When Arthur’s gaze fell to his desk, Ryan suspected he knew what was coming next. “You cannot afford her allowance anymore, can you?”
When Arthur looked up, it was with frightened eyes. “I can barely afford to pay for this house, if I am honest. We are already practically living on rations.”
“How bad is it?” Ryan had no idea it had gotten that bad.
“We presently owe nearly a thousand pounds to the bank,” Arthur whispered.
Mabel stared at him in frozen disbelief. Her eyes were wide with horror as she took in the import of what her husband had just said.
“We are living on borrowed time,” she breathed. “Tell me, has Wilhelmina really had a house fire, or has she been evicted?”
“That is what I need to go town to see for myself,” Arthur murmured. “I don’t think she would make something like a house fire up.”
“Is the house insured?” Ryan asked.
“It is rented from a local businessman,” Arthur informed them. “I had been paying Wilhelmina the rent but giving it to her to give to the landlord, but now I am not so sure she has been paying the rent with the money I gave her.”
“Was the property insured?”
“I couldn’t afford insurance for it,” Arthur whispered. “Having to repair that place is going to ruin us. We cannot afford to live as it is. Now, I have to pay all of those bills as well.”
“The shares will cover the bills but won’t provide you with an income after that,” Ryan advised. “What do you intend to do to pay for food and wood and the like afterwards? Besides try to persuade your daughters to marry that is. It isn’t the answer, Arthur. How are you going to afford to pay for their wedding wardrobes? How are you going to accommodate wedding guests? How are you going to afford to pay for a home for you and your wife once they are gone? While their husbands might help you, they aren’t going to keep you in the manner to which you are accustomed. Now will they pay Wilhelmina’s allowance and bills. Can you see Cedrick paying for anything for you?” Ryan shook his head in disgust. “Cedrick and Wilhelmina are the kind of people who take not give.”
“They have to go,” Mabel added. “Cedrick and Wilhelmina will have to go and stay in a tavern.”
“What, and run up a lot of bills that I cannot pay either?” Arthur’s voice was sharp.
“Why cannot Wilhelmina pay her own bills? Why should she send them to you? She is old enough to pay her own bills. She has had her allowance this month, hasn’t she?” Mabel demanded. When Arthur nodded, she snatched up the pile of bills and rifled through them until she had singled out Wilhemina’s bills, which she then began to total.
“How bad is it?” Ryan asked.
“There is nearly fifty pounds’ worth of bills here,” she whispered. “Plus, she has an allowance of ten pounds per month on top of the rent we are giving her.”
Ryan pursed his lips not least because the picture Arthur and Mabel were painting was indeed a bleak one. While he was wealthy enough to be able to help Arthur sort his problems out and not even feel a dent in his purse, he didn’t want to bail Arthur out of the mess he had gotten himself into. He wanted the man to fret and worry. His stubborn pride had to be dented in order to teach him a lesson and force him to stand up to his sister’s selfishness.
“I am not able to force Wilhelmina to agree to a reduction in her spending. I have tried on many occasions. She just won’t listen. She has always sent her bills to me. When I was working it wasn’t a problem, but now that things have changed, I cannot keep doing it.” Arthur ran a weary hand down his face and sighed as though he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.
“Well, I understand that you have a relation to look after. She is, after all, a lady and your responsibility. However, you cannot allow yourself to go bankrupt while she won’t curb her spending. You have to make decisions based on your priorities and your first priority should always be, without question, to your wife and children. Wilhelmina must be forced to change her ways, Arthur,” Ryan bit out.
“She is not to stop here, Arthur,” Mabel ordered.
“What alternative is there?” Arthur growled. “Even though this house is full to bursting we have no choice but to keep her too. But we cannot keep tripping over each other like we are. It is ridiculous. If I can just persuade one of my daughters to marry, our lives will be easier. We will all have more space and less people to feed.”
Ryan sighed. “Look, for now, I shall purchase the shares from you and will pay you the full market rate. What I would strongly advise is that you send Wilhelmina’s bills back to the merchants, give them her proper address, and make them pester her for payment. Make it clear that she gets her allowance to cover everything and won’t get a penny more. Make it clear to her that if anybody sends you her bills you will just send them b
ack to the merchant with her address. They are not your responsibility. At some point, Wilhelmina is going to have to take responsibility for herself. You are doing her no favours getting yourself into a mess while she makes a mockery of you. Meantime, go and view Wilhelmina’s house and see if it is habitable. It might just need a coat of paint. In which case it might be pertinent to spend some money to get it re-decorated so you can send her home. Once she is there, stick to the allowance and refuse to give her anything no matter how argumentative she gets.”
“And if her house is beyond help?” Arthur asked quietly.
“If her house is beyond help, you will have to make financial arrangements with the landlord that covers the cost of the repairs but deduct a small amount out of Wilhelmina’s allowance. She has to pay some of the cost herself. After all, it was her mistake. She isn’t to just shunt the responsibility for it onto you.”
Arthur nodded his agreement. “I apologise for earlier. I have no idea what came over Sian. She isn’t usually that – wayward.”
Ryan knew the man was trying to figure out what acquaintance he had with Sian, but didn’t explain himself, not least because he wasn’t at all sure what to say.
“I am afraid that Cedrick has it in mind that she has been promised to him, and that is why Sian is so angry,” Ryan sighed. “I should like to go and have a word with her, if I may?”
“Wilhelmina?” Arthur scowled, as if trying to understand why anybody would want a word with her.