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Du their normally stoic housekeeper, the maids in the stillroo scullery maid, a kitchen maid, and the cook, who had worked at the ain," Mrs Faircloth gasped

McKenna tightened his arotten maternal comfort of her presence He remembered the countless times that Mrs Faircloth had saved extra food for him--the heels of the bread loaves, the leftover tea biscuits, the flavorful dregs from the stew pot Mrs Faircloth had been a source of necessary softness in his life…someone who had always believed the best of him

She was much smaller than he remembered, and her hair was now pure white But ti wrinkles across her rosy cheeks, and a nearly iht lines of her shoulders and spine

Drawing back her lace-capped head, Mrs Faircloth regarded hirown into a Goliath! I would scarcely have known you, were it not for your eyes" Beco aware of their audience, the housekeeper released the large youngstare "Busy yourselves at once, all of you There’s no need to stand there with your eyes bulging fro obediently, the lances at the visitor as they worked

Mrs Faircloth pressed McKenna’s hand between her sed They went in tacit agreement to the housekeeper’s personal room She unlocked the door and let him inside, and the familiar sled in a perfu Mrs Faircloth, McKenna saw that the housekeeper was becoers around hers "I’ently "I should have found a way to warn you before I appeared so suddenly"

Mrs Fairclothe at his elegant clothes, even noting the polished black shoes on his feet "What has brought you back here, after so many years?"

"We’ll talk later, e both havethe tumult of activity on days such as this, when dozens of visitors kept most of the servants at a dead run "You have a house full of guests--and I haven’t yet seen Lord Westcliff" He withdrew a packet of wax-sealed papers froive you this"

"What is it?" the housekeeper asked in bewildere to A before now, but--" McKenna paused uncomfortably Words were inadequate to explain how, for the sake of his own sanity, he’d had to avoid anything or anyone in connection with Aline

Shaking her head, Mrs Faircloth tried to give the packet back to hiift to you I was only sorry that I hadn’t more to spare at the tireat care, he straightened the cap on her head "I’ift with interest Those are shares in a brand-new locomotive foundry, all in your name You can cash them immediately, if you wish But I’d advise you to let them ripen a bit more In the next year, they’ll probably triple in value" McKenna couldn’t restrain a rueful grin as he saw the perplexed way Mrs Faircloth regarded the packet She had little knowledge of stocks, equity, and future prospects

"There’s no actual money in here, then?" she asked

"It’s better thanthat the stock certificates would soon be used to wrap fish "Put that in a safe place, Mrs Faircloth What you’re holding in your hands is worth about five thousand pounds"

Blanching, she nearly dropped the bundle "Five thousand…"

Instead of de the elation McKenna had anticipated, the housekeeper seemed utterly dazed, as if she could not absorb the fact that she had just been made a wealthy woman She swayed a little, and McKenna quickly reached out to steady her shoulders

"I want you to retire," he said, "and buy a house for yourself, with your own servants, and a carriage After all you’ve done for so many other people, I want you to enjoy the rest of your life"

"But I can’t accept so much," she protested

McKenna helped her to sit in the chair by the hearth, and sank to his haunches before her He settled his hands on either arm of the chair "That’s only a drop in the bucket I’d like to doback to New York with littered as she laid her work-roughened hand atop his "I could never leave Stony Cross! I iving her an alert glance as he wondered why she had mentioned Aline in particular "She can hire a new housekeeper" His senses sharpened as he saw her guarded expression

"Have you seen her yet?" the housekeeper asked cautiously

McKenna nodded "We spoke briefly"

"Fate has not been kind to either of Lord Westcliff’s daughters"

"Yes, I’m aware of that Lady Aline toldabout herself?"

"No" McKenna did not miss the shadow of consternation that crossed her face "What is there to tell?"

The housekeeper see after you left Stony Cross, she was…quite ill" Two small, sharp indentations formed between the silvery arcs of her brows "She was bedridden for at least three h she recovered in time, she…has never been quite the same"

His eyes narrowed "What happened to her?"

"I dare not tell you The only reason I’ve ile"

"In ay?"

She shook her head decisively "I cannot say"

McKenna sat back on his heels, staring at her Calculating the most effective way to elicit the infor "You know you can trust me I won’t tell anyone"

"Surely you wouldn’t ask me to break a promise," Mrs Faircloth chided

"Of course I would," he said dryly "I ask people to break promises all the time And if they don’t, I make them sorry for it" He rose to his feet in a fluid movement "What do you mean, Lady Aline was ‘never the same’? She damned well looks the saue reprovingly