Dorothy Elbury - The Officer and the Lady

With an effort he drew his attention back to the waiting Chadwick.

‘Would I be correct in thinking that you would be willing to be reinstated to your former position?’ he asked him.

‘Without question, Mr Beresford,’ the man was happy to assure him. ‘Although I fear that we shall need to address the matter of staff shortage with some urgency if we are to return the estate to any semblance of its former prosperity.’

Beresford nodded. ‘I agree, and it is my intention to remedy that problem as quickly as possible. I shall be paying a visit to Ashby market first thing tomorrow morning with the express purpose of hiring more men.’

He stood up and was preparing to take his leave when a sudden thought occurred to him. ‘I wonder if your son would be interested in becoming your deputy?’ he asked. ‘Since he tells me that riding is not a problem for him, I should have thought that he could well prove to be a most valuable assistant to you.’

‘How very good of you to consider such an idea, sir!’ cried Chadwick, his lined face wreathed in a delighted smile. ‘The boy has been growing rather dispirited of late. He has a sharp mind and these months of enforced inactivity have not sat at all easily with him. I am sure that he will be thrilled at this opportunity to demonstrate his worth. He will not let you down, I promise you!’

‘Well, do talk it over with him first!’ laughed Beresford and, before making for the door, he handed Chadwick the bunch of keys he had confiscated from Wentworth. ‘Meanwhile, I suppose I had better go and give our contemptible friend his marching orders!’

When he got back to the stable yard, however, there was still no sign of Wentworth and, after consulting his pocket watch and registering the growing lateness of the hour, Beresford decided to postpone the unpleasant interview until the following morning and went, instead, to his chamber to change for dinner.

Текст предоставлен ООО «ЛитРес».

Прочитайте эту книгу целиком, купив полную легальную версию на ЛитРес.

Безопасно оплатить книгу можно банковской картой Visa, MasterCard, Maestro, со счета мобильного телефона, с платежного терминала, в салоне МТС или Связной, через PayPal, WebMoney, Яндекс.Деньги, QIWI Кошелек, бонусными картами или другим удобным Вам способом.