Read Online Elizabeth Mansfield by The Bartered Bride - Free Book Online

suggestions?”
    “A few. But you won’t like any of ’em.”
    “If they can help me dig my way out of this hole, I’ll like them well enough,” the impoverished viscount assured him.
    “Then let’s see.” Chivers took a pad from the desk alongside him and studied the figures jotted down on it. “If ye sell out everythin’, the Suffolk property, the Lincolnshire estate an’ the London ’ouse, ye’ll come out with a small balance. Enough to provide ye with a modest income.”
    “How modest? Where could we live?”
    “Not in London, I fear. A country cottage somewhere in the north, per’aps. But the family wouldn’t starve.”
    “A country cottage, out of all society? That would be a drastic adjustment for my family to make. My mother and sister would be miserable in such straitened circumstances. It would be too radical a change for them, I fear. Have I any other options?”
    “The other suggestion I ’ave is more risky, but the results could be, in time, a bit more promising. If ye sold the Suffolk lands an’ the London ’ouse, ye could pay off some of the encumbrances on the Lincolnshire property. It’s not as vast an estate as the Suffolk lands, from what I see ’ere, but it could begin to bring in an income if ye managed it well. Ye’d not be able to clear yerself of debt all at once, but with economical living, in a few years it could be done, and at least that one estate’d be yours oncemore. At first, ’owever, there’d be very little income remainin’ after the existin’ mortgage payments. Less, even, than the income would be if ye sold everythin’. ’Ere, these are my projections, based on Jennings’s estimate of the estate’s worth.”
    Kittridge looked them over, his brow furrowed with worry. “I would like to earn back Highlands more than anything. But I know nothing of estate management. Do you think I could learn—?”
    “I don’t see why not. If ye ’ired a proper land agent, studied land use and enclosure methods, worked ’ard and kept yer womenfolk from spending the profits on fripperies—”
    Kittridge sighed. “Aye, there’s the rub. How can one teach economy to women who’ve never thought about it in all their lives?”
    “Necessity is a good teacher, my lord. If they ’ave to learn it, they will.”
    His lordship bit his lip thoughtfully. His sister and brother might learn, but his mother, never. And how would they manage during the early years, before the encumbrances were paid off? The family would be forced to live in even greater straits than in a cottage, for there would be less income available. It was a gloomy future he had to offer his family. His heart lay heavy in his breast. Neither of the two choices gave him much hope. “Thank you, Mr. Chivers, Mr. Jennings,” he said glumly. “I shall think over what you’ve told me.”
    Mr. Jennings leaned across the desk toward the consultant. “Don’t you think, Mr. Chivers, that you should tell his lordship about the third option you mentioned?” he asked.
    Chivers shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I don’t know, Jennings. It’s a bit awkward. And ’is lordship doesn’t seem to be the sort who—”
    Kittridge, who was already pulling on a glove, looked at the financier curiously. “How can you tell what sort I am, Mr. Chivers? I don’t even know myself. What is it you’re hesitating to suggest to me?”
    Mr. Chivers peered at the fellow from over his spectacles. “It’s not a pretty suggestion, I fear,” he ventured.
    “I am not in a pretty situation. Go ahead, man. Say what is on your mind.”
    “Very well.” Mr. Chivers lowered his eyes to his fingers. “I take it ye ain’t married, my lord?”
    “No. Why do you ask? What has my marital status to say to anything?”
    Mr. Chivers removed his spectacles and began to polish the lenses with his pocket handkerchief with great deliberation. “Because the fact that y’re a bachelor gives ye one more option.”
    “Oh? And what is