He had expected anger from her and found the admission harder to receive. She was describing the choices she had made without offering him an excuse for his own. He could hear dishes being set down in the next room, the familiar sounds of a house kept comfortable by people whose difficulties had usually reached him as requests to be solved. He began to offer the solution he knew how to provide.
“I can arrange somewhere for you to live, whether you keep working here or leave. There would be enough put aside that you wouldn’t have to take the first job offered. You’ve looked after my granddaughter, and I can at least make sure you’re secure.”
Dessa put her cup down. She thanked him, but her posture became more careful, her hands settling together in her lap. Ronan had seen that adjustment across negotiating tables when someone realized an offer carried more weight than its wording suggested. He waited while she chose her answer.
“Would I be allowed to say I’d rather make my own arrangements? I’ve been looking at another position. I want to know that taking it won’t be treated as leaving Maisie when she needs me, and that refusing your help won’t make things difficult for Callum.”
He drew back against the chair, giving her more room than the space between them required. The offer had seemed generous until she asked what refusal would cost. He told her she could make her own arrangements and that Callum would be responsible for his daughter. When she stood to leave, he remained seated instead of accompanying her through the house.
Gideon was waiting outside Ronan’s office before lunch. He had spoken to the assistant who handled the household accounts and asked for a private meeting, calling it urgent. Ronan let him in and left the door partly open. Gideon glanced at it, then placed a folder on the desk without sitting.
The folder contained pending invoices, maintenance arrangements, and the names of people who expected decisions that week. Ronan recognized the method: useful work laid out before an unpleasant conversation. For nearly twenty years, Gideon had kept the estate functioning through illnesses, funerals, and Ronan’s absences. That competence made it tempting to consider the rest a mistake that could be corrected.
“Callum has told me I can’t speak to the staff about this,” Gideon said. “I’ll respect that. But someone still has to hold this place together while your family is upset, and I’m concerned you’re about to remove the person who knows how.”
Ronan asked why Dessa’s concern had been rewritten as agreement with Blythe. Gideon spoke about competing accounts and the difficulty of judging household friction. When Ronan asked again, he adjusted the folder so its edges aligned with the desk. His answer grew quieter.
“Because I believed the marriage needed room to succeed. You wanted Callum settled, and you were pleased with Blythe. I’ve spent years understanding what you wanted without making you spell it out. Apparently that becomes a failing when the result is something you can’t bear to look at.”
Ronan spürte, wie seine verletzte Hand sich um die Stuhllehne schloss und öffnete sie langsam. Gideon beobachtete die Bewegung und fuhr dann fort, indem er auf den Schlag anspielte und darauf, was die Leute über die Familie sagen würden, sobald sie ermutigt würden, frei zu sprechen. Er erwähnte frühere Entlassungen und Streitigkeiten, die Ronan lieber für sich behalten wollte. Die Sorge um die Familie hatte einen unterschwelligen Beigeschmack.
Ronan wies ihn an, die Unterlagen liegen zu lassen. Seine Aufgaben würden übergeben, und die Konten und die Korrespondenz sollten während der Überprüfung der Regelungen zugänglich bleiben. Gideon begann zu erklären, wie viele Personen betroffen sein würden. Ronan rief seinen Assistenten ins Zimmer, damit die Anweisungen auch von jemand anderem gehört würden.
Anschließend rief er seinen Anwalt vom Wohnzimmer aus an. Er teilte ihm mit, dass Gideons Befugnisse entzogen würden, und bat um Anweisungen, an alle weiterzuleiten, die glaubten, ihm zu helfen, indem sie Zeugen in seinem Namen kontaktierten. Der Anwalt fragte, ob Ronan sich darüber im Klaren sei, dass deren Aussagen auch in Bezug auf sein eigenes Verhalten verwendet werden könnten. Ronan blickte aus dem Fenster in den Garten und antwortete.
„Das schließt auch mein Handeln mit ein. Niemand fordert Dessa auf, ihre Aussage abzuschwächen, und niemand spricht die junge Kellnerin darauf an, etwas ausgelassen zu haben. Es soll klar sein, dass sie keine Probleme mit mir zu befürchten haben, weil sie die Wahrheit gesagt haben.“
Sein Anwalt sagte, sie müssten Ronans Schilderung vor dem nächsten Gespräch mit den Behörden noch einmal durchgehen. Ronan hatte bereits beschrieben, wie er den Wasserhahn zugedreht und seine Enkelin in Dessas Armen gesehen hatte. Diesmal bat ihn der Anwalt, die Schilderung bis zu dem Moment fortzusetzen, nachdem Blythe geantwortet hatte, als das Wasser aufgehört hatte zu fließen und er auf sie zuging. Ronan lehnte sich zurück und begann von Neuem, wobei er die Pause zwischen diesen beiden Handlungen in seiner Schilderung ausließ.
