and I know the real truth of his condition."
    The plan sounded absurd.   It was full of holes so big Amy could
probably drive a carriage and four through it.   It was also rife with opportunity for scandal.   On the other hand, she had little choice.   She knew nothing about running the estates,
and, while Marcus was still alive, he was horribly depressed in addition to his
partial blindness.   His condition was
something her parents had taken great pains to hide from the ton .   No one was supposed to know exactly how
badly off her brother was, lest it be suggested that he was fit for no place
but Bedlam.
    Amy's father was gone, and while a
message would be sent attempting to locate him, if he did not want to be found,
he would not be.   She did not know much
about her father's business for the prince regent, but she did suspect that,
unless the situation here was dire, he would not be recalled home.
    That left her to ensure that the
earldom did not fail, no matter how ill equipped she was to deal with the
situation.   Still, she was an adult
woman of reasonable intelligence.   How
difficult could it be?   On the other hand,
if she made a mistake, it could cost her family everything.   Then again, if she did nothing, failure
would be assured.   That could not
happen.   She was stronger than that.
    "And my mother cannot be
awakened?"   That would simply be
the easiest way to handle the entire situation.   Amy felt she had to ask, just to be certain, though she knew
better by now than to doubt Gibson.
    "She was not precisely lucid
earlier."   Gibson hadn't wanted to
inform Amy of that disturbing fact until he could examine Thea further, but
now, he knew he had no choice.   It could
not be avoided.   Not to mention that he
did owe Amy the truth.   He could not
lie, not to her anyway.   "It could
simply be a temporary condition.   Or
not.   I do not know.   What I do know is that she could not form
more than a few words at a time, let alone a complete sentence."
    Amy was thankful now that she was
sitting down.   Her mother completely
incapacitated?   How could that be?   And for how long?   "Why didn't you tell me?" she demanded.   It felt as if a knife was twisting in her
gut.   "That should have been the
first thing you mentioned to me when you came from her rooms."
    "When you were so close to
swooning yourself?"   Gibson knew he
should have mentioned the situation immediately.   It had been a mistake not to do so.   Now he