Chapter 7The days passed. There was no time to coddle myself, for there was the new hay to harvest, followed shortly thereafter in the season by our usual crop of hops. For the last few years we’d had good crops, but Uncle was so seldom at home I was able to excuse the meagre funds they produced by fobbing him off with tales of otter moths and corn borers and crown gall and downy mildew, and he’d never cared enough to discuss the problem with any of our neighbours. I’d intended to use what I’d kept back in order to effect repairs on the cottages of our people, but they’d been in surprisingly good condition, and so I’d set the profits aside in hopes of starting a small, reputable stud.
Now it appeared those monies must needs be used to pay off my uncle’s gaming debts.
Each day I dreaded t
