Chapter Four
It had been a little over a week since Samuel had returned to Glasgow, and for the past nine days, he hadn’t left his offices. This was a crucial time for the construction of Milton’s Arcade, and he found it easier to remain in town than to retire to his home on the outskirts of the city.
Samuel had always been a bit single-minded when it came to work.
His diligence was praised by his business partners, but it was really more of an obsession.
He couldn’t sleep if there was a problem on the table, and with three different projects going on at the same time, each in need of his attention, it was just easier for him to stay at the office.
Which is why he wasn’t surprised when his mother appeared one evening, after the rest of the clerks had gone home.
Samuel was in his office, in his shirtsleeves, staring at the blueprints for the third floor of the arcade when a gentle tap, tap, tap echoed throughout the silent office.
He glanced up and saw a woman half his height, her long, salt-and-pepper hair pulled back beneath a dark bonnet.
She was a handsome woman, even for her age, with a soft smile set in a square face, her bright, kind eyes always twinkling with genuine happiness.
“There you are,” she said nonchalantly. “Your father bet me a quid you were still in London, but I told him your missive stated you would arrive in Glasgow two weeks ago.”
“It hasn’t been two weeks, has it?” he asked, coming around the desk. He kissed her on the cheek.
“Nearly. Nine days.”
“Nine is not fourteen.”
“I’m aware. However, sleeping in one’s office nine days in a row cannot be healthy.”
“I’ve a cot,” he said, nodding toward a small bed in the corner of the room. “Besides, I’ve been working this whole time. It would be a waste of time to return home every night when I have so much work to do here.”
His mother took another step forward.
“Why do I have a feeling you behaved the same way in London?”
Samuel caught the worry in her tone and stopped moving.
“There’s no reason for you to be concerned.”
“I’m your mother, darling, I’ve an unequivocal right to be concerned about you. Which is why I brought you this.”
She removed an opened letter from her reticule and handed it to him.
“What’s this?” he asked as he read the words.
Dearest Mrs. Milton,
It has come to my attention that we have fallen into a most grievous routine, which must be rectified at once. I humbly request the presence of your household to a dinner party my niece and her husband will be hosting Friday, at Lismore Hall. I do hope everyone will attend.
Yours,
Lady Belle Smyth
He glanced up.
“Sounds like it should be a good event. Lady Belle’s parties are always exciting.”
“I’m glad you think so. I would like you to come.”
Samuel scoffed.
“I’m afraid that is out of the question, Mother. There’s simply too much to be done here.”
“Turn the page over.”
That caught his attention. He flipped the page.
Postscript
I’ve considered your request and believe I have the perfect person for you.
“What’s this about?” he asked. “Who’s the perfect person for what?”
“I wrote to Lady Belle asking if she knew of a companion I might be able to hire.”
“A companion?” he repeated, aware of how very capable his mother was. “Whatever for?”
“I’m getting older, my dear, and your father doesn’t wish to follow me around the city all day. To be honest, I think he’d rather spend his time at Ballybrook.”
Ballybrook Lodge was all that remained from an eleventh-century stronghold.
The lodge had once been the carriage house from Ballybrook fortress, which had collapsed and been repaired at least a dozen times since the late sixteenth century.
Samuel had bought the dilapidated castle some ten years ago, and had it renovated into a hunting lodge.
His father, a quiet man who hadn’t been privy to hunting in his youth, had come to enjoy the pastime and often found excuses to travel out to the country.
“Come now. Father adores you.”
“Me, yes. My social calendar? No.” She took a step forward. “I simply have too much to do, and I need someone who can function as a secretary of sorts.”
Samuel felt a pinch of guilt at his mother’s words.
It was his fault she was so busy. Ever since he made his first million a decade prior, his mother had functioned as his own personal social soothsayer.
She was charming and clever and had made many a deal nowhere near his offices, and she was an integral part of the Milton empire.
His father had been too, albeit a little rougher around the edges.
Still, that seemed to appeal to a certain type of man that always benefited Samuel.
He owed his parents a great deal, and now that they were finally settling into their golden years, Samuel knew the time to readjust was near.
“Of course you can hire a companion, or secretary, whatever you wish,” he said.
“But I’m afraid you’ll have to attend this dinner with Father alone.
I’m far too busy.” His mother didn’t move as he pulled back.
Instead, she just stared at him. This was his mother’s usual tactic when he rebuffed her requests.
Stony, uninterrupted silence. “I really cannot be bothered, what with all the new drawings,” he tried again, looking over the blueprints on his desk.
“There’s no helping it, Mother. I’m too busy.
” When she still didn’t speak, he let out a heavy sigh. “Very well. Lismore Hall Friday, then?”
She smiled.
“Thank you. Oh, that reminds me, the wheel for the black carriage has been repaired.”
“That’s good.”
“Yes, but you never told me how it came to be cracked? Surely it didn’t happen within the city. I know the roads aren’t as even as they could be, but to have it crack all the way through—”
“There was some sort of ditch that couldn’t be avoided on Mr. Loren’s way back from Glencoe,” Samuel said as his eyes caught a detail on the paper beneath his fingers. He bent lower to see it.
“Whatever was your driver doing in Glencoe?”
“There were two ladies, unaccompanied, I met in the train station when I returned from London. They were on their way to Sir Logan Harris’s home and since the man is one of my investors, and the ladies in question appeared somewhat overwhelmed, I thought it would be beneficial to help see them safely to Glencoe. ”
A slim brow lifted.
“Always on the lookout for a soul in need, aren’t you?” she said, before patting her son on the back. “Do not work too hard, Samuel. Perhaps we can all travel to Ballybrook the day before Lady Belle’s dinner party? It would be easier on your father and me.”
“You go ahead; I’ll ride up the day of.”
“On horseback?”
“It’ll be fine, Mother.”
She sighed, unconvinced.
“Very well.”
She knew better than to try and get him to go home, particularly when she was already requesting that he take a day off to attend a dinner party.
Rarely did Sam do anything that wasn’t centered around his work, but it wasn’t out of a desire to grow his earnings.
It’s just that things tended to run smoother whenever he was around and there was nothing else keeping him from working.
He enjoyed it too. Everything, from accounting to construction to blueprints and design details.
He was constantly in awe of innovative technologies and tried to apply them to as many situations as possible.
Every tradesman or expert craftsman was tantalizing to Sam.
He loved to learn and was not disconcerted in topics.
Everything, from filleting a fish properly to the most fearsome math equations, amazed him and he was forever asking questions.
But again, it had nothing to do with the money he earned or the power he accumulated. He was simply a curious soul. He always had been.
Which is why by the time he had reached Lady Belle Smyth’s home that Friday, Samuel had become fully invested in learning everything he could about the companion his mother might hire.
Lismore Hall was a four-story castle that had been built with a cap house and several turrets that sprang up behind a twelve-foot-high wall that surrounded the exterior of the building.
The walls were divided by pilasters into sections, and each compartment had a niche above, containing statues of saints—though which saints were always up for debate.
Some visitors had inquired if the statues were really saints or if they were rather depictions of local mythological characters, but Belle had only laughed at her guests for having elaborate imaginations.
Upon entering the famed building, Samuel saw the legend herself, Lady Belle Smyth, dressed in her usual older style. Tonight, she was wearing a rich, forest-green gown that was beset with onyx jewelry.
“Ah, Mr. Milton! How wonderful, you made it,” Lady Belle said, standing in the center of the flagstone-floored foyer. He took her bejeweled hand and bent his head. “It’s always a pleasure to see you.”
“Likewise, Lady Belle.”
“Come, you should know that while we may be on opposing sides this evening, I shan’t be easy on you.”
This caused Samuel to tilt his head back to better see her.
“Opposing sides? Whatever do you mean?”
“Your mother mentioned that you weren’t completely convinced that she was in need of a companion. You’re wrong, of course, but I shall do my utmost tonight to show you just how very wrong you are.”
“I did say that, but the ride north gave me some time to consider my position, and I believe that a companion might actually be a benefit. You needn’t waste any energy on me, Lady Belle. I know I was wrong.”
Lady Belle stalled.
“Really?”