Charlotte: The Practical Education of a Distressed Gentlewoman Read Online Free

Bath and it isn't too
far away to make a dash for a day or two.”
    “ No.”
    “ Not up for dancing or not
interested in a trip to Bath?”
    “ Neither.”
    “ Neither? What an odd female you
are, next you'll tell me you don't care about dresses. Oh well
then, pleasantries aside, on to business.”
    Mr. Cruise began, “Mr. Talbot, do
you have an offer for the house, contents and the demesne, that is
the grounds surrounding it?”
    Freddy, suddenly serious, replied,
“That's barely worth a thousand, but I'll be generous, say eleven
hundred.”
    “ Please be serious and don't waste
our time.”
    “ I am always serious about
business, the hall is run down, and the demesne is not large enough
to produce income. Now if you were talking about the whole of the
estate, I could go higher, say twenty thousand.”
    Charlotte interjected here, “The
farms are not for sale. I intend to run them myself.”
    “ If you say so, but they are
heavily mortgaged and you are already late on the payments for this
term.”
    “ Moulder's bank has always
understood that we will pay after the harvest, when we receive our
accounts from the farmers.”
    “ True, they are a bit overgenerous
when it comes to business matters, but have you checked with the
new bond holders?”
    Charlotte gasped, surprised at the
news, “New bond holders?”
    “ Yes, the mortgage bonds were for
sale, for little more than pennies on the pound. Your father's and
now your ability to repay was considered highly suspect and the
bank was very happy to settle. They are often willing to write off
bad debts for ready cash. It clears their books and eliminates risk
to simply take a known loss rather than wait and lose
everything.”
    “ Oh, and I suppose you know the
new bond holders.”
    “ Intimately.” Freddy smiled at
her.
    Charlotte suddenly realized what he
meant. “You, you own them, don't you?”
    Freddy looked down, in what could
be thought to be shame, but was, in reality, to hide his amusement.
It was refreshing to deal with a novice, a pretty novice, albeit
one who seemed to intensely dislike him, but a novice at business
nonetheless. Once he had his facial expression back in control, he
looked up at Charlotte, “Well, yes. Now are you serious about
making a go of the estate without the hall?”
    “ Of course. In the past the income
covered the interest, so I don't see why my plan shouldn't
succeed.”
    “ If you say so, but foreclosure is
such an ugly word. There is this little matter of principal as
well.”
    “ Principles? I didn't think you
had any.”
    “ In business, no, none at all. In
private matters, of course I do. But I mean the principal of the
mortgage. You can't just pay a part of the interest forever, the
debt will just grow. After going over the estate's books with Mr.
Barford, I don't think you don't have much choice in the
matter.”
    Charlotte gave a concerned look at
her solicitor. She appeared lost and helpless. It made her look
especially pretty to Freddy. He found himself unaccustomedly
softening to her, thinking that she really was far out of her depth
in dealing with business issues like these. It was a pity that Mr.
Cruise wasn't giving her better advice.
    “ Tell you what,” Freddy continued,
“Since you're new to this sort of thing, I'll go take a walk. Let
you discuss it with your people. I'll be back in, oh, say a quarter
of an hour or so.” Addressing his solicitor he continued, “Mr.
Bayliss, if you would and if it doesn't put you in a conflict of
interests, could you stay and advise them?”
    “ Advise them sir?”
    “ Assure them of my ability to pay,
business credentials, general reputation, things like that they may
question.”
    “ Sir, as long as you are not
expecting me to advise them on terms.”
    “ Oh no, not at all. That would be
highly improper. Don't do anything improper. If they start to talk
about something you should not hear, I'll be over in the Kings
Arms.”
    With that Freddy