Free A Country Wooing by Joan Smith Page A

go through the welter of things in Charlie’s jewelry case. It’s big as a shoebox, full of tiepins and rings and watch fobs. Good stuff—he had an eye for pretty gewgaws.”
    “Charles always dressed fine as a peacock,” Mrs. Tannie said, but fondly.
    Alex ignored the compliment. “We haven’t done anything about our party, Anne. Have you decided what we should have first? The garden party, perhaps, while the weather is fine.”
    “It’s a poor time to have a party, with money owing everywhere,” Mrs. Tannie objected. “That stove in the kitchen is ready to topple over in a heap.”
    “You must know by now how things are done here,” Alex said airily. “We do everything on tick.”
    “A garden party won’t cost much, Aunt Tannie,” Anne pointed out. She was looking forward to that party. “Let’s make a list.”
    Tannie finished her tea and left them. “I’m surprised Aunt Tannie didn’t urge the party on us. She seems a bit stiff this morning,” Alex said.
    “Yes...”
    “You sound as if you know something. What is it?”
    “None of my business, really.”
    “Make it your business.”
    “Very well. It’s not only your servants whose wages are in arrears. Charles told her he would give her a hundred a year when she came here. She was your papa’s pensioner, but when she became housekeeper and substitute mother for the children as well, Charles promised her a wage. She tells me he never paid a sou.”
    “Good lord, why didn’t she tell me? You mean all these years—never paid anything at all?”
    “She bought what she required on credit.”
    “That comes to—something like five hundred pounds I owe her. Where am I to raise all this money?” He ran his fingers through his short hair worriedly. “I know how the government feels. I owe the whole world back wages.”
    “What about your rents, your income?”
    “The rents are down more than a third, but I’ll see what I can wring out of the bank.”
    “Alex, the income used to be ten thousand! Surely you can’t be in financial trouble, real trouble, I mean.”
    “Not desperate trouble. A temporary shortage only. Penholme is mortgaged to the roof. Papa already had twenty thousand on it, and Charlie upped it another twenty. It’s only worth fifty altogether. I don’t know how he talked anyone into letting him have such a sum.”
    “Why would he need that much money?”
    “Charles liked the best. I’ve often heard him say so. ‘The best’ doesn’t come cheap. A pity he didn’t carry that philosophy over to hiring a governess. Or getting the best rate on the mortgage, for that matter. He paid ten percent for the second mortgage.”
    Anne sat, dumbfounded. “But if the rents are down and the mortgage up so high, it—it doesn’t leave much....” She did some rapid arithmetic and soon realized that Alex had less than half what she had supposed was needed to operate Penholme and all the other nonprofitable properties.
    “Don’t worry. I’ll come around. Now about this party.”
    She felt faint. “Why don’t you wait a little, Alex? Business before pleasure.”
    “I’ve waited a long time for this pleasure. A simple garden party doesn’t seem too much to ask.” The vehemence of his tone surprised her. She thought it even surprised him, and embarrassed him, for he soon pulled in his horns. “Perhaps you’re right. I have to go to London, and Robin is itching to get to Sawburne.”
    “Are you quite sure you can afford to give him Sawburne?”
    “It’s not mine; it’s his, morally his. I’d like to give it to him soon. Like the rest of us, Robin has only one life to live. Mother insisted on buying Sawburne—for me, the second son. Rob’s the second son now. I have no right to deprive him of it. I’m right about Sawburne, and you’re right about the party. We can’t afford it. Sensible Annie, what would we do without you?” His smile was warm, despite the unhappy topic.
    “Sink into a morass of parties and balls,”