before I had to leave again to get here.”
“Bridgewater, eh? So you are keeping abreast of your properties. Couldn’t tell it, according to Bainsworth. Had a missive from him that he’s been trying to reach you for a week with no luck. Claims the matter is urgent. That’s why I sent for you.”
Derek frowned. It was true he hadn’t gone through his mail recently, but with the season being in full bloom and with so many invitations coming in, the huge pile had proven too daunting. However, he didn’t like the idea that Bainsworth was still running to Jason with any problems that arose. The properties in the north that Bainsworth managed had been signed over to Derek. His father no longer had any dealings with them.
“Perhaps it’s time I hired my own secretary. But Bainsworth, as I’m sure you remember from your own experience, can get excited over the smallest mishap. Did he happen to mention what he considered urgent?”
“Something about an offer that was submitted to buy the mill, with a time limit on it, which was why he was desperate to locate you.”
Derek swore under his breath. “Perhaps it’s time I found a new manager as well. The mill isn’t for sale. Bainsworth knows that.”
“Not even for a very lucrative offer?”
“Not for twice what it’s worth. Not for any reason,” Derek said emphatically. “I didn’t accept the properties to turn around and sell them off.”
Jason smiled and clapped him on the back. “Glad to hear it, lad. Truth to tell, with the man coming to me, I thought it might be an offering you were aware of, so I didn’t think it could wait until I saw you later in the week at the wedding. But now we’ve had this little chat, I’ll know better next time—if there is a next time.”
“There won’t be,” Derek assured him as they headed toward the exit together.
“Speaking of weddings—”
Derek chuckled. “We were speaking of weddings?”
“Well, if we weren’t,” Jason grumbled, “we ought to be, with Amy’s wedding only four days away.”
“Will Frances show up, d’you think?”
That Derek referred to his stepmother by her given name wasn’t a matter of disrespect. It was merely that it had always felt bloody awkward calling her “Mother,” when he barely knew her.
Jason shrugged. “Who knows what my wife will do. God knows I don’t,” he said with marked indifference. “But you know, son, it occurred to me the other day that my brother Edward, younger than me, is seeing his third child married this week, while I—”
“He’s marrying off his third girl ,” Derek was quick to cut in, knowing full well where his father would like to lead this discussion. “His boys ain’t getting leg-shackled yet. And that’s quite a difference there, when girls do get married right out of the schoolroom, but boys bloody well don’t.”
Jason sighed again, having that line of reasoning thwarted. “Just seemed…unbalanced there.”
“Father, you have only one son. If you’d had more, or some daughters, I’m sure you’d have most of them married off by now too. But don’t compare one child to Uncle Edward’s brood of five.”
“I know I shouldn’t.”
They fell silent on the walk back to the house. And it wasn’t until they’d reached the breakfast room, where an assortment of dishes was being kept warm on the sideboard awaiting their arrival, that Derek’s curiosity got the better of him.
“Do you really want to be a grandfather already?”
Jason was startled by the question, but after giving it a moment’s thought, he said, “Yes, actually, I do.”
Derek grinned. “Very well, I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Excellent, but—ah, don’t be following in James’s footsteps in that regard too. The bloody wedding is supposed to come first, the babies after.”
Derek laughed, not because James Malory’s daughter had been born less than nine months after his wedding but because it was a rare occurrence indeed to see his
“Bridgewater, eh? So you are keeping abreast of your properties. Couldn’t tell it, according to Bainsworth. Had a missive from him that he’s been trying to reach you for a week with no luck. Claims the matter is urgent. That’s why I sent for you.”
Derek frowned. It was true he hadn’t gone through his mail recently, but with the season being in full bloom and with so many invitations coming in, the huge pile had proven too daunting. However, he didn’t like the idea that Bainsworth was still running to Jason with any problems that arose. The properties in the north that Bainsworth managed had been signed over to Derek. His father no longer had any dealings with them.
“Perhaps it’s time I hired my own secretary. But Bainsworth, as I’m sure you remember from your own experience, can get excited over the smallest mishap. Did he happen to mention what he considered urgent?”
“Something about an offer that was submitted to buy the mill, with a time limit on it, which was why he was desperate to locate you.”
Derek swore under his breath. “Perhaps it’s time I found a new manager as well. The mill isn’t for sale. Bainsworth knows that.”
“Not even for a very lucrative offer?”
“Not for twice what it’s worth. Not for any reason,” Derek said emphatically. “I didn’t accept the properties to turn around and sell them off.”
Jason smiled and clapped him on the back. “Glad to hear it, lad. Truth to tell, with the man coming to me, I thought it might be an offering you were aware of, so I didn’t think it could wait until I saw you later in the week at the wedding. But now we’ve had this little chat, I’ll know better next time—if there is a next time.”
“There won’t be,” Derek assured him as they headed toward the exit together.
“Speaking of weddings—”
Derek chuckled. “We were speaking of weddings?”
“Well, if we weren’t,” Jason grumbled, “we ought to be, with Amy’s wedding only four days away.”
“Will Frances show up, d’you think?”
That Derek referred to his stepmother by her given name wasn’t a matter of disrespect. It was merely that it had always felt bloody awkward calling her “Mother,” when he barely knew her.
Jason shrugged. “Who knows what my wife will do. God knows I don’t,” he said with marked indifference. “But you know, son, it occurred to me the other day that my brother Edward, younger than me, is seeing his third child married this week, while I—”
“He’s marrying off his third girl ,” Derek was quick to cut in, knowing full well where his father would like to lead this discussion. “His boys ain’t getting leg-shackled yet. And that’s quite a difference there, when girls do get married right out of the schoolroom, but boys bloody well don’t.”
Jason sighed again, having that line of reasoning thwarted. “Just seemed…unbalanced there.”
“Father, you have only one son. If you’d had more, or some daughters, I’m sure you’d have most of them married off by now too. But don’t compare one child to Uncle Edward’s brood of five.”
“I know I shouldn’t.”
They fell silent on the walk back to the house. And it wasn’t until they’d reached the breakfast room, where an assortment of dishes was being kept warm on the sideboard awaiting their arrival, that Derek’s curiosity got the better of him.
“Do you really want to be a grandfather already?”
Jason was startled by the question, but after giving it a moment’s thought, he said, “Yes, actually, I do.”
Derek grinned. “Very well, I’ll keep that in mind.”
“Excellent, but—ah, don’t be following in James’s footsteps in that regard too. The bloody wedding is supposed to come first, the babies after.”
Derek laughed, not because James Malory’s daughter had been born less than nine months after his wedding but because it was a rare occurrence indeed to see his
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