by Rona Randall
“What hints?”
“That Jessica is still not accepted by you.”
“She remains unaccepted by many in these parts. People have long memories, especially for immoral behaviour.”
“Damn it, Drayton, she and Kendall married, didn’t they? As a churchgoer you should be familiar with the words about casting the first stone.”
“Sir! I protest! Are you implying that I — ”
“You and many another man, yes. Phoebe is addlepated and cannot be held responsible for her silly views, which are evidently those she was brought up with —”
“As was her sister.”
“And as you continue to preach, apparently. That surprises me in a man of your sagacity. You would not be so successful did you not possess a deal of it. Which brings me to your schemes for The Drayton Pottery. My wife has been telling me about them and very impressive they sound. As I said to her, it is all very reassuring because it confirms my belief that you were never after my daughter’s fortune, unlike that distant stepson of my distant cousin — no doubt you don’t recall him, Acland by name — ”
Joseph smiled. “I do recall him. He had the audacity to ask for Agatha’s hand, I believe.”
Ralph Freeman nodded.
“And of course you sent him packing, sir.”
“There was no need. I had but to tell him how firmly Agatha’s fortune was tied up, for him to take to his heels. Quite penniless he was, though somehow he has laid his hands on money since then and acquired a partnership with quite a prosperous industrialist in Bristol. But at that time the prospect of being unable to touch a penny of her money until her death, other than her Tremain income which is modest by comparison with her Aunt Margaret’s legacy, soon disposed of him.”
“I — don’t understand — ” Joseph cleared his throat and began again. “What I mean, sir, is that I don’t understand why you should regard my plans for expansion as ‘reassuring’.”
“Because they prove without a doubt that I was right about you. A man who can afford to invest in such costly development, plainly has no need of money. Agatha’s income from the Tremain estates will meet the cost of dressing her and similar luxuries, as you have no doubt realised now that source of money has merged with yours, but the restrictions imposed on her much vaster wealth can cause no concern to a man of your evident means.”
“Restrictions?” Joseph echoed, forcing the word through an increasingly dry throat.
“The same restrictions as were placed on my wife’s.” Ralph chuckled. “When I married her — eloped, we did, because her parents were opposed to it — I was damned glad they couldn’t accuse me of being after her money. You see, she had told me how firmly it was protected on her behalf, so I was aware of that before I carried her off. Truth to tell, I was glad because I was determined to succeed without any outside help, as you are.”
“But her money must have become yours. In common law a wife’s merges with her husband’s.”
“There can be rare exceptions. Provided an instrument, such as an unbreakable Will, can be produced to satisfy Equity that money bequeathed to a woman has been left for the separate and peculiar use of herself and her heirs, and is administered on her behalf by two male trustees, that particular bequest remains hers in total until her death. Cases have been legally fought, some successfully, many not, the most famous being that of Bennet versus Davis in 1725. A father had devised lands in fee to his daughter, being a femme covert, and after her death her husband sought to acquire it by claiming the right to become trustee — ”
Through a throat now almost numb, Joseph interrupted, “And Aunt Margaret was wily enough — I mean wise enough,” he corrected hastily, “to so protect Agatha’s?”
“She did indeed. Margaret was an eccentric soul in some ways. Hated men, despite her several profitable marriages. I suspect she enjoyed the idea of thwarting any who might have designs on Agatha’s wealth.” Ralph chuckled at the thought. “But your only anxiety must be that my daughter’s trustees may handle her affairs unwisely. Rest assured, there is no fear of that because I am one, and a brother of my wife’s is the other. We closely guard her interests, and always will. We control her money shrewdly. And now I must not keep you from your guests — nor from Agatha, for here she is, come in search of you.” The man suddenly began to shake with laughter. “And hell’s teeth, what does she aim to do now — turn the evening into a masque?”
Joseph’s frozen eyes followed his father-in-law’s amused ones and, to his horror, saw his overfed wife bouncing towards him like a frolicksome maypole.
That was when his dislike turned to active hatred and he knew that he had to be rid of her.
Chapter Twenty-six
Max was alarmed when Joseph sent for him a few weeks later and immediately raised the subject of his debts.
“I hear you have now acquired a costly hunter for which you couldn’t raise the money and which your father therefore instructed you to return, but that even so you have managed to keep it.”
“Who told you that, pray?”
“Your wife. And when attending on the Master of The Drayton Pottery kindly remember to address him correctly.”
“Your pardon — sir.”
Joseph promptly unlocked a drawer and withdrew a sheaf of papers with which Max was now very familiar.
“You know what these are, of course”
Max nodded.
“I presume you wish to add to them?”
Greatly relieved, because for a moment Max had feared that his brother-in-law was about to refuse to accommodate him further, he smiled and nodded again.
“For how much this time? I understand the horse cost hundreds.” Max said defensively, “It is a pure Arab which will prove highly profitable when put to stud.”
“How did you finally pay for it?”
“In the usual way. A sum down and a promise of the balance by a specified date.”
“And how soon is that?”
“Three months. A long way ahead.”
“Three months can pass very quickly. Meanwhile, I expect you are counting on me to meet the balance in return for yet another promissory note.”
“Well — sir — you did offer — ”
“That was sometime ago. Other things are pressing now.” Joseph’s hand gestured widely. “Expansion is costly — ”
“You mean the impressive new office being built for yourself and the immense new kilns you plan? Is any of this really necessary? I gather your predecesssors fared well enough with things as they were.”
“I have already outstripped my predecessors, and intend to outstrip them further, and let me remind you that a business investment is not so foolhardy as buying horseflesh without expert knowledge.” “I have excellent knowledge! I was brought up amongst horses. The Tremain stables are renowned.”
“In which case I am sure your father would have been willing to finance this purchase. He has the reputation of never missing a bargain.”
Max sulked. “My father has always been niggardly where I am concerned. I trust you are not intending to follow suit?”
To that Joseph made no reply. He merely fingered the sheaf of papers which was now surprisingly thick. Max was disturbed by the size of it.
“May I examine those — sir?”
“By all means.” Joseph laid them on the desk, but close at hand. “You will find them all present and correct, down to the last calculation of interest. And of course, if I do decide to guarantee the cost of this horse, there will be the additional clause covering my seizure of the property in the event of default. You will be unable to sell the animal to discharge payment. That will be my right.”
“You drive a hard bargain! You made no hint of levying any excess charges when you offered to help me.”
“It was unnecessary. Promissory notes are always subject to conditions. You should have read them before signing.”
“I swear I signed no more than a promise to repay the initial sums.” Max pulle
d the papers towards him, but Joseph’s hand arrested them. One by one he held them out for inspection, firmly grasped between fingers and thumb. The amounts were not only staggering, but bewildering, for a hundred pounds lost at cock fighting had somehow become four, two hundred lost at bear-baiting had grown to seven, and so the sums had correspondingly increased, all subject to heavy interest and all listed above his own signature.
“My God, you have been falsifying these!”
“That is insulting. You signed every one, as you can see.”
“But not for those amounts! Figures have been added.”
“The only additional figures are those applying to interest.”
“Lies! The capital sums have been altered!” With shaking hands, Max tried to seize them, but Joseph retained his grip. “You have been cheating me, Joseph! Robbing me!”
“Since I have not received a penny from you yet, how can I have robbed you?”
Max ran his tongue over dry lips. If the day ever came when his brother-in-law decided to foreclose, he could be ruined. He had been up to his eyes in debts when he married, and since then had indulged in an orgy of spending until now he threatened to drown.
The room seemed to spin about him. He steadied himself against the desk as Joseph locked the sheaf away. Although the desk had originally been a table, two long drawers had been added and it was impossible to see which one the promissory notes went into.
Joseph was saying smoothly, “There is something you can do to alleviate some of the debts, pending foreclosure.”
“Some of them? To what amount?”
“That depends on how much of your Tremain income you settle on my sister right away. Phoebe tells me she is with child — ”
“It will be well provided for, as are all Freemans.”
“I would expect that. But Phoebe deserves some consolation for all the unhappiness you cause her.” The elegant hand silenced any protests. “I fear I anticipated this on your wedding day, when you and your uncouth friends became so disgracefully drunk. That was a shock to everyone, but worst of all to my dear sister, from whom I now learn that you abuse her.”
“More lies. I do no more to her than any husband does to his wife.”
An eloquent glance plainly told Max that he was not believed. He shuffled uncomfortably and said, “I never suspected you of being a prude, brother-in-law.”
“And I never suspected you of being a self-indulgent wastrel who would cause my dear sister so much suffering.”
“Suffering! Childbearing is natural to any woman.”
“I was not referring to that. I gather you indulge in unnatural practices.”
“Anything to do with copulation is unnatural in my wife’s view.”
Joseph ignored that because he suspected it was true. Phoebe had always been a fussy young creature, easily shocked, no doubt cherishing romantic dreams about unsullied love, under which heading she had possibly included the physical union of man and woman and consequently been aghast at the actual process. But her accusations, nonsensical as he might personally consider them, served as useful material for baiting her husband. Any member of the Freeman family, from now on, would be a target for revenge, for he had been sadly hoodwinked at the time of his marriage to lumpy Agatha.
Even she was to blame for not revealing the truth about her aunt’s diabolical scheming. She had referred many times to dear Aunt Margaret’s magnificent legacy, but never once hinted that a husband would be unable to touch it. Such a situation was one he had never heard of and certainly never contemplated. The more he thought about it, the more he became convinced that her father’s silence had been part of a deliberate fraud. To reveal the truth to an undesirable suitor in order to get rid of him was one thing; to withhold it from a highly eligible one was quite another.
Not once did it occur to Joseph that it had been perfectly natural for Ralph Freeman to assume that a well established and increasingly prosperous Master Potter would have no need to wed for money. Joseph was convinced that he had been tricked into taking an unattractive young woman to wife, one who had proved difficult to marry off, thereby saddling him with her for as long as she lived. And hearty Agatha would no doubt live a long time unless a merciful fate took a hand…
Meanwhile, here was her tiresome brother, a convenient target for temporary retaliation.
“Bear in mind what I say, Max. I will summon my lawyer to this office as soon as the roads become easier between here and Stoke, and you will attend when matters have been discussed between us and a settlement drawn up for you to sign. My only regret is that this January weather hampers travel, or I would have him here right away.”
“Phoebe is well provided for already. I will sign no settlement.”
“I think you will.” Joseph tapped the drawer significantly.
The sound carried a note of threat, and without waiting for dismissal, Max beat a hasty retreat.
“So you have been whining to your brother.”
Phoebe’s ringletted head tossed defiantly.
“I never whine!”
“You rarely stop. Everyone finds it tedious. No wonder Amelia shuns your company.”
“I shun hers. I have no desire to gallop across the park each day, whatever the weather, returning dishevelled.” Phoebe patted her ringlets proudly. “Of course, Amelia lacks my fine, soft hair, so has nothing on which to pride herself.”
“Your brother Martin would not agree. Nor do I.”
“Oh, I know Amelia has always been your favourite sister. You even take up the cudgels for her against your wife, it seems.”
“This has nothing to do with Amelia or anyone else. You have been whining to Joseph because you are to have a child, of all things to make a fuss about.”
“My delicate constitution was not meant for childbirth. I find the condition extremely trying.”
“Then you shouldn’t have married. Did you hope to remain childless, or did you imagine that children would be conjured out of the air with no inconvenience to yourself? Did you think your sacred body would remain undefiled by your husband’s sinful lusts of the flesh? Lay the blame for that at God’s door, since He created man — and woman.”
“I won’t listen to such profanity! You are as bad as my sister Jessica, who once declared that if God intended woman to be man’s slave, He should have included it in the ten commandments.”
Max burst out laughing. “I can hear her saying it! She always had a ready wit. And from the way she looks these days, she endures no unhappiness in the intimacies of marriage. The reverse, I imagine. Even dear Papa commented recently on the way she has blossomed. Of course, she loves her husband. That makes a difference in every way, especially to a woman’s looks. Yours are becoming crabbed, Phoebe. Petulance is writing itself all over your features. I cannot think how I was ever enchanted by you. And mark you this — any more whining to the head of the Drayton family, and I shall refuse outright to humour you in any way. I shall take my fill of you whenever I choose.”
“You do so already, regardless of my feelings.”
“Do you regard mine?’
“You have no cause for complaint. I submit dutifully now.”
“But not willingly. Not responsively. You are cold all through.”
“Then warm your body elsewhere!”
“So that you may run to that brother of yours again, bemoaning your lot and crying for recompense which he will have the audacity to demand on your behalf, as he is now doing?”
“I deserve it, and I shall get it.”
“As I told your brother, you are well provided for already. You did very well when you married into the Freemans. I fear you are as big a schemer as he is.”
“That is outrageous! Neither of us is capable of scheming.”
Max turned away without another word, but her voice halted him.
“And now, I suppose, you are going to some village whore.”
“I wish I were,” he said bitterly, “but with your dear Joseph turning
the screws, I doubt if I shall ever be able to afford such a luxury again.”
And that, he reflected miserably as he entered the pottery next morning, was likely to be true unless he could extricate himself from Joseph’s threatening hold. The thought was sparked by the sight of Meg Gibson crossing the yard to the Master Potter’s office. He had observed her doing this several times recently, and wondered why. He could see no reason for a woman from one of the sheds to be summoned there so frequently, if at all. Any criticism of her work, any reprimand, would normally be made at her workbench in the presence of fellow workers. But it was rare indeed for any fault to be found with Meg Gibson’s excellent turning, so the summons from the Master Potter must surely have some other cause.
The thought intrigued him, though it presented no solution, and once she was out of sight he forgot her in the greater demands of his own problem. His only salvation was to get hold of that thick wad of promissory notes. With those in his possession, he would have nothing to fear. He would also be in a position to dismiss any proposed settlement produced by Joseph and his lawyer. Angrily, he reflected that the Master Potter’s demands amounted to blackmail. Pay what you owe me, or else…And until those promissory notes ceased to be a weapon in the man’s hands, the pressure could increase.
Mercifully, the January weather had worsened. Snow blocked the road from Burslem to Stoke-on-Trent and the Drayton lawyer would be unable to get through so long as it lasted. For the first time since childhood, Max hoped the snow would continue because it provided a respite in which, with luck and careful thought, he would be able to gain access to those damnable notes, and then to hell with his avaricious brother-in-law.
He wondered if Agatha yet realised the type of man she had married. Certainly, his parents did not. Joseph Drayton could pull the wool over anybody’s eyes, until it suited him to rip it away.
Seating himself miserably at his own desk, Max wondered what in the name of heaven to do with himself today. His appearances in this boring place were meaningless. There was no longer any pretence that he was useful here, or likely to be.
