Chapter Nine
The ball gowns arrived from Harrogate, and that evening it began to rain. It rained and rained and rained, until Kate thought that Merrell Hall might float away. There were no more excursions. Instead they played card games and chess, jackstraws and cross questions and charades. Not all their time was spent frivolously, though. Harry and James discussed estate management for long hours in the study. It was a subject in which Harry was well-versed. He’d managed the Honeycourt land for six years, and in that time made so many improvements that the late viscount would scarcely have recognized it.
Kate knew that James was keen to prove his worth as a landlord. He was concerned about the plight of his tenants in these grim times and determined that they shouldn’t suffer through a
