8. Jonto #3
In the end, she decided it would be better to let Isla dictate what level of help she’d accept from her pirate neighbor. When she returned, she found Isla’s face even blotchier than before. The lady had been quietly crying again, which tore Jonto’s heart in two. “How can I help you, Lady Brighton?”
“Help me?” She sniffed, dabbed at her nose again, and altered her tone to sound not quite so dismissive.
“While I appreciate you stopping to check that I wasn’t lying in a ditch somewhere, I already asked for your help and was soundly rebuffed.
I don’t need your help, Lord Jontoreaux.
I’ve handled crises before on my own and will continue to do so until the day I die. ”
“A bit dramatic, but admirable.” Jonto grinned when Isla glared up at her. “If I may point out a few errors in your logic?”
“You may not.”
Jonto's pride would have been similarly singed if their roles were reversed, and, conceding that point with a sigh, she said, “As you wish.”
She bowed slightly before turning to leave and was stopped by a quiet “Wait. Please.” There was real despair in those words and in the ones that followed.
“Perhaps I could use someone as a sounding board. You were correct when you said Uncle James doesn’t understand land or livestock.
Neither does Celie or anyone else I confide in.
” Isla wadded her kerchief into a knot and chuckled softly to herself.
“Here’s a perfect example. When you pushed all of the sheep into my front yard, My Lady’s maid, whose finely honed common sense has aided me on many occasions, knew so little about sheep that she actually poked one of the rams in the nose with the end of a broom. Hard.”
Laughter had always come easily to Jonto, and this was no exception. “And she lived to tell the tale?” She was relieved to see a slight smile behind the sadness and added, “And is she still in one piece?”
Isla nodded ruefully. “She is. I had to grab the ram by the horns, swing it around, and practically toss it off the front porch to keep her from being hurt.”
Jonto’s brows rose. “You?” She took in Isla’s fitted half coat and split skirt. “I’m impressed. I have to admit I may have thought of you as.…”
Isla waited with her brows raised.
“Well, I wouldn’t have expected you to have the strength needed to grab a ram by the horns and swing it in a circle.”
“Is that not something the ladies in your social circles might do, My Lord?”
“I have many circles of lady friends. From the members of my crew who can wield swords with greater skill than many of my men, to ladies of the night, to herbal hedge witches who practice medicine in a community made up of solely women, to, as I’ve mentioned earlier, queens and sophisticated ladies of the realm. ”
“Celie believes you and my mother would have been best friends.”
“I tend to agree. While I’ve only been here a few days, I’ve heard many things about her, all of which I find fascinating.”
Isla scoffed and looked away. “Then you’re the only man I know, besides my Uncle James and his clerk, who would.
Most men thought of her as a curiosity they tolerated as one might tolerate a particularly rambunctious child.
And the women?” A bitter look stole across her features.
“Well, let’s just say they didn’t welcome her into their sewing circles. ”
“And my guess is she wouldn’t have gone if she’d received an invitation. And good for her, I say.”
The split skirt allowed Isla to push herself further up the rock while still maintaining her ladylike dignity. She did so and then looked into Jonto’s eyes. “Do you? What was your mother like, then?”
Jonto hopped onto an adjoining rock and sat with her legs pulled up and her arms wrapped around her knees.
“She led most of the sewing circles.” She returned Isla’s regard.
“But she was never cruel and didn’t allow heartless, unkind gossip within her circle of friends.
I think she and your mother might have also been friends. ”
“Is she why you’re so different from the other gentlemen I know?”
This discussion was sailing into dangerous territory, and Jonto skillfully changed tack. “My offer to listen was genuine, Lady Brighton. How may I help?”
Two wrens dove on a hawk that had flown too close to their nest, and Isla watched them a while as she thought of how best to answer. “I suppose I would appreciate honesty without judgment. That’s the only way I’ll unburden myself to you, Lord Jonto.”
That was the first time Isla had used the contracted form of her name, but Jonto decided not to make it an issue.
She recognized it for the peace offering that it was and thought they’d at least made a bit of progress toward a cease-fire.
“I promise you honesty without judgment, My Lady. So, you’ve only now discovered your steward’s poor management skills, but let’s start with what we know.
What do you see as your first order of business? ”
She sighed. “There’s no way my land will support sheep anymore.
In fact,” she held out her hands, “looking at the damage, I doubt it will ever be healthy enough to support any animal, sheep or otherwise. We used to have so much wildlife running through these upper fields, but now there’s no grass to sustain them.
Without any grass, the smaller animals will begin to leave, which means no mice for the hawks, rabbits for the lynx, and no deer for wolves.
The land is dead because of me.” Isla closed her eyes, and the wave of guilt and distress moving across her features said more about her grief than words ever could.
“Your land’s unhealthy. You have algae growing in the dirt, and the leaves on the forest floor haven’t had air to them in I don’t know how long. But it’s not dead and not past redemption. With the proper husbandry, we can bring it back.”
Isla turned a stern gaze on Jonto. “We? I think we need to make one thing clear, Lord Jontoreaux. I’m using you as a sounding board, and this conversation is in no way an invitation for you and me to become ‘we.’ Are we clear on that?”
Jonto raised her brows and grinned. “I can assure you, I have enough on my plate with my lands and estates and have no interest in courting you to obtain yours. I can, with certainty, tell you that my lands, estates, and wealth are enough to sustain me for the remainder of my days. That’s not to mention that in the coming years, I’ll obtain even more through my, how did you put it, raping and pillaging on the open seas.
I have no need of your land and would be content if we might one day get to a place where we can call one another friend. ”
The humor in Isla’s green eyes was something Jonto hadn’t seen before, and it took her breath away. It seemed something she’d said had gotten through because Isla’s features softened even more.
Lifting one shoulder in a shrug, Isla finally opened up to Jonto with what she’d lain awake the previous night deciding.
“Well then, here’s what I’ve been thinking.
I’m going to sell my herd on the open market.
I can see no other way through this debacle.
Even if my land isn’t dead, it needs time to heal, and that’s not something that can happen if I continue to graze any livestock up here. ”
Jonto shook her head. “Bad idea. I can guarantee that both your shepherd and your steward are down at the local pub, regaling everyone with the idiocy of your decisions.” She held up her hand when Isla’s eyes flashed, and she opened her mouth to protest. “Please. Let me finish. There’s no doubt they’ll put themselves in a good light with your neighbors and will also present themselves at my door begging my forgiveness for following your orders to move your herd onto my land.
They’ll put you in such a bad light that I won’t want to have anything to do with you.
What that will mean in the short term is that people will know you’re desperate to sell.
You’ll only receive pennies for each ewe, lamb, and ram in your herd. ”
The soft look Jonto had so enjoyed seeing moments earlier had hardened into a bitter mask.
Isla remained silent, though, and Jonto took that as tacit permission to continue.
“Not only that, knowing I’d be doing business here, I sent men here ahead of my arrival to research various subjects that interested me, including the specifics of sheep herds in the area.
I needed to be informed before deciding how many to purchase.
As it stands, many of the inns, meat markets, and households look to you for their veal and mutton.
From what I hear, you’re a fair businesswoman, and people trust you.
They look to you to provide them with their meat.
If you were to sell off your herd, you’d lose their trust. They’d have to search for new suppliers just as we’re entering the winter months.
Once trust is lost, it’s nearly impossible to regain. ”
Jonto continued thinking out loud. “The suppliers who buy your herd for pennies on the dollar will charge more than what people are used to paying because those customers will now be desperate. One ill-considered act on your part to sell your herd could drastically affect the city’s economy.”
Isla rose and paced from one boulder to another while considering Jonto’s words. She crossed her arms and hugged herself tightly in an obvious effort to hold herself together. “Would you reconsider buying them, then? Because I can’t run a herd of sheep on this land anymore. I just can’t.”