Ten Guineas on Love

by Claire Thornton

  “I imagine I must be an object of curiosity to quite a lot of people,” Jack agreed. “I’ll be very happy to meet Mrs Mayfield, and perhaps even divert her mind from the alarms of last night. But what did I ought to do about my horse?” He pointed to where the handsome bay gelding he had been riding the previous day was tied to the post of the kitchen garden gate.

  “Well! I don’t know how you can reprove me for impropriety when you can say things like that!” Charity said after a moment. “Though it’s perfectly true I did think you might give Mama something else to think about. Bring him through and we’ll take him to the stables.”

  “Across the kitchen garden?” Jack asked.

  “Well, he’s not going to do it much harm if you lead him round the edge,” Charity said. “Besides, it’ll soon be Lord Ashbourne’s garden—and I don’t suppose he cares much one way or another.”

  “I don’t suppose he does,” Jack agreed gravely, untying the reins from the gatepost. He clicked his tongue and the bay walked willingly towards him. “Lead the way, Miss Mayfield.”

  * * *

  “Lord Riversleigh! How wonderful to meet you! Do sit down. Charity, get Charles to bring in some tea.” Mrs Mayfield was indeed delighted with her unexpected visitor, the more so because she was comfortably aware that she must be one of the first people in the neighbourhood to meet him.

  “I’m afraid you find us in rather a turmoil,” she continued brightly. “We had a burglar last night and we’re all still in something of a flutter.”

  “Yes, Miss Mayfield told me,” Jack said. “I hope it’s not an inconvenient moment for me to call. I was riding past when I saw Miss Mayfield in the garden, and when I stopped to speak to her she invited me in.”

  “And I’m so glad she did!” Mrs Mayfield exclaimed. “I’ve been longing to thank you in person for the kind message you brought us from Edward. So thoughtful of him, and of you.”

  “Not at all, ma’am,” said Jack immediately, without a flicker of surprise.

  “Mama was very touched that in the midst of all his preparations Edward remembered us and commissioned you especially to bring us his good wishes,” Charity explained hastily, wishing she’d thought to tell Lord Riversleigh the excuse she’d given her mother for his visit two days earlier.

  “And for your own kindness in bringing us the message so quickly,” Mrs Mayfield assured him.

  “I beg you won’t mention it,” Jack said smoothly. “Edward spoke very highly of you and he particularly desired that you should receive good news of him.”

  “Yes. Well, I’m sure he’ll have a wonderful time in Rome,” said Charity, anxious to change the subject. She could imagine all too clearly how horrified Mrs Mayfield would be if she ever found out Charity had proposed to a stranger!

  “Will you be staying up at the Hall long, Lord Riversleigh?” she continued.

  “I’m not entirely sure. Thank you.” Jack leant forward and accepted the cup of tea she was offering him. “I have affairs in town which cannot be neglected for too long, but there is also a great deal of work to be done here.”

  “Your home is in London?” Mrs Mayfield pounced on this snippet of information eagerly. She was fascinated by the deliciously mysterious way in which the unknown heir had suddenly appeared.

  “Yes, ma’am.” Jack sipped his tea. He gave the impression of being a man who, while perfectly willing to answer questions, had no intention of volunteering gratuitous information about himself. Charity thought he was quietly amused by her mother’s good-natured curiosity. Whether that was the case or not, Mrs Mayfield rose handsomely to the challenge and within half an hour, without once appearing vulgarly inquisitive, she had discovered a number of interesting facts about her visitor.

  Charity listened in amazement. It suddenly occurred to her that she had been remarkably incurious about Jack Riversleigh. Yet she guessed he must be nearly thirty years old, and somehow she had gained the impression that he had made his mark on whatever world he had inhabited during those years. Perhaps her lack of curiosity had been caused by the peculiar nature of their first meeting—or perhaps it was because of a subconscious awareness that if she allowed herself to be too curious about him he might begin to intrude uncomfortably upon her thoughts. She had stern and important schemes afoot and she couldn’t allow herself to be distracted.

  Mrs Mayfield was far more interested in Jack’s family than in any other aspect of his life and, as a result of her efforts, she learned that he had two sisters, Elizabeth and Fanny; that Elizabeth was married and that Fanny, who was only twenty-one, lived with his mother. She also learned that he wasn’t married, a fact that Charity had already discovered on their first meeting, though she’d lost interest in it after he’d refused to take Edward’s place in her schemes.

  “Well, I dare say you will find things quite different, now you are Lord Riversleigh,” said Mrs Mayfield comfortably. “I’m sure your mother and sisters must be very pleased. You will be able to launch Miss Riversleigh into society in some style now.”

  “I think Fanny will probably launch herself,” Jack murmured irrepressibly.

  “The Riversleigh town house will be an excellent setting for her introduction to the highest ranks of society,” Mrs Mayfield continued, not really attending. “I beg your pardon, my lord, did you say something?”

  “Nothing of importance,” he assured her, and stood up. “Thank you for your hospitality, but I believe I must be going now. I’m on my way to visit the son of one of your tenants, to discuss a lease.”

  “Oh?” Mrs Mayfield looked blank. She’d never bothered to pay much attention to the management of the estate.

  “Jerry Burden, Mama,” Charity explained.

  “Oh, Jerry!” Mrs Mayfield said, relieved. “Yes, Jerry is a fine young man. I’m sure he’ll answer your purposes excellently. I wonder…?” She paused; she’d obviously had an idea. “Do you know the way, my lord? Perhaps Charity ought to show you. She’s been cooped up indoors for days now, planning this wretched move of ours. I’m sure the fresh air would do her good.”

  “Oh, no!” said Charity instinctively. “I’ve far too much to do this morning. I’m sure Lord Riversleigh can find his own way; it’s not at all difficult.”

  “But you said you were going to see Mrs Burden today, anyway,” Mrs Mayfield pointed out.

  She’d had a sudden, delightful vision of her daughter as Lady Riversleigh and both their futures assured. To be sure, everyone knew Riversleigh was heavily mortgaged, but living in debt at Riversleigh had to be better than living in lodgings in Horsham. Besides, even in the short time she had known Jack Riversleigh, she’d decided that she liked him a great deal better than Owen Leydon, and Charity didn’t know many other men. Mrs Mayfield, in fact, had her own scheme for ensuring the future happiness of herself and her daughter—and paying off the debt on Hazelhurst wasn’t part of it.

  “Very well.” Charity capitulated suddenly. “Can you wait while I get ready, my lord?”

  “Certainly, Miss Mayfield.” Jack sat down again and smiled at Mrs Mayfield.

  “I’m so glad she’s going out riding with you,” Mrs Mayfield confided when they were alone. “She’s had so much to worry her with all the arrangements for the move, and then last night—it was Charity who found the burglar, you know!”

  “Yes, ma’am,” said Jack gently.

  “You don’t think he’ll come back, do you?” Mrs Mayfield twisted her handkerchief nervously in her hands. “Charity says he won’t, but I can’t help worrying…”

  “No, ma’am,” Jack said, his deep voice very reassuring. “I’m sure he won’t be back. But if you’re nervous, have a couple of your manservants sleep downstairs for a few days.”

  “That’s a good idea.” Mrs Mayfield seemed relieved. “I’ll suggest it to Charity.”

  * * *

  “Thank you for not telling Mama why you really came to see me that first day!” Charity said as she rode beside Lord Riversleigh on a placid grey
mare, her groom a discreet distance behind them.

  “You didn’t think I would, did you?” he sounded amused.

  “I didn’t know,” she confessed. “I suppose not, but I meant to warn you anyway, just in case. I forgot.” She seemed annoyed with herself.

  “You have a great deal on your mind,” he said soothingly. “Even you can’t expect to remember everything.”

  “I don’t see why not,” Charity said. “Are you really going to give Jerry the lease?”

  “How can I tell until I meet him?” Jack replied. “What I would like to know, however, is why both you and Guthrie appear so set against Cooper.”

  “I don’t like him,” Charity admitted frankly. “But, apart from that, I really think Jerry would make a better tenant. Cooper already leases two farms, and he just wants the opportunity to increase his profits and his consequence. He’s more experienced than Jerry and he’d be a safe choice—that’s why your grandfather favoured him—but I think Jerry would be a better investment. He’s very young, but he’s learnt a lot from his father, and he’s not only hardworking and enthusiastic but he’s also desperate for a chance to prove himself. I think if you gave him that chance it would be very profitable for both of you.”

  “I see,” said Jack slowly. “You seem to have a remarkable head for business, Miss Mayfield.”

  “It seemed like common sense to me,” Charity said, rather surprised.

  “Possibly, but if that’s the case it’s amazing how few people possess it,” Jack replied, smiling slightly. “Have you had much to do with the management of Hazelhurst?”

  “I’ve always been interested, and Papa wasn’t…” Charity caught herself up just in time before she criticised her father to Lord Riversleigh. She knew Mr Mayfield hadn’t always been very consistent in the management of his affairs, but she was far too loyal to say so.

  “I’ve always been interested in it,” she amended her reply, “and since my father died it’s been entirely in my hands—apart from Sam Burden’s help, of course. I don’t know what we’d have done without Sam—he oversees the home farm for us. But you mustn’t think there’s anything grand about Hazelhurst,” she added hastily, in case he’d gained the wrong impression. “It’s not like Riversleigh, or even Sir Humphrey’s estate. We only have two tenants and then the home farm. It’s not difficult to manage. May I ask you a question, my lord?”

  “Of course.” Jack hadn’t missed her fleeting reference to Mr Mayfield, though he was far too polite to remark upon it.

  “What is your business?”

  Jack smiled, apparently not at all offended by her blunt question.

  “I’m a banker.”

  “A banker! Good gracious!” Charity exclaimed, rather startled. “I must say, you don’t look like one.”

  “No, Guthrie didn’t think I was stout enough, either,” Jack remarked humorously. “Perhaps I ought to do something to rectify the matter.”

  “That’s not what I meant at all!” said Charity firmly, although there was a slight, tell-tale blush to her cheeks. “But however did you get to be a banker? Somehow it seems such an unlikely occupation for Lord Riversleigh’s grandson.”

  “It does, doesn’t it?” Jack grinned, thinking of all the money Lord Riversleigh had borrowed during his lifetime. “But it isn’t at all an unlikely occupation for Joseph Pembroke’s grandson. Besides, strangely enough, it was my father who had most to do with developing that side of the business.”

  “Joseph Pembroke was your mother’s father?” Charity said, trying to get Jack’s family tree untangled in her mind. “Was he a banker, then?”

  “Eventually,” Jack replied. “He was originally apprenticed as a goldsmith, but the two professions have always had very close links, so it was a fairly natural development—particularly after he’d met my father. By all accounts, Father was fascinated by the business and played a large part in developing it, even though he’d had no previous experience.”

  “He must have been a very different kind of man from his father or his brother Harry,” Charity said. “They only seemed to take pleasure in destroying things.”

  Jack smiled. “He was,” he said.

  “When you said that your grandfather was a goldsmith,” said Charity, going back to the other point that interested her, “do you mean that he could actually make things in gold?”

  “Oh, yes,” Jack replied, looking amused. “Though in fact, despite the name, most goldsmiths usually work in silver. But, of course, once grandfather became more involved in banking he had less time to devote to the workshop.”

  “You mean, he gave up his craft?” Charity exclaimed, surprising Jack with her vehemence. “How could he? Surely it must be more rewarding to create a beautiful object than it is to…to… ?”

  “Deal in filthy lucre?” Jack supplied when she seemed at a loss. “Perhaps I should have said that my grandfather didn’t entirely abandon his craft. He and my father did become preoccupied with banking, but his other partner was, and still is, very much a working goldsmith—and an important part of the business.”

  He didn’t sound annoyed, but Charity blushed painfully as she realised that once again she had been more outspoken than courtesy demanded.

  “I’m sorry, my lord,” she said. “I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just that I have so little talent myself that it seems almost criminal to me when people who do have a skill waste it.”

  “Are you thinking of Edward?” Jack asked, beginning to understand her reaction.

  “I suppose so,” Charity replied slowly. “But not because he deliberately wasted his talent—quite the contrary. In fact, I think it’s probably because I watched him struggling against so many obstacles that I feel so strongly on the subject.”

  For a moment she gazed over the winter landscape almost as if she was remembering something. Then she roused herself and laughed.

  “There were times when I almost envied him,” she confessed. “Painting, sketching, carving—it all came so easily to him. As I said, I’ve no talent for that kind of thing at all, and perhaps that was partly why I liked him. Nearly everyone else used to get annoyed with him because he seemed so vague, half foolish even. But I saw him when he was sketching, and heard him talk about the things he really cared about—and he was a different person then, so quick and decisive.”

  She smiled reminiscently.

  “Do you miss him very much?” Jack asked abruptly, responding to the almost wistful note in Charity’s voice. “I’m sure, if you wish it, it would be possible to contact him—even recall him to England.”

  Yet, even as he spoke, he was aware of a reluctance to carry out his own suggestion, and he suddenly realised that the unfamiliar—and hitherto unnamed—sensation he was experiencing was jealousy. The knowledge shook him. He had thought he knew himself better than that and he damned himself silently for his folly—nevertheless, he was relieved when he heard Charity’s surprised rejection of his offer.

  “Oh, no!” she exclaimed. “I do miss him; he was like the older brother I never had—and he used to side with me against Owen. But I’d never deny him this opportunity. Besides, I only asked him to marry me when I thought we could be of mutual assistance to each other—and now he’s already on the way to Rome he doesn’t need my help.”

  She turned her head and smiled at Jack.

  “But I do thank you,” she said. “It was very kind of you to offer to help.”

  “It would have been my pleasure,” Jack replied formally, but the more familiar gleam of humour had returned to his eyes. He found Charity’s unusual out-spokenness very entertaining—and her unthinking reference to Owen very revealing. He was less inclined than ever to believe that she really intended to marry him.

  Charity laughed.

  “You do the grand manner very well,” she said. “It wouldn’t have been a pleasure at all—but that only makes your offer all the more generous. Are you acquainted with Lord Ashbourne?”

  “Lord Ashbourne?” J
ack repeated, wondering if he’d missed part of the conversation. He still wasn’t used to Charity’s tendency to change the subject in almost mid-sentence.

  “He’s the man who lent Papa the money,” Charity explained. “Didn’t I mention it in my letter?”

  “Not as far as I remember,” Jack replied slowly. “What was it you wanted to know?”

  “Only if you’d ever met him,” Charity said. “It didn’t occur to me before, but when you told us this morning that you live in London I wondered if you knew him. I believe he also spends a great deal of time there.”

  She smiled ruefully.

  “Mama and I have never met him, and I can’t help being slightly curious about the man who will soon own our home,” she admitted.

  “Of course,” said Jack. “It must seem very odd. But I’m afraid…” He paused, looking absently ahead. “No, I’m afraid that I can’t be of much help to you,” he continued at last. “I have occasionally encountered the Earl, but he moves in the most fashionable of circles and my home has always been in the City. The two worlds are not always…compatible.”

  “I just wondered, but it’s not important,” said Charity quickly.

  It had suddenly occurred to her that perhaps the reason the Earl and Jack had encountered each other was because Lord Ashbourne had ordered some silver from Jack. If that was the case the two men were hardly likely to be on intimate terms—especially if the Earl hadn’t yet paid his bill. And Charity knew that the aristocracy were notorious for procrastinating over their debts to tradesmen!

  “We live in such a small community here that we all know each other,” she continued, trying to steer the conversation on to a less potentially embarrassing subject. “I’m afraid I tend to imagine that the same is true of London, but of course it isn’t—it’s so much bigger.”

  “With so many more inhabitants,” Jack agreed humorously. He didn’t know exactly what Charity was thinking, though he could make a fair guess.