“I’ll take care of it tomorrow. And, Gwen … what is your last name? If you’re to be my housekeeper, I can’t keep calling you Gwen, it Miss? ...” God let it me Miss and not Mrs. He thought.
“Miss Harding, Your Grace, Gwen Harding,” she said, hesitating a little at the last name.
“Well, Miss Harding, thank you for doing such a wonderful job keeping everything together. I’m sure I’ll have many more questions for you later. Until then, that should be all for now.”
She stood and curtsied, “Very well Your Grace” then turned and left, quietly shutting the door.
He watched her go and marveled. The house had, what? Twelve formal bedrooms? He remembered counting them when he visited one summer. Plus library, dining rooms, parlors, and such, probably twenty-five rooms total.
The house should have a staff of fifteen to twenty people just for the house itself and the kitchen. Then you needed to add the stables, gardeners, and any personal retainers such as valets and ladies maids, it could take more than thirty people to run this place the way it should be run. Truly remarkable, three people thinking they could hold it together.
Thank God for loyal retainers he thought, shaking his head in amazement.
He looked around the room, hoping to spot his Grandfather’s account books. This room had always been off limits to him as a boy. He remembered being bored and poking his head in to explore a new room when he was very young. The old bastard had been sitting at this very desk with several account ledgers before him.
An old man even then, he’d spotted the little boy sticking his head round the corner and immediately started yelling that little boys were not to be seen nor heard. Period, end of story. The young Thomas had run away. He hadn’t been in this room since.
He found the old leather-bound books and started digging through them. It was going to be a long night, in fact probably a long few nights just to figure out what was what. And in all honesty, it was going to be even harder keeping Miss Harding from intruding into his thoughts.
The Viscount's Bride (Love's Pride Book 2) Page 22