Courting Miss Hughes

Chapter 6

"We could have had this conversation at the card table, Arthur. That would have been a little more convenient, don't you think? there was no need to drag me into this dark conservatory. For god's sake, someone might think we are lovers" laughed Mr. Kenmore bringing Katherine's curiosity to a less than interesting end.

"I couldn't risk other gentlemen hearing our conversation, But I hope, I can trust your discretion. I have a meeting with lord Cecil tonight, I just wanted you to know if someone wonders about my whereabouts. He is a tough man to gain an audience with, and I couldn't risk other ruffians like lord Pembroke getting a wind of it." said lord Bradford "Or surely he would try to create hurdles in my business"

"I would ask you about the reason of this meeting, but I am sure it is something very uninteresting."

Lord Bradford chose to enlighten him anyways "It is about barley, I have heard through my stewards' agents that Lord Cecil produces a surplus of barley in his northern farms. Since he has more than he can sell for, he usually sells it at a very cheap rate. I mean to offer him a twenty percent increase to his last year's prices, in hopes that he would agree to sell it to me for that price for over next five years. It is a hard bargain, but I am willing to try."

"And what do you intend to do with all this barley? I don't suppose you have developed a taste for barley water." Asked Mr.Kenmore

"No, of course not. The kind I wish to purchase from him is for ale production. We would require barley to produce malt. I plan to build a brewery near London that is to supply beers and ales to the taverns in the city. My desire to establish a small brewery business to support my wealth. Surely you must understand, rich and noble cannot depend on agriculture and tenants alone, as we have for so many years. Industry and enterprise are the future, if one wishes to retain their wealth."

"You do not need another business venture to support your wealth. I'd say you have enough for generations to come." Remarked his friend

"One cannot be too careful. What if I have a descendant who is a reckless squanderer? I must secure financial future of the Marquessate against such possibilities" Lord Bradford stated with pride.

"That is to say, if you have descendants at all" jested Mr. Kenmore "Your mother has filled your house with several fetching young ladies and yet you remain disinterested in the prospect of marriage. I wonder if women of England are even capable of tempting you into matrimony"

"I have no objection to marriage" replied lord Bradford in his defence "It is the laddies that I find lacking"

"There are seven of them, since you won't count Eloise, I am sure, and you are saying not one of them has piqued your interest. Surely, they all cannot be so 'lacking', as you say?" Mr. Kenmore begged an interesting question, one for which Katherine was keen to hear an answer.

"Let me try and enumerate quickly for your sake" Began lord Bradford.

"The Janssen ladies, save for Eloise, are dull as ditchwater. Why, the other day,the youngest Miss Janssen said that Napoleon was a Roman emperor who wished to conquer England and her elder sister spent an hour describing benefits of root vegetables. The only heirs I can hope to produce with such ladies are bunch of potato-heads, who would not know how to hold a map right!" Katherine could not decide if she should laugh or be baffled by such a statement. If he judged Janssens, who were so docile in nature, with such severity, she was anxious to see what he thought of her own family. He surely couldn't have a high opinion of them, all due to their accidental rendezvous this morning. But then again, he had asked her to a dance, which meant he did not disregard them entirely. The man was an enigma and at times, beyond her understanding.