Nine Steps to Sara (19 page)

Raised voices from the hall interrupted just as Sara warmed up to the subject, and she and Mrs. Poole both hurried to the front of the house to see what the ruckus was about. 

“What on Earth…?” Mrs. Poole declared, as they caught sight of Thomas doing his best to shut the great door on a booted foot that protruded into the entry. 

“I apologize, my Lady.  As I was
only
just informing the gentleman, he can not simply barge in without an appointment,” Thomas sputtered, red faced as he left the door alone and drew himself up.  The intruder seized upon the distraction to insert the rest of himself into the doorway, his smile bright.

“Ah
,
here is the Lady herself,” he beamed, tugging his expensively tailored suit to rights.  “A thousand pardons, your Ladyship, I only thought to renew my ties to the estate and beg a few precious moments of your time,” he bowed low. 

“Renew your ties?  Who is this guy?” Sara looked to the Pooles for an explanation and found them both glaring daggers at the man.  He looked respectable enough, sharply dressed with carefully polished shoes and an easy smile, but something about him screamed used car salesman to Sara. 

“No one to trouble yourself over, my Lady.  I’ll have him removed from the premises at once,” Thomas promised, trying once more to nudge the man out the door.

“My name is Cole, Hugh Cole,” the man sidestepped Thomas, approaching Sara with his hand outstretched.  “I was a former business associate of the late Sir Stephen, and I wanted to speak with you about carrying on his work.” 

“What kind of work?” Sara let her hand be pumped, her interest piqued when he brought up the previous Lord.  She knew virtually nothing about him, except that the locals didn’t like him very much. 

His smile widened at the question.  “I knew I’d capture your interest, my Lad
y,” he winked.  “If I could
have
but
a few minutes of your time,” Cole gestured towards the study; he must have been in the house before to know his way around.  Sara could tell the Pooles didn’t want her talking to him, but that only made her more curious after their conversation the night before. 

“Alright, I have a few minutes to spare,” she agreed, turning towards the study.

“Would you like me to accompany you, my Lady?” Thomas asked, stepping to block their way. 

“No, I’ll be fine,” Sara’s brows drew together, “Mrs. Poole, how about some tea?” she added, doing her best to play Lady of the Manor.  Hopefully it’d include snacks
too;
she was starting to miss breakfast.  Leading Mr. Cole into the study, she pulled the door firmly shut, leaving the Pooles to fret out in the hall. 

“Mr. Cole, please have a seat and tell me what this is all about,” Sara took her place behind the desk while Cole set his briefcase on
the edge of the desk
. 

“This is about a beautiful partnership to maximize the estate while boosting the local economy to boot.  That doesn’t sound too bad, does it?”

It sounded like a hard sell, and Sara shifted uncomfortably in her chair.  “You’re talking about investments?”

“I’m talking about the investment opportunity of a lifetime,” his eyes glowed with avarice.  “Picture this…
Darling
Park
restored to its former glory, droves of tourists flocking to the region bringing their dollars to line the pockets of everyone nearby.  It’s a win/win scenario.”

“Are you talking about offering tours?”  Will had mentioned something about that on the ride, but she hadn’t thought it would generate the kind of income to cause such excitement. 

“I’m talking about the luxury resort experience of a lifetime.  Why stay in a posh hotel in the city when you can live like the Lords and Ladies of old?” 

“You want to turn
Darling
Park
into a hotel?”

“
The
luxury hotel of the century.  We’d offer a personal valet or lady’s maid to each guest, sumptuous feasts not to be found outside of a five star restaurant, hunting parties for the men, garden parties for the ladies, a gift shop with all sorts of historical knick knacks, the possibilities are endless.” 

A luxury hotel.  Sara had trouble wrapping her head around it.  Was such a thing even possible under the terms of the inheritance?  It must have been if he was telling the truth about the
Sir Stephen
getting into bed with him on it.  She supposed there was a market for it, people trying to recapture a way of life and see how the other half lived.  But was he talking about selling the place outright, or a joint venture? 

“And Sir Stephen was on board with this?”  Somehow it felt wrong to be even discussing it
,
even though she couldn’t put her finger on why, but Cole sure seemed gung ho about it. 

“On board?  He practically salivated over the idea.  We’d only just started on the preparations when he met his untimely death, but I can tell you he was extremely keen to get moving on it quickly.  Which is why I knew you’d be interested to hear my proposal and help bring
Darling
Park
into the new century.”  Slick p
ictures
appeared from the depths of his briefcase, mockups of the new and improved
Darling
Park
, complete with floor plans and a list of amenities available. 

“Wow, you sure came prepared,” she murmured, leaning forward to take a look at the materials. 

“There’s a lot more where this came from.  I have here a proposed budget for the renovation costs, and the projected revenue for the first five years.  As you can see, the profit margin is off the charts once we recoup the expenses.” 

“Tea, my Lady,” Mrs. Poole bustled in without bothering to knock, setting the tray on a table by the window.  Grateful for the distraction, Sara busied herself with the motions of pouring out the tea, refraining from asking any other questions while Mrs. Poole loitered.  “Is there anything else I can help with?”
the housekeeper
asked, eyes boring into the back of Cole’s head.

“No, thank you Mrs. Poole, I’ve got it,” Sara smiled curtly, the answer to her problem arriving in a flash of insight.  Mrs. Poole didn’t bother to hide the pinched look of disapproval as she left, but Sara blithely ignored her, blowing over the top of her teacup.

“Well then, your Ladyship, what do you say?  Are you ready to create a new chapter in the Darling Dynasty?”

“I’m sure you can appreciate that you’ve given me a lot to think about, Mr. Cole,” she said carefully, a bland smile stretching her lips.  “Before we go any further, I think you should probably be going through my attorney for this, a Mr. Lowesley here in the village.”  That would give her plenty of time to review the proposal, and she wouldn’t have to tell him no to his face, as she suspected she would decide to do.

“I’ve met him and frankly, the man has no vision if you ask me,” Cole smirked.

She hadn’t, but Sara didn’t mention it.  “Oh good, then you know how to find him,” her smile widened as if that suited them both perfectly.  “How about you write up a proposal and submit it to him, and then we can review whether or not its something we’re interested in.”  Putting a vapid spin to her smile, she counted on her inexperience to sell the idea rather than having to make any snap decisions.

“Forgive me,” Cole set down his tea, a slightly condescending smile on his lips, “but it’s not up to Lowesley how you spend your money, you know.  This land is yours, free and clear to do with as you will.  Sir Stephen recognized that, and he was very interested in the proposition.”

“
I get that.  But I’m also new to the area and I don’t want to make a big decision like this without getting a little advice first.  You understand, don’t you?”  She didn’t much care if he did or not from the way his smile evaporated, replaced with a steely gaze, his tone almost menacing. 

“You realize yours isn’t the only property we’re entertaining for the proposed properties.
”

“Good, then it won’t be much of a blow if I decide to pass the deal up then, will it?” Sara smiled sweetly.  Putting him off was fast becoming a formality; his attitude alone was enough to keep her from wanting to work with the guy.  She couldn’t imagine that would change, even i
f
the numbers in his proposal blew her socks off. 

“Lady Darling…” he began again, but Sara cut him off.  He wanted to talk to Lady Darling?  She could play Lady Darling…

“Then my answer is no,” Sara drew herself up to her feet.  “Thank you for stopping by.”

Cole recovered his smile, nodding slowly.  “Let’s not be hasty now…”

“Oh
,
but that’s what you wanted, wasn’t it?  A quick answer?  Well, you’ve got it, I’d hate to take up any more of your time,” Sara crossed to the door and pulled it open.  “I’m sure Thomas can show you the way out.”

“Lady Darling, I think you’re being
rather
rash here.  You’re throwing away a fortune.”

“It’s my fortune to throw away,” she shrugged. 

“Perhaps the decision would be better made by someone with a little business acumen.  Have you thought about retaining a financial advisor?  I’d be happy to recommend a very reputable firm,” he tried again.

I’ll just bet you would…
Sara scowled, losing patience with the conversation.  “I don’t need a business degree to know a bad deal when I hear it.  If I decide to invest in thumbtacks, it’s my decision, nobody else’s, got it?  Now hit the road,” she gave up any pretense of being polite.  Maybe it wasn’t very ladylike, but it felt good to see the vein bulge in the side of his head. 

Cole however wasn’t used to taking no for an answer.  Instead of leaving, he advanced on Sara, his face thunderous.  “Now see here
,
Madam
, I’ve dropped a fair amount of quid on this proposal, and if you think I’m going to lie back and let some American twit blow this deal for me, you’ve got another thing coming.” 

Sara recoiled from the harsh tone, her back colliding with the wall as she shrank away from the ugly threat.  Even as she tried to find her voice and call for Thomas to try and throw him out, her salvation arrived as Will appeared by her side, a congenial smile on his face despite the tension in the room.

“Am I interrupting something?”

Cole fixed him with an unfriendly stare.  “This has nothing to do with
you;
Lady Darling and I were discussing business.”

“As it seems to me, Sara wants nothing to do with you either.”  Will surprised her by using her name, though he continued to address the man formally.  “I think you’d better be on your way now, Sir.”

“As if I give a toss what you think,” Cole sneered, reaching out to shove against Will’s shoulder.  “Rack off and give us a bit of privacy.”

Will took the blow with a good natured smile, but in the space of a heartbeat, his hands flashed out to grab Cole’s arm, twisting it painfully behind his back.  “I think you owe her Ladyship an apology before you
clear off
, don’t you?”  Instead of an apology, as string of curses left the man’s lips, most of which Sara couldn’t begin to fathom.  “Right then, I think we’re done here.”  Will shoved him bodily out of the room,
frog marching
him towards the door where Thomas stood at the ready.  Between the two of them, they managed to get Cole out of there, and some more words were exchanged on the front steps, too low for Sara to make out. 

The easy smile was back as Will came back to her.  “Good thing I happened to be around, what an ass.”

“You said a mouthful,” Sara agreed, still a little shaky with the adrenaline aftermath.  It was hard to remember she had reason to distrust Will after what she’d heard the night before.  Then again, she’d also heard him say he didn’t
like keeping things from her. 
“I’m very glad you were here.”