Jack of Hearts by Marjorie Farrell Page B

bookkeeping of the household? To become involved in the running of the estate? Probably not, but at least she would still have the mills, she reassured herself. Certainly Leighton or Windham would not object to her continued involvement, since it helped provide their source of income.
    Of course, neither man had seen that side of her yet. They only knew her as a young woman who danced well, conversed easily with all, and preferred a mezzo-soprano to a coloratura! It would have been considered terribly vulgar to speak of her father’s business. To speak of her reason for coming to London. To speak of their reasons for courting her.
    Of course, Lord Aldborough had had no fear of being vulgar! He had come right out and said it: “You need a husband. I need a wife.” But he didn’t know who she really was either.
    She didn’t think she could become someone else. She was used to assuming responsibility for things, and she couldn’t imagine letting someone take over her life. If she had to, she would make sure that her marriage settlement had a provision that assured her of some involvement in the mills, if nothing else!
     

Chapter Six
     
    Anne had been home for less than a week when Joseph Trantor was announced just as she and Sarah had come down for their daily ride.
    “I am sorry to disturb you, Anne. I can come back later.”
    “No, no, Joseph,” Anne replied, successfully keeping the trace of annoyance from her voice. “Patrick has the horses ready, Sarah. Would you tell him that I won’t be riding this morning. But you go ahead, if you wish.”
    “I will, if you don’t mind, Anne, for if we are going into town later, I won’t have time to get a ride in.”
    “Come into the library, Joseph. There’s a good fire there.”
    Anne wanted to sit behind her desk to give herself some distance from her cousin, but knew it would be rude to emphasize his employee status, so she sat down in one of the armchairs and motioned him to the sofa.
    “I hope you enjoyed tha trip to London, Anne?”
    Her cousin’s question was innocent enough, but Anne knew that what he really wanted to know was whether she had succeeded in her husband-hunting.
    “It was delightful, Joseph,” she answered as blandly as he had queried her. It was really none of his business whether she had found any suitable candidates for her hand. Of course, he was probably hoping she hadn’t, for that would have put a damper on his own hopes, which she suspected would not be dashed completely until she walked down the aisle with someone else. “I didn’t expect to see you until Tuesday. Is there something wrong at the mill?”
    She was a little surprised when he gave her a worried look, and a nod, for she had supposed he rushed over from personal concern rather than on mill business.
    “Have any machines broken down? Are we behind in production?”
    “Nowt like that, cousin. No, it is just a problem, a slight problem with one of the workers.”
    “You are usually very good at resolving such things, Joseph.” Indeed, for the most part, her cousin rarely spoke much about that part of his job. Their meetings tended to be about production and profits, not men and women.
    “It is one young firebrand, a Ned Gibson.”
    “Whatever does he have to be fiery about? My father’s workers have always received some of the highest wages in Yorkshire.”
    “Much of it is merely personal. I let young Gibson’s fiancée go just after you left for London.”
    Anne gave him an inquiring look.
    “Her behavior was not what your father would have approved, Anne,” he explained, sounding a little embarrassed.
    Anne assumed young Ned and his fiancée had been caught in immoral behavior. Perhaps the young woman was even increasing. But Joseph would be far too prudish to tell her that, of course.
    “It sounds as though you may have been justified in your decision, Joseph, but I suppose the young man finds it hard to accept.”
    “Yes, and unfortunately, a week later,