his lordship,” she reported, gathering up the gown she’d been hemming.
“So he was up,” Therese surmised. “That’s when he must have dropped this.” She took an opened envelope from the pocket of her robe and placed it on the table. It was addressed to Lord Arthur Darlington from his solicitor in London.
“What is it?” Nora asked. “You didn’t read it, did you?”
A mischievous sparkle came into Therese’s eyes. “Of course I did. Wouldn’t you?”
Nora had to grin. “Naturally.”
Therese took the paper from the envelope and handed it to Nora.
Nora scanned the letter and quickly gleaned the meaning of its contents. Lord Darlington had contacted his lawyer in London about selling off not only large tracts of land on his estate—including the stable and its horses— but also many of the family’s most prized heirlooms.
After reading the letter, Nora looked at Therese with a stunned expression. “I had no idea things were this bad,” she remarked honestly. “It’s worse than I thought.”
“Do you think our positions here are at risk?” Therese asked in a worried tone.
Nora nodded her head. There was no sense warning Therese about what she had just overheard. This was warning enough. And Therese might not be the only one who would soon be hunting for a position, it seemed. It was possible that before long the entire staff of Wentworth Hall might be seeking new employment.
Chapter Eleven
It was quite the scene at our favorite broken-down palace earlier this week.
“Sell! Sell! Sell!” cried Lord Worthless as he stood in the immense front foyer of Faded Glory Manor, his family’s once grand estate. “Everything must go!”
Moving men carried out furniture and racks of gowns, jewels, and fur coats, all to be sold at an auction in London. Lady Worthless hurried out with a wailing baby slung over her shoulder. Ignoring the baby’s cries, she tugged at a fox stole at the top of a pile the mover is carrying out. “Not Foxie!” she cried. As she pulled, dust rises in the air. “He once belonged to Mumsie and her Mumsie before her. You simply can’t take Foxie.”
“Sorry, lady. His Nibs over there told us to take everything,” the moving man said.
The baby crawled to the top of Lady Worthless’s upswept hair and sat there crying. Lady Worthless bawled just as loudly over the loss of her beloved Foxie. The baby finally stopped crying and sucked his thumb. Lady Worthless followed suit.
A mover came out with one of the maids slung over his shoulder. She beat on his shoulders, bellowing. “You can’t take me! I’m not a possession!”
“That’s not what Lord Worthless told us,” the mover replied. Accepting the truth of this, the maid drooped over the mover’s back, arms hanging limply, and allowed herself to be carried out.
Richie and Richina Sterling strolled in, glancing around dispassionately. “I told you this would happen,” Richie said to his sister. “I’m sure we could buy the place for a song but, frankly… who would want it?”
“The tennis court is nice,” Richina pointed out.
“That was built with our money,” Richie reminded her. “So that’s already ours.”
“So it is!” Richina said with a jaunty laugh. As she threw her head back to chortle, her earrings ring and her many bracelets tinkling like a crystal chandelier falling from the ceiling.
Oh, wait, that
“Sell it! Sell it!” Lord Worthless shouted, pointing at the fallen chandelier. “Everything must go,” he said to the moving men, who dashed here and there, picking up everything that they could find to sell at the auction.
Doodles Worthless trailed in, dressed in her mother’s too-big gown and heeled shoes that are three sizes too large for her. On her head was an elaborate feathered hat that is so big it falls below her eyes. “Richina, look, I’m a big girl like you now. Let’s be friends.”
“I don’t think so, Doodles,” Richina answered. “Not now. Go play with the children.”
“But I’m all grown-up. I’m a big girl now,” Doodles objected.
“Wearing adult clothing doesn’t mean you’re a woman,” Richina insisted.
Doodles pouted and stamped her foot petulantly. “But I am a big Worthless.”
“Perhaps the biggest of them all,” Richina quipped drolly.
Snobby Worthless rushed in and threw herself on Richie Sterling, draping herself around his shoulders. “Daw- ling,” she cooed. “Let me count your money—oops—I meant let me call you honey.”
Richie threw her off. “Let me go, you greedy tart. I know you’re only toying with my affections to get your hands on my fortune. You just want the diamonds.”
“Diamonds!” Lady Worthless chirped as her thumb pops out of her mouth. “Did someone say diamonds?”
“Dia-mods?” said the baby from atop her head, speaking his first word ever.
“Mother, this wretched boy won’t give me his diamond fortune,” Snobby complained to Lady Worthless. “I batted my eyelashes and everything, just like you told me to. He’s mean! Mean! Mean!” Snobby went to her mother for comfort but Lady Worthless shoved her out of the way as she rushed up to Richie Sterling with the baby still sitting on her head.
“Mr. Sterling, I hear you’re not interested in my daughter, Snobby,” said Lady Worthless.
