“I think it is simply better society, Mother,” he said and stared at her coldly.
The conversation had halted there and then with their mother making a great performance of leaving the room in a distressed state muttering that her own children were conspiring against her.
For two days together, the family did not take part in any society events whatsoever. Heath was in no mood to spend time with the Ravenswoods and his mother, and Prudence was too busy taking her turn in the soup kitchen.
As soon as he had been provided with an exact address for the unfortunate family in Kennington, Heath had instructed his driver to take him to the general area so that he might know the house he was looking for when the time was right.
Kennington was a big place, and Heath had been pleased of his forward planning. Leaving his driver and carriage on the edge of a small and pretty little public park, he had walked the rest of the way to the Geddings’ residence.
Approaching from the opposite side of the street, Heath spotted the small party immediately. Lady Redmond and Imogen were clearly appealing to a large and aggressive looking man who was undoubtedly the landlord. They were standing outside the house; the door was closed, and there was no sign of the family who lived there.
The small party was so engrossed that none of them saw him approach, and he was able to listen for some moments and gain his bearings in the conversation before he entered into it.
“But Mr Marsden, Lady Redmond and I have had a physician look at Mr Geddings, and it is clear that his hand will return to full use if he can rest it for a while.”
“And as I have already told you, Lady Pennington, I have not made it as far in the world as I have by being taken in by every sad tale and hard luck story that comes my way. If they cannot pay for these rooms, there’s plenty in London that will. Geddings is already two months behind with his rent, and I’m well within my rights to turf them all out on the street this minute.”
“Then I shall pay you for the two months myself,” Imogen said, taking her small drawstring purse from around her wrist and opening it. “There, is this enough for two months?” she said, holding out her hand containing all the money from her purse.
“Yes, that would cover it,” Marsden said but made no move to take the money.
“Then the family can stay?” Imogen said, but she had obviously sensed that there was something curious in the man’s refusal to take the money from her hand. She sounded unsure of herself for the first time.
“No,” he said, almost belligerently. “If you pay me that money, then I have no grounds to turn them out now. But as you said, Geddings will need some time to rest his hand. I would not be so stupid as to take what is owed to me from you only to find myself being owed for the next six months that Geddings can’t get work. No, I shall turn them out today. This minute,” he said and seemed to puff his chest out and lean towards Imogen a little as if trying to intimidate her.
“But that is inhumane,” Imogen said, holding her ground bravely.
“Mr Marsden, surely you can have a little charity. Have you yourself not had to work all these years to keep a roof over your own head? And can you not see how impossible that would have been had you, by some awful chance, found yourself injured as Mr Geddings has?”
“I’ve made what I’ve made by hard work, that’s right enough. If I’d done nothing more than tweaked my hand, I would still have worked. I don’t believe in making things easy for these people because it just makes them lazy. Give them charity once, and they’ll never be away from your door. Now stand aside, I’m turning them out now.”
“But you had not come here today to turn them out,” Imogen continued to argue.
“I think the interference has annoyed me enough that I shall do it anyway. I shall throw them out into the street, and you can watch it all if you like.”
“You will do no such thing, Marsden,” Heath said suddenly inserting himself into the very centre of the group.
As large as Marsden was, he was still several inches shorter and narrower than Heath, not to mention a good deal older. Heath found that he stood a little taller himself in the hope that the man would feel as intimidated as he had hoped to make the ladies feel before.
“And who are you?” the man said angrily although it was clear to see that he was very much wrongfooted by Heath’s sudden appearance.
“I am the Earl of Reddington, and I am fighting an urge to strike you for the dreadful tone you have used upon my friends. However, I shall instead not only pay for the two months unpaid rent, but I shall pay you for the next six. That should satisfy you, should it not?”
“Well … yes … My Lord.” The man suddenly became subservient, and Heath despised him for it.
“And then we shall make a quick inspection of these premises,” Heath said, handing the man the money. “I believe there is a good deal of mould and wood rot, and there are some concerns that such conditions will affect the health and well-being of the children who live here.” Heath motioned towards the door that they should go inside.
“Now wait a minute …”
“No, Marsden, I shall not wait a minute. You are being paid fairly and squarely for the rent on this accommodation. I have no doubt that you are being paid rents on many accommodations in this area. But you have a responsibility to ensure that the homes upon which you make your own living are fit for human habitation. So, we shall go inside now, and I shall wait with the ladies whilst they make you a full account of all the work that needs to be done in order to bring this accommodation to a decent standard. Lead the way.”
As a silent Marsden knocked almost helplessly on the front door of the grubby little building, Heath turned to look at the ladies at last. Lady Redmond wore a warm and entirely pleased expression on her face. Imogen, on the other hand, simply looked startled. No doubt he had been the very last person she had expected to see that day.
Chapter 26
After spending almost an hour in the Geddings’ home, Imogen was still reeling from the sudden appearance of the Earl of Reddington. She was so stunned, in fact, that she could not begin to imagine how it was he happened to be there at just the right time. She knew, of course, that it was not simple fate and yet, at the same time, her mind was too full of everything that had happened for her to be able to dissect the thing and work it out properly.
“We cannot thank you enough your fortuitous appearance here today, Lord Reddington,” Adeline began speaking almost as soon as they were outside the Geddings’ home. Marsden sauntered away without a word, and Imogen could not help thinking that the expression to walk away with his tail between his legs was a very apt one.
“You are more than welcome, Lady Redmond,” he said and smiled sadly. “And you must tell me if Marsden does not perform these remedial works to your satisfaction, for if he does not, I shall certainly bring some pressure to bear upon him.”
“And I would like to thank you on behalf of the Geddings family, Lord Reddington.” Imogen finally found her voice. “Please understand that they were very likely surprised and overwhelmed by everything that has happened this morning, and I know that they are truly grateful.”
“I understand, of course,” Heath said and seemed for a moment as if he did not know what he ought to do next.
In truth, the three of them stood outside the Geddings’ home as if none of them knew what ought to happen next.
“Well, I daresay I ought to …” the Earl began, and Imogen recognized the tone of a man who thought he ought to bid them farewell.
“Now then, I really do have to call upon an old friend of my husband’s in Kennington Square. My dear Lord Reddington, I wonder if you would be so kind as to keep Lady Pennington company for an hour. I am afraid my husband’s friend is rather elderly, and it shall be surprise enough for him to see me there, never mind further guests.”
“Well yes, of course. I should be delighted,” he said and then looked uncertainly at Imogen.
Imogen almost laughed
out loud; even by Adeline’s standards, this level of interference was both very obvious and hurriedly planned.
“As long as you have the time, Sir. After all, Lady Redmond and I have already taken up a good deal of your morning.” Imogen smiled, knowing that she ought to be extremely grateful for his intervention with the dreadful landlord.
“Of course, Lady Pennington. In fact, my carriage is just along the road on the edge of a little park. It looked like a nice sort of place, perhaps you would care to take a turn about it?”
“Yes, I should like that very much.”
“That is settled then. I shall take my own carriage, and I will meet the two of you back at the park. I am sure my driver shall easily be able to locate your carriage, Lord Reddington.” And with that, Adeline hurried away, almost as if she feared her little scheme might come to a sorry end if she waited a moment longer.
“She is very well-meaning, Lord Reddington,” Imogen said, knowing that she ought to say something. After all, Adeline’s plot was hardly well disguised.
“And quite a terrible liar. Although I must admit, I think that is a good quality in a person rather than a bad one.” Heath laughed, and he seemed to relax a little. “The park is but two or three minutes’ walk away,” he said and crooked his arm for her to take before they crossed the street.
As they crossed in silence, Imogen thought how natural it felt to take his arm. There had been so much that she had wanted to ask him, to thoroughly question him over, and yet nothing would come to mind as they continued to walk along the wide Kennington street. She knew, of course, that it was her undeniable attraction to him which was rendering her temporarily speechless. Throughout their entire acquaintance, Imogen knew that she had fought a silent and private battle to deny that attraction; an attraction she knew she had felt even when the Earl seemed most intent to goad and annoy her.
“I have never been in such a dwelling in all my life,” Heath said suddenly.
“I am afraid that I have been in a number of homesteads just like that one and, in truth, a good deal more that have been very much worse.”
“And despite it all, you can see their efforts. That poor family cannot be accused of not trying, can they?”
“Indeed not, Sir. Mrs Geddings works terribly hard against the odds to keep that place clean. But I am afraid that there is absolutely nothing that she can do about the mould.”
“No, it is a dreadful issue of damp that must be solved at its very root. And you really must be sure to check that Marsden does not attempt to paint over the mould. It will not work, you see.” He seemed as if he was on safer footing for a moment discussing the practicalities of mould. “We have had several cases of mould at Reddington Hall, and they are always caused by an almost unnoticeable ingress of water into the building, whether from the footings upwards, or from the roof down. In truth, we have had so much of it in the older parts of the hall that I fancy myself something of an expert on the matter. If you are in any doubts as to the work which is carried out, you really must feel free to ask me, for I should be more than happy to make an inspection of it.”
“That is very kind indeed,” Imogen said and chose to hold back the information that she had a very good idea herself how the issue of mould ought to be dealt with. But Heath Montgomery had been so very kind that she had no wish to deter him in his efforts.
“They seemed so very defeated.” Again, he spoke suddenly, and Imogen slowed her step to look at him.
At that moment, she knew that the emotion she thought she detected was, indeed, genuine. The Earl of Reddington had clearly been affected by what he had seen, and she dared to hope at that moment that he really had changed a little since the spring and the very beginnings of the London Season.
“At first, yes. And they were defeated, Lord Reddington, there is no doubt. But I could feel their relief, their genuine relief, when they realized they had been saved from the workhouse.”
“To think that a home like that is saving them from something even worse would certainly rank among the things I had never considered in my life before.”
“Then I think it would be a good thing for you to see the home once the work has been completed. You see, there is always hope in these things, and it is always more keenly recognized when you are able to lay your eyes on the progress. Until then, I fear that you shall be made very low by what you have seen. It is human nature to care.”
“But perhaps not for every human.”
“I cannot believe that; not really. I think people shield themselves so they are able to ignore what is around them. If they do not look at a thing, they do not have to contemplate it. But if forced, if genuinely forced and without any of the morally degenerate opinions of society to cause influence, I believe that most people really would care.”
“So, you think we are all able to change?”
“I think we are all able to change. I simply think that most people choose not to. Perhaps they protect themselves from having to feel pity, for it is a most exhausting emotion. And of course, such pity always leads one to question one’s own privileges and to wonder whether we are ever truly grateful for what we have if we have never experienced a lack ourselves.”
“But you are grateful, are you not?”
“I am grateful, truly grateful. But only because I have forced myself to step deep into my imagination and to put myself in the lives of others, albeit in only that imaginary way.”
“I wonder if I shall ever be able to do such a thing.” They had reached the edge of the park, and the Earl paused for a moment to open the ornate wrought-iron gates for her so that she might enter.
“Of course, you shall be able to do it; it is simply a matter of making the attempt. But I would not make the attempt lightly, Sir, for it is a dreadfully leveling experience and one that changes you irrevocably. Employ it only if you are certain that a permanent change is something that you would want for yourself, and recognize beforehand how very uncomfortable the process might be.”
“I believe I have changed a little already, and I do not think I would wish to return.” Once again, Heath held out his arm for her to take and, this time, she linked her own arm through a little further. It brought them closer together as they walked, and she could feel her shoulder almost nestled against his broad upper arm. There was something very firm and reassuring about his close physical presence which made her wish that they had more than but an hour to spend alone together.
“Yes, I believe you have changed.”
“I wonder if you can forgive me for all that has passed before?”
“Perhaps there is not really so much to forgive. After all, did I not bite hard at your every remark and almost willfully see your every comment as combative? In truth, I think that we are both, perhaps, a little headstrong and somewhat unwilling to be the first to back down.”
“Yes, that is certainly true.” Heath gave a chuckle that seemed to contain some of his former mischief.
Imogen was pleased to hear it, knowing that they had both been made low by what they had seen in the Geddings’ home, even in the presence of hope.
“But perhaps a little truer of you than me,” Imogen said and laughed.
“There, see, you seek to start the whole thing up again.”
“Only because I am sure that you are perfectly well able to stand up for yourself.”
“Coming to know you a little better, I am not quite so sure of that as once I was.”
“And now you are making me out to be a perfect gorgon.”
“I would not dream such a thing, My Lady.”
They laughed as they walked, and the mood seemed suddenly light and just a little exciting. Imogen realized that she spent so much of her time in planning and working that she rarely dwelt on any idea of romance. Of course, romance did come along carrying all sorts of extra problems on its back, and she knew that she could not enter into anything of that nature lightly. She still had so much to do, so much to achieve.
“We
have taken one full turn about this park, it seems in no time at all,” she said when they reached the gate once more.
“Well, I think we have another half an hour before Lady Redmond returns from visiting her imaginary acquaintance. Perhaps we could take another turn?”
“Yes, I think that would be wise,” Imogen said and laughed. “I daresay my dear friend is simply sitting in her carriage not far from here.”
“I would wager Reddington Hall on the matter.”
“Lady Redmond really likes you very much, Lord Reddington. I think she has liked you from the very beginning.”
“But you did not,” he said, and she just smiled at him, realizing it was not a question she needed to answer.
A Lady for the Brazen Earl: A Historical Regency Romance Book Page 21
