“Yes, and it's true too. More than once.”
“Well listen to my advice one more time, damn it, you crazy bugger.”
Surprised by Elizabeth's unusually coarse language, Freddy paused, “Lizzy, do you really believe she wasn't involved?”
“Absolutely, I even gave her some funds, so she shouldn't be in a ditch somewhere.”
“Then I've made a ghastly mistake, haven't I?”
His father chimed in, “That's what I've been trying to tell you off and on for the last week. Of all the stiff-necked dolts I've encountered, you are near the top. It's time to stop making a cake of yourself.”
“Sam, can you come ride with me, to go and find her?”
“Can but won't. I have some serious negotiations to undertake with your father here. Isn't that Willis chap back from Bath? He can ride with you and help search for her. That's what you pay him for, isn't it?”
Freddy ran off shouting for his horse and one for Mr. Willis to be prepared as soon as was possible.
Elizabeth looked at Sam and smiled, “Shouldn't we have told him that Charlotte was at the Royal Oak.”
Her father answered, “Nay lass. He needs to suffer a bit first. Let him search the county. It'll make a good story, and if he's too tired they won't fratch when he finds her.”
Charlotte was cleaning mugs and replacing them at the bar the late afternoon when a pair of horsemen rode up outside of the Royal Oak. Her heart leaped into her throat as a voice she both knew very well and, right now both hoped for and dreaded more than any other, shouted to his companion, “Willis, we've looked everywhere. She's not with any of the farmers nor with the vicar and hasn't taken the stage.” No one would tell him anything while he was searching, other than “She's not here.” Freddy continued, “The horses need a breather, and I need a drink.”
A voice she didn't recognize replied, “You're right, Mr. Talbot, sorry Freddy. Let me get the horses to the stable and I'll join you.”
The door to the inn opened and he was there, Freddy. He looked tired, frazzled, as if he hadn't slept much in the last week. He was covered in dust from his frantic ride. Charlotte didn't notice that, she saw him standing there speechless in his surprise, but looking as handsome as he ever did. They stared at each other across the taproom.
Finally, she found her voice, “What'll it be, Sir?”
“Charlotte?”
She replied with as much dignity as she could, “Miss De Vere to you.”
He strode over and grabbed her hand. She looked away as he said. “Charlotte, I'm so sorry for what I said last week. Sending you off like that. Can you forgive me?”
She wanted to pull her hand away, give him a slap and say no, but he wasn't letting it go. Then she looked in his eyes and saw the look of dumb anguish that was there. He wasn't just saying pretty words to get on her good side. “Freddy, I”
She didn't get much further as he pulled her forward and started to kiss her.
“Hoy, enough of that.” It was Mr. Hobbes, he had heard the conversation and come to see what was happening. “This is a respectable inn.”
They quickly parted. Charlotte blushed while Freddy asked her, “So you'll still marry me?”
“Of course, Freddy, but my awful brother.”
“Yes he is, but we can't choose our relations.”
“You're going to have to sort out this mess first, aren't you?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“But you won't send me to debtor's prison, will you?”
“No, of course not. Charlotte, what upset me wasn't the money. It was thinking I was betrayed.”
An acid rejoinder formed in Charlotte's mind, but she rejected it. Freddy looked so vulnerable, and it would be so easy to hurt him by saying the wrong thing. “Freddy,” and here in spite of Mr. Hobbes' repeated injunction to the contrary, she kissed him. “Freddy I will never betray you. We might disagree, but I won't do that, ever.”
“I promise you, Charlotte, I promise you I'll always love you, always trust you.”
“Anyway, I'm sort of thankful to my lousy brother, I didn't know you could get angry. I guess I really did pierce that calm, solid front you have.”
“Why would you ever doubt it? As if I've ever asked anyone else to marry me.”
Mr. Hobbes coughed, and Charlotte asked, “Oh I forgot, Mr. Talbot what will it be?”
“A pint, please and one for my friend when he comes in.”
She started to draw them, fumbled a bit, but managed it in the end.
“Charlotte, why don't you stay with the Answorths?”
“Freddy, for once I need to make my own way. I've worked harder this week than ever before, even though I'd bet Mr. Hobbes has been easy on me.”
“But, I can, I mean I want to make your life easier.”
“No, I want to do this. See if I can. I get room and board, a new dress in the fall and a few pence. Besides that, I get to keep the tips. I'm saving up for my trousseau.”
The innkeeper coughed again, and Charlotte replied, “What else have I forgotten?” He tapped on the table.
“Freddy, that'll be tuppence.” He put a threepenny bit on the bar, “Keep the change.”
Willis came in and saw Freddy in close conversation with the bar maid. “Freddy, has she seen anything? We've ridden through this entire parish and no one knows anything.”
Freddy handed him his mug and introduced him. “Mr. John Willis, this is Miss Charlotte De Vere.”
“Damn me Freddy, you pick them.” Then, remembering his manners, he bowed, “Miss De Vere, I'm pleased to make your acquaintance.” He took a deep pull on his beer and continued, “So Freddy, what now?”
“If you'll keep an eye on Miss De Vere over the next few days, see that no harm befalls her. I'll go find that worthless brother of hers. We'll need to serve him the papers.”
Willis replied, “No. You're not looking for him. That's my job.”
“What?”
“Sir, with respect, you can't go and look for him.”
“Why not?”
“You're too much a target, he won't associate with honest men, will he?”
“No.”
“Does he know what you look like?”
“Yes.”
“He doesn't know me from Adam which will make it easier to find him. He won't know he's being sought, where if he sees you, he will.”
“Still, I'd much rather find him myself.”
“Don't want you harmed, do we? Besides Sir, that's what you pay me to do. I'll find him, easy.” Willis drained his mug. “Good pint that Miss. Sometime when you're the high and mighty Lady Staverton, I'll remind you that you once pulled a pint for me. Now if you'll pardon, I'll be off.” He bowed, then left for the stables. As he was leaving Freddy reminded him, “Pick up the papers for 'my Lord Staverton' at the hall, Miss Elizabeth will know where they are.” In a few minutes, he could be heard riding off.
Freddy looked at Charlotte, “Lady Staverton?”
She blushed, “Didn't you know? If John dies without issue, my husband becomes Lord Stavertoniv.”
“No I didn't. Not that it matters to me. This is all the more reason that you should stay with the Answorths again.” He paused and said in a low voice, “Or you could stay with us at the Hall.”
“Freddy, I can't. You may see nothing in it, but I'm ashamed to be a burden. Let me make my own way for once. Besides, this way I get to know my tenants much better than I would just staying at the vicarage.”
“Charlotte, it's not right. Please let me care for you.”
Mr. Hobbes spoke up, “Mr. Talbot, Sir. I'm looking after Miss De Vere. Just like she was my own daughter. She'll be safe here. The Mrs. and me, well since Betsy's gone back to the hall, it's been a bit lonely. So Charlotte here, she is no bother. Besides that, she's shaping up to be a good bar maid and I'll be sorry to see her go. We've sold so much more beer in the last week that I've had to brew my next batch a week early.”
“Freddy,” Charlott
e added, “The word's gone out that you're foreclosing on me and John, you'll have to explain it to the tenant farmers. They'll be worried by the rumors that are flying around.”
Freddy drained his mug which gave him time to think. “Charlotte, you're right about that.” He gave her a quick peck on the check, to which Mr. Hobbes didn't object, and added, “I'll be back this evening. I can, at least, tell the farmers from Holt what is happening.”
Charlotte smiled at him and said, “That would be good. The rumors have been a major topic of conversation at the bar recently, and there hasn't been much I could say.”
“No you couldn't, but I can. We'll soon settle down the rumors.”
The busy and buzzing tap room at the Royal Oak went ominously silent when Freddy entered in the evening. He smiled and walked up to Charlotte at the bar. “A pint of bitter, my love.” He put down two shillings, and added, “and keep them coming for my friends.” Charlotte's smile at his greeting and truly cheerful reply of, “With pleasure, Freddy,” made it clear that they were once more on good terms. The buzz of conversation didn't resume immediately, as all eyes watched Freddy. One of the more prosperous farmers came over to Freddy and asked, “With respect Mr. Talbot.”
“Call me Freddy.”
“With respect Mr. Talbot, Sir. What's this we hear of your foreclosing on the Staverton estates?”
“It's true, unfortunately. It is the only way to clear up the mess that Lord Staverton and Mr. Cruise left.”
“And you're not planning to send Miss De Vere to debtor's prison?”
“My affianced wife? Do you think I'm heartless?”
“I know you're a hard man, all you Talbot's are. Even your father, chummy as he is, I'd not want to cross him.”
“What happened is simple, though I'm ashamed of it. I thought she was part of a fraudulent scheme involving that man who claimed to be her brother.”
“Was her brother.”
“Her brother died in Paris. Don't you forget that.”
The farmer replied, “He sure looked like John De Vere, and I ought to know.” Then he caught sight of a hard expression flickering over Freddy's face and continued, “Good impersonation, wasn't it?”
“Yes it was. I lost my temper with the pair of them. I shouldn't have doubted Miss De Vere.”
“So if she's your fiancée, why doesn't she move back to the hall?”
“Ask her, I have. I think she likes it here.”
Charlotte interjected, “I've always been cosseted and looked after. I want to see if I can survive on my own. Yes, Freddy's asked me, several times, to go back to the hall, but not until this mess is cleaned up, and I can go freely as Mrs. Talbot.”
Charlotte's answer satisfied most of the questions and the buzz of conversation gradually recovered. Freddy's shillings were soon used up, and he found himself in the unusual position of being stood a few beers himself.
A few days later an express came from Mr. Willis. He'd tracked one John De Vere to the races near Newbury. Unfortunately, he didn't have much more to report, other than John had 'left town between two thunderclaps' to avoid paying gambling debts. He finished the letter with a few portentous sentences.
“I talked with one 'Gentleman Jack', who told me you would already know about my discoveries. It will be a race between me and the bookies for who finds 'My Lord Staverton' first. For his sake, I hope it's me because we won't find him if they get him first.”
A few days later, Mr. Willis sent another express.
Devizes
Mr. Frd. Talbot,
Sir.
De Vere was lying drunk and staying low in Hungerford. It must have been an epic bender, since he went through a fair bit of the fifty pounds he lifted from the turf accountants in Newbury. Sorry to say that, once again, I just missed him.
He has shipped as a hand on the inland waterway. A couple of the lock keepers and toll houses on the canal remember him. He seems to be working his way west, so I thought it best to warn you as Staverton is close by the canal and he may show his face again.
Sincerely,
Yr. Servant
John Willis.
Shortly afterwards a franked letter arrived from Chalfield manor, a few miles to the north of Holt. It said, once Freddy cut through the extraneous, indirect and flowery language, that there was an opportunity for their mutual advantage should Mr. Talbot care to visit. He found Elizabeth and Sam as they were returning from a stroll, chaperoned by her maid, and showed them the letter.
“Sam, what do you make of this?”
“I don't know Lady Chalfield well enough to advise you, but it sounds dashed smoky to me.”
Elizabeth added, “That old soak must have some hidden plan. If I went, I wouldn't go alone.”
Freddy responded, “I'm sure of that. A bit curious what she's about, though.”
Sam looked at Elizabeth and said, “If you can spare my company for a few hours, perhaps I can accompany Freddy. It's not a long ride, is it?”
“Ten miles or so.”
“Let's go, if she's planning mischief it's best soon out.”
Freddy could not help but notice as he and Major Travers rode to Chalfield Hall, that the farms were more impoverished than those near Holt. “Sam,” he said, “Lord Staverton may have been a thriftless man, but these farms are in a far worse state than his.”
“I've noticed.”
“I feel we may have to do something about it.”
“It's your blunt Freddy, but I'd be wary of throwing good money after bad.”
“You're right on that, but I still wonder. The farmers here are so cash-poor that it wouldn't take much investment to yield a good return.”
“You'll be following in your father's footsteps. Where will the piggery be?”
“Sam, you're jumping miles ahead of me.”
“I can just see it. An acre big and steam-powered. Food and coal go in one end and pigs fly out of the other.”
“It's not a laughing matter. We could do that. Except, perhaps, for the flying pigs. I'll have to think about it, there's probably a catch.”
Given the state of the farms, it was no surprise to either man that Chalfield hall was partially ruined.
“I can see that Mi'lady hasn't been wasting her blunt on the estate.”
“Don't know, Freddy, it has its capabilities. It will take a fair pile of the ready to fix it, though.”
When they knocked on the door, a scruffily dressed retainer opened it and admitted them to the hall. Freddy asked, “I'm Mr. Frederick Talbot. Is Lady Chalfield available? She sent me a letter requesting I visit her.”
“This way.” He led them to a front parlor that clearly had seen better days, but at least had glass in the windows and seemed dry. “I'll tell Lady Chalfield that you have arrived.”
It took a few minutes, but Lady Chalfield arrived in the room.
“Ah Mr. Talbot, or perhaps since we're such old friends, I should call you Freddy.”
“I'd prefer Mr. Talbot.”
“Formal are we, Freddy?”
“What is it?”
“I was going through Lord Chalfield's papers the other day and found something that may be of interest. It's an old letter from Charlotte's mother to my husband.”
“Can I see it?”
“Not until you pay me, but I'll read the relevant part. It starts about halfway through.” She began, “I'm breeding again, my love. There's only one possible father, and he isn't my husband. I haven't been with him since he caught the pox. It's signed by Lady Staverton.”
“You're implying that Lord Staverton isn't Charlotte's father?”
“What do you think? Yes. The letter could cause you some interesting difficulties if it were published, even if Lord Staverton publicly acknowledged Charlotte during his lifetime.”
“I see. How much?”
“Since we're old acquaintances, one thousand. I'll only go higher if you argue. Tomorrow it's two thousand. Supply and demand, you know.”
“I
don't carry that much on me, will a check do?”
“That will be fine, but don't think you can stop it.”
“I won't.” Freddy wrote out a check and took the letter in return.
“I have another letter, I'll let you have it when the check clears, maybe.”
As they rode back to Staverton Hall, Sam asked Freddy, “What are you going to do?”
Freddy told him in the calm and uniform voice that his friends knew presaged danger, “Break her.”
“How?”
“You'll see. I'll send an express to Bayliss. If she's not mortgaged to the hilt, I'll eat my boots, uncooked and unwashed.”
“What about Charlotte?”
“What about her?”
“Doesn't it make you change your feelings about her?”
Freddy halted his mount and stared at his friend. “You don't know me very well, do you, Sam? Of course not.”
“That's the Freddy I thought I knew. Good to see that you haven't changed.”
On their return to the hall, Freddy immediately sent an express to Bayliss in London telling him to purchase the mortgages on Chalfield hall and the surrounding farms with an eye to foreclosing. He also asked that his groom Henry, return, with the documents. That done, he asked his father about the letter. After reading it, his father replied, “Aye, It does look damaging. That set weren't known for their fidelity. Did Lord Staverton acknowledge Charlotte?”
“Yes. I doubt she knows anything about these letters.”
“Then this could be embarrassing, but not much else. Did you pay for it?”
“A thousand. Too much, but I'll get that back from the old crow. Trouble is she has at least one more letter.”
“How?”
“We're, I'm buying the mortgages for her estate. It's just to the north of us and will merge with this one.”
“Is it good land?”
“Much the same as here, but even more neglected if you can think that were possible. The thing that bothers me is, should I tell Charlotte?”
“That's a tough one. Given her pride, she might just run and hide in her shame.”
“I'm afraid she might do that.”
“Then you'll need a story about why you're buying Chalfield. She's smart enough to figure out what's up otherwise.”
Charlotte: The Practical Education of a Distressed Gentlewoman Page 15
