Betina Krahn by The Unlikely Angel Read Free Book Online

business enterprise requires acumen and efficient management. Ask her, Your Honor, who she intends to superintend this ‘factory.’ ”
    Sir William did indeed put the question to her. She straightened her spine and stood her ground. “I intend to oversee the work myself, Your Honor. I am well acquainted with financial matters—I ran my aunt’s household quite efficientlyfor a number of years. Since January I have read extensively on the subject of industrial processes and management. And I have already hired an experienced engineer and a number of carpenters and journeymen toolmakers to refit the factory.”
    “Your Honor, she is a young, unmarried woman.” Farnsworth planted himself before the bench with his fists at his waist, demanding the court’s undivided attention. “What does she know of the daily workings of factory life or of the sort of people who work in factories? Factories require tending at all hours, in close confines, in close contact with men of the working class. A delicate young woman should be concerning herself with more seemly matters—social events and making suitable connections, possibly even matrimony.”
    “How dare you?” Miss Duncan’s face reddened and her hands fell into fists at her sides as she faced first Farnsworth and then Sir William. “Finally we hear the truth of it, Your Honor. They refuse to release the money because they cannot abide the thought of a young
woman
living her life and running her business affairs without a man’s governance. If I were a
man
of twenty-five, would they murmur one word of opposition to my starting a business concern of my own?
    “But because I am a woman they tell me not to ‘worry my pretty little head’ … to go plan a party or a holiday in Paris … to buy a new hat, a new dress, or a whole shop full of new dresses. My gentlemen solicitors wouldn’t bat an eye if I sent them bills for thousands of pounds spent on extravagant jewels and clothing. But let me speak of using that very same money to clothe ragged children and give them food and schoolbooks … let me propose creating honest, decent work for those same children’s parents and suddenly I’m impractical and ridiculous, a sentimental female, a cockeyed idealist!”
    Dunwoody sprang up, ruddy with indignation. “What she proposes, Your Honor, is no less than a doomed socialexperiment! She even speaks of having her workers run things—take over the place.”
    “I simply want to give people a chance to work hard and make a better life,” she countered. “It has happened before—in the colonies—America, Australia. Poor people can learn to help themselves.”
    “Help themselves to her money, she means,” Farnsworth growled.
    Well, it is her money, after all, Cole thought.
    “Well, it is my fortune, after all,” Madeline Duncan declared as if she had somehow perceived Cole’s musings.
    Smart girl
. Cole focused on her, trying to make out whether her hair was truly red or if its vivid appearance was just the reflection of her audacious coat.
What would I argue next if I were in charge? The will itself, perhaps—could that be of any help?
    “My plans for the money are perfectly in keeping with the wishes my aunt Olivia expressed in her will,” she continued. “She knew and approved of my interest in helping others. She would have applauded my intention to rebuild the factory and to use it to produce sensible clothing. In fact, Your Honor, my aunt was a personal friend of those forward-thinking Americans, Dr. Mary Walker and Mrs. Amelia Bloomer. For the last two decades my aunt Olivia wore ‘female trousers’ herself.”
    “Did she indeed?” Sir William rubbed his chin thoughtfully and looked down at the documents attached to the briefs submitted by both parties. “I have read the will of Olivia Duncan. It seems straightforward and sensible. Miss Duncan is to have the balance of her estate with no entailments, codicils, or conditions attached. And there