Fate had her remain with her father and youngest sister the day the debt collectors came.
It was fate that her father let her go.
It was fate that gave her a new husband, a new home.
It was fate that her younger sister disappeared.
It was fate that...
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Iyla could not recall a time in recent history that she enjoyed as much as she savored the first few weeks after her husband sailed away to the continent. Lord Sieve may have left strict instructions with her about how she was to behave, what she was to wear, and who she could spend her time with, but he wasn't there. That is all she cared about. He wasn't here.
For the first few days of the lord's absence, the lady of the manor still rose and dressed before sunrise, but Mrs. Grismore would shoo her from the kitchens and send her back to her rooms with pastries to 'rest' for a while longer. It only took those few days for the blonde to begin sleeping in until just after sunrise. Iyla handled the household accounts and directed the staff as she had always done, but the air seemed much lighter for everyone with the Lord away.
Even Erick had been too busy acting as a spoiled heir the first few days to offer her any grief, and she did her best to stay out of his way at all costs to keep it that way. The eldest son wanted a little freedom to gamble and laze about before he settled into the tasks her husband had left for him. Iyla nearly laughed at the thought of how quickly the estate would fall after the death of her husband if Erick didn't begin to take a more serious role with his heirship.
The first letters from her husband and many of his associates arrived about a week after he had left. At first Iyla was a little worried about how she would be able to sneak peeks at the contents, but Erick actually offered her a solution to her predicament. It was at dinner one night when the lord's oldest son proposed a solution to both of their problems, hers being the need to spy, and his being the constant need to humiliate her. It occurred when Iyla, Erick, and the Lord's second son, Bartick, sat and ate dinner together one evening.
"Bartick," Erick called his brother. While Erick greatly resembled Lord Sieve in looks and manner, Bartick must have taken after his mother, if Iyla had to guess. She'd never seen the woman, but there was a little softness to Bartick that she had never witnessed with her husband. Aside from his more quiet demeanor, Bartick was not nearly as tall as her husband. His gray eyes and full head of auburn hair differed from his brother and father as well.
"Yes, Erick," Bartick answered his brother with a bored expression.
"Did you see the pile of correspondence that came in throughout the day today?" Erick asked his brother, but stared at Iyla who was doing her best to eat her soup quietly and quickly so the meal would end faster.
"I did not, brother," Bartick answered, still uninterested.
"There were several letters within the stack. Far too many to go about catching up reading and responding on my own, but I was given an idea when I was in town this week," Erick stopped wanting his brother to ask him to continue.
"And what was this idea about letters, Erick?" Bartick asked him without looking up from his food.
"I asked Lord Meryl if he'd ever highered a solicitor or secretary and he laughed at me. He told me that a lord is too important to waste his time reading over boring reports and deciphering handwriting. He was originally going to hire a secretary, but as his whore was already being paid so generously, she could put her mouth to use elsewhere when he was done stuffing it with his cock," Erick finished his story with a smile.
