11. Chapter Eleven #2
Colin looked at her. “Then I think you’ve answered your own question about what to do about Joss.”
“I guess I have. Now I just have to be strong and follow through.” She took her plate and cup over to the sink. “At least you don’t seem to have any quarrels with your employers.”
“Stephen Falke’s a great boss.” Colin said. “Very understanding.”
Mabel rinsed the mug and plate and put them in the dishwasher. “That’s what Freddy said.”
He didn’t reply and when she turned back to the table, he was looking thoughtful.
“What else did Freddy say?”
“That you only got your job through nepotism.” Mabel met his gaze calmly.
“Which is true.”
She sat opposite him and waited to see what he would say next.
“Stephen gave me a chance when no one else would.” Colin looked down at his hands wrapped around his coffee mug.
“I’ll always be grateful to him for that.
He let me work part time while I went back to college and got my architectural and engineering qualifications.
It was tough at first, but at least I didn’t have time to miss my old life or hang out with the enablers I once called friends.
Freddy and the rest of my family prefer to think I still gad about like a butterfly, but I haven’t done that for years. ”
“I know.” It was good to hear him express his changing feelings about his role in the family. It made her own world view less rocky.
“Sometimes I’m tempted.” He half-smiled. “It would be nice to drop everything and bum around the world on a private jet.”
“I’m fairly sure even that would get boring after a while,” Mabel said. “I’ve had friends who’ve made enough money to retire at twenty-five, and they soon get bored doing nothing.”
“And what do they do then?”
Mabel shrugged. “Set up charities, do good works, go back to work, or drown in drugs and booze. Money is great, but having too much money doesn’t make you happier.”
“I’d like to be given the chance to test that out for myself,” Colin said.
“Would you really?”
It was on the tip of Mabel’s tongue to tell him that with her wealth he could do all that with her, but something held her back.
This was Colin’s fight. She suddenly had a strong sense that he was doing exactly what he was meant to be doing, and that saving his family home was fundamental to who he was, and how he would deal with the rest of his life.
“You’re staring at me very intently. Have I got marmalade on my face like Paddington Bear?”
Mabel blinked. “Sorry. I was daydreaming.”
“So was I.” He grinned. “It’s okay. We both know I’m stuck here at the hall for the foreseeable future.”
She reached across the table and took his hand. “I think you’re meant to be here.”
“You know,” he said slowly. “I’m beginning to believe that myself.”
“Good morning, Father.”
“Colin. I hear the bank are willing to make you a loan.”
His father looked a little brighter today and was sitting in his chair by the window enjoying a cup of tea rather than lying in bed. He pointed at the tea pot. “Please help yourself. I asked Bartle to bring an extra cup.”
“Thank you.” Colin poured himself some tea and sat opposite his father in a vast wing chair upholstered in a pattern fashionable a hundred years ago. “Yes, they decided they owed us something for being customers for three hundred years.”
“As they should.” His father hesitated. “Should I ask how you paid off the outstanding loan from my father’s time? Your grandmother thinks you’ve been selling off the family silver.”
“I can assure you that I haven’t found anything worth selling yet.
And if I do, it will probably be attached to the house in some legal fashion I can’t unravel.
” Colin sipped his tea, which was a delicate green color and fragrant with lemon.
“I did ask everyone in the house to take a look at what was around them, because I might have to sell some things eventually.”
“She was concerned as to your motives.”
“And I specifically told her not to bother you with any of this. I will ask her again not to do so.” Colin met his father’s gaze and was surprised when he received a slight nod in return.
“It’s nice to see you standing up for yourself.”
“You always hated me doing that.”
“Not anymore.” His father set down his cup. “I told her that I trusted your judgment in these matters and that if she had any further issues, she should discuss them directly with you.”
Colin blinked at his father. “You did?”
“I’ve been pleased with your commitment to preserving your inheritance.”
“Thank you,” Colin said. “I’m doing my best.”
“You remind me of your mother. She was very easy going until she wasn’t, and then nothing could stop her.” His father smiled. “I suspect you have inherited her tenacity. I should have seen it before.”
Colin was momentarily stunned into silence. In the past, all attempts at conversation about his mother had been frowned upon.
“Your American has been taking my dogs out,” his father continued as if nothing untoward had happened at all. “Please let her know I appreciate that.”
“Mabel enjoys it,” Colin said automatically, his mind still reeling from the shock of his father’s approval.
“Bartle says she is very pleasant and has excellent manners.”
Colin nodded and sipped his tea.
“Do you have plans for the rest of the day?”