“I could not agree more.”
Before stepping from the room, Mrs. Tanner said, “The house’ll someday be all it should be, and your family’ll be proud of you. You’ll see.”
My family.He’d lost all his family other than Sarah. But thanks to Toss’s advice, Scott intended to reconnect with his sister. And though doing so would be difficult, he meant to tell her honestly what he was facing. And so he’d sent her and Harold an invitation to join him at Sarvol House for a very humble evening meal. Mater had returned from her visit to Falstone Castle, so Scott sent her an invitation as well.
The three of them arrived together.
Scott stood in the drawing room, telling himself all would be well. His nervousness surprised him a little. He loved his sister, brother-in-law, and honorary mother. And he knew they lovedhim. But this night would be a revelation to them. Even Mater didn’t know the extent of his troubles.
The very room he would be greeting them in would tell much of the story. It had been cleared of all but one sofa and two armchairs. The desk that had once been in the library had been moved there along with the breakfast room table. This would, in the next few days, become the one and only public space. There would be no hiding the state of things from visitors, and these three were the only visitors he would have for years.
Best lay it all bare and move forward.
Mr. Tanner announced the arrivals, then stepped to the side of the drawing room door, allowing them to come inside. Scott was determined, once his finances weren’t in crisis, to have the means of giving both the Tanners the pension they deserved.
Sarah didn’t bother attempting any decorum. She rushed inside and directly to him, tossing her arms around him, nearly knocking him off his feet.
“You seem pleased to see me,” Scott said.
Sarah hugged him fiercely. “You were away longer than you said you would be.”
“I wrote to you often enough that you knew perfectly well I wasn’t coming home when I’d first anticipated.”
She pulled back and smiled at him. “My favorite letter from you thus far was the one you sent around yesterday. An entire evening with my brother is precisely what I needed.”
“I should have invited you sooner,” he said.
“Yes, you should have.” She laughed a little and stepped aside.
Mater took her turn offering Scott an embrace.
“I’m glad you are back again,” Scott said. “I’ve missed you.”
She squeezed him once more before stepping back. “You wrote to me, as promised. But you were unforgivably vague about a few things.”
His sister and his honorary mother exchanged glances that clearly communicated that this was a topic they had already discussed between themselves. Scott looked to Harold, hoping for an ally.
The vicar shook his head. “They have a legitimate bone to pick with you, and I have no intention of getting in the way.”
“I’m to face my executioners alone, am I?” He didn’t bother hiding his amusement.
Harold managed to keep his expression somber. “Entirely.”
“Well then,” he said, slipping an arm through one of each of theirs, “I will tell you without pretense that I am more than prepared to answer all your most pressing questions.”
He walked them to the sofa near the fireplace and saw them both seated before he and Harold took the two remaining chairs.
Sarah looked around the room for the first time, her brows pulled in confusion. “This room has changed.”
They were to introduce this topic already, were they? No time like the present, he supposed. “You’ll notice a lot of changes to Sarvol House in the coming weeks. They’ve proven necessary as I’ve uncovered the entirety of the estate’s difficulties.”
“Uncle spent so much of his final months lecturing you about his estate,” Sarah said. “How could there possibly be more to uncover?”
“Unfortunately, there was a great deal more.” Scott looked to Mater. “Mr. Layton was invaluable in helping me sort through and understand it all. So thank you for asking him to help me.”
She held his gaze. “I hope you will allow more of us to help you in the future. Watching from afar as you’ve struggled these past years has been . . . frustrating.”
“For all of us,” Sarah said. “You gab a bit after church on Sundays but not much beyond that. And I could see that life was beating you down, but you kept such a distance. I was almosttempted to write to Mother and tattle on you like I did when we were little.”