housekeeper. Sorcha, this is my wife, Lady Kavanagh.'
Maddy understood why he had to introduce her like that, but the lies sat ill with her. Sorcha smiled shyly and curtsied.
'Show Lady Kavanagh up to our rooms and see that she has everything she needs.' To Maddy, he said, 'You'll join me for dinner.'
Sorcha curtsied again, then turned for the front door, with Maddy following. Inside was a marble tiled foyer, which opened up into a high-ceilinged room. Graceful wooden stairs curved in a horseshoe, with both sides carpeted.
After following Sorcha up the steps to the wide first-floor landing, Maddy briefly peered over the railing to see Ethan downstairs. He strode across the room in another direction, boots booming, a visibly terrified Silas trailing in his wake.
When she glanced back up, Sorcha had opened a heavy door to the master suite and was bustling inside. Joining her there, Maddy found that both bedrooms of the suite were ornately paneled, with Maddy's room lightly painted and Ethan's stained much darker. Plush carpeting ran throughout, and the ceilings were soaring.
Standing in the rooms' connecting doorway, she glanced from her graceful pencil-post bed to his immense bed, which looked as big as a normal room. How would Ethan want them to sleep here, now that they didn't have to share a stateroom?
'It's very fine,' Maddy told Sorcha. The manor was, but the interior was also a bit staid. Some of the rooms they'd passed had seemed…grim, even. Making this place more comfortable and less rigidly orderly would be a rewarding task.
When she realized that she could soon make these changes as mistress, she decided to ask Ethan if they could come back and redecorate when things settled down.
'It's fine, aye,' Sorcha said shyly, 'but wait till ye see the view.' She drew wide the curtains to reveal tall bay windows and a glass door that seemed to take up the entire wall.
Opening the door, Sorcha beckoned for her to step outside. Maddy walked out onto a marble balcony—and lost her breath.
The sea…was directly there. Cerulean blue water glittered in the sun, stretching out for miles.
The house was situated on a cliff, tucked back from the rocky headlands and a sprawling beach. Down below was a marble terrace fronted by a balustrade that matched the balcony's. From every point of this side of the manor one could overlook the beach and the Irish Sea.
'My Lord,' Maddy whispered. If she'd been infatuated with Carillon from seeing its gardens and hills, the sea side enamored her.
Yet her excitement was tempered with a growing sense of uneasiness. The idea of her being mistress to an estate like this seemed…fantastical.
Fortune favors the bold, she reminded herself.Yes, but this is ridiculous.
'So, did you find out why Silas was remiss in his duties?' Madeleine asked after an uncomfortable, reserved dinner with Ethan. He'd brusquely adjourned to his study, without inviting her, but she'd followed him anyway.
'Aye. Strong drink. All day long,' he said, taking a seat behind an imposing, mahogany desk. 'The estate's been neglected sorely. Which makes me fear how my other properties are faring under myriad stewardships.'
He looked so concerned that she sidled behind him to knead his shoulders. 'Surely you'll be able to find a suitable replacement. It seems Carillon would be a feather in any steward's cap.'
'I suppose.'
'You can run an advertisement in the paper and have inquiries forwarded.'
'What do you mean?' He tensed beneath her fingers. 'We're staying here until this is resolved.'
She forced herself to ask in an even tone, 'So how long do you predict we'll be delayed here?'
'I have to find a replacement, then acquaint him with the operations.'
She drew her hands away, then crossed to the other side of his desk. 'How long?'
'A week. Maybe two.'
Maddy's heart sank. 'I can't stay here with you unmarried that long.'
He waved her concerns away. 'I've already told everyone we're wed.'
'You could marry me in the village Sorcha told me about earlier, and then we could stay here for as long as you needed.'
'My God, is that all you care about? My tenants have endured three harsh winters because of Silas, and now they have no hay or vegetable stores for this winter.'
'I don't understand. What did he do?'
'It's what he dinna do. If a field flooded, he dinna have it drained. He neglected to order seeds at the correct intervals throughout the year. There are a dozen other examples of dereliction.'
'But why wouldn't anyone write to you, to alert—?'
'They canna bloody read and write! And it's no' their responsibility. It'smine .' He pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaling wearily. 'Madeleine, I'm going to be gone most days salvaging this situation. I hope you can entertain yourself.'
'Of course,' she said, exhaling with disappointment. 'I'm used to not seeing you until the night.' She rose to leave, but at the doorway, she turned back. 'I'll stay here ten days on the outside, Scot.'
'What's that supposed to be? A threat?'
'No, just a statement of intent. Maybe I am selfish, but I need this security.'
He narrowed his eyes. 'You doona trust me.'
She nodded, clearly surprising him. 'You're right. I don't, not yet.'
'So what does a man like me have to do to earn your trust?'
'Honestly, I don't know. I guess it just has to grow over time.'
'You mean in ten days?' he said. 'That's all the time Miss Van Rowen has allotted me.'
The ship had seemed a different world.
Now Ethan was on his property, introducing Madeleine as his wife, to his own people. And the lie didn't bother him nearly so much as how easily the words slipped from his tongue.
Ethan's steward problems were very real, but at the same time, he was using the situation for his own ends. He could in fact advertise and have inquiries forwarded. And of course, he could simply marry Madeleine here.
He'd always abided by his decisions, stuck to his plans. Now, he began to feel like he was losing control—the reins slipping from his grasp.
He'd made a decision to keep several various estates because they'd been in the family for generations and because when run correctly, they paid for themselves or even produced a profit. He'd thought he'd hired the best land agents in his absence.
Instead, his tenants here had suffered, and he was becoming increasingly uneasy about the state of his other properties. When he went back to the Network, he wouldn't have time to check on each of them and right any wrongs.
Slip.
He'd made a decision to appease his anger on the only child of the Van Rowens. Now he wanted her more and more each day. Another slip.
Ethan was brutal, selfish. He knew this, had no wish to change. Yet now he'd caught himself wanting to put Madeleine's needs over his own. Slip.
He'd always held something of himself back in bed; her kisses could make him lose his mind….
I think I want her…for my own.Damn it, if a man consigned a woman to hell for ten years, he'd best not envision a cheery domestic future with her.
Ethan had always felt things too strongly. And if he allowed himself to feel something more for her, then lost her, he didn't think he'd ever be right again.
He found himself eyeing the whisky service.Another slip to come?
Chapter Thirty-two
