Gentlemen Prefer Spinsters (Spinsters Club #1)(15)
Bella huffed. “You know I would rather have nothing to do with any man, especially with the amount of men I deal with on a daily basis.” She rolled her eyes. “Just this morning my brothers were creating enough chaos to drive even the sanest woman mad. But Harcourt is a good man, is he not? And a fine friend to you.”
“He might be a good man, but he is still a man.” Besides, she could not quite bring herself to be in his company again so soon. Memories of being flat against him, feeling his muscles undulate under her fingertips were remarkably raw. She could hardly confess she had been reliving that moment again and again when alone after insisting on their vows. Her friends were relying on her to stay strong.
“He is a handsome man though,” Arabella admitted softly.
“And he is a rake,” Merry pointed out, even though the word sent a little pang of hurt to her chest.
It should not. It was something of which she’d been aware for a long time. It was widely acknowledged Harry had spent plenty of time with ladies in Society, thoroughly enjoying himself. Merry might not take a great interest in the gossip of the ton but there was no avoiding it sometimes.
“I heard that he has quit London for good.” Bella grinned. “Perhaps he has found someone of interest here.”
Merry held her breath. Surely they could not think...just because...no, it was all silly. Even if Harry truly was interested in her, it would be a strange sort of passing fancy. One she would be a fool for letting herself get involved in.
But none of that mattered! Her friends were relying on her to remain level-headed and support them in their vows. Particularly Arabella. Sophia and Bella did not seem to be quite so scarred by their experiences with men. The fact that Arabella had held onto her love for that rotten man for so long did not help. In the name of solidarity, she could not accept help from Harry.
“It does not matter what is keeping him here.” Merry strode over to one of the windows and flicked the latches. “We do not need his help. We are four...” She tried to slide the window up. “Strong...” Pushing again with a grunt, she felt it shift a little. “Resourceful...” The window finally gave way, sliding up in one swift movement and sending her toppling backward. Arabella caught her, preventing her from falling to the floor. “Women,” Merry finished, blowing a curl from her face and straightening. “Let us see what we can do upstairs.”
Her friends dutifully marched upstairs, pausing to eye some of the rooms with gasps of horror. Merry led them into one of the master bedrooms. A four-poster bed dominated the room and what was likely a washstand sat under a cover. She had flung open the shutters on her last visit here, but the dark red color of the room made it appear smaller and more depressing than it should be. A large dresser had been abandoned in front of the bed for some reason and would need to be moved but apart from that, all they would have to do was give it a little clean.
“Well, this is...um...” Arabella bit down on her lip. “That is, I’m sure it shall be quite cozy once you have a fire in the grate.”
Bella bent and peered into the fireplace. “You’ll need a chimney sweep. If you light a fire in here, the whole house will go up.” She straightened. “That might be a blessing.”
Sophia shot her a look. “That was unkind.”
Bella shrugged and giggled. “Well, at least all the dust would be gone.”
Merry could not take offense at Bella’s words. The work that needed to be done was overwhelming. She had never anticipated it being left in such poor condition. She’d considered that she’d have to move a few pieces of furniture around and lift off a couple of sheets originally. The option to get one or two of the maids to give the house a clean was still there but it would take several weeks of cleaning and none of them had that much time to spare. Merry did not even dare hire someone else, not when the estate was still in flux while waiting for her brother’s return. All the money with the exception of her allowance and dowry was Daniel’s and not hers to do with as she saw fit.
“Let us move this dresser, then we can take off the sheets and give everything a good dust down. I am certain it shall look just perfect once that is done.” Merry managed to keep her tone bright but Bella still lifted a brow.
Sophia strode over to the dresser and grabbed one end. She grimaced. “It’s heavy. Where shall we move it to?”
“I need it downstairs really. There is enough clutter in the bedrooms.” Merry moved to the other end and gave it an experimental lift.
“We can probably manage that between us. It is not too large. Maybe if we remove the drawers, it shall be easier,” Arabella suggested.
“Oh good idea.” Bella tugged out a drawer and squealed, dropping it to the floor and barely missing Sophia’s foot.
“Careful!” Sophia scolded, then glanced at the contents of the drawer. “Oh goodness.”
Merry lifted one of the little boxes and peered at it. It was some kind of beetle mounted and pinned then put into a glass box. She shook her head and eyed the rest of the pile. There had been talk that her great-grandfather had been quite a collector and most certainly a hoarder. She had assumed that most of his collections had been dispersed upon his death but apparently not.
“I will never understand why men like collecting insects.” Bella shuddered. “Horrible creatures.”
“I imagine there are more in here. Perhaps we should leave the drawers where they are for the moment.” Eyeing the dresser, Merry gave it another lift. “I think we can manage. There are four of us after all.”