Fairfield Hall

by Margaret Dickinson

  ‘And Dorothea?’ Annabel had asked him. ‘She didn’t argue with that?’

  Jim had shaken his head. ‘I saw his lordship and we settled it between us. Proper contracts have been drawn up. Lady Dorothea can’t touch us, but his lordship has given her free rein in the house, I understand.’

  The big house, he told her, had been rejuvenated, the gardens were now immaculate and he’d heard from the folk working in the house that money had been spent on refurbishing every room. ‘John Searby says everything’s wonderful now, but they all miss you so much. It’s not the happy family home that you would have made it.’

  Annabel had smiled wistfully at the compliment. How she would love to see the beautiful house just once more. But there was one piece of news that brought joy to Annabel on the day that Nancy and her mother came to Meadow View Farm.

  ‘I hope you don’t mind us coming, m’lady, but I wanted you to know. Me and Harry are getting married.’

  ‘That’s wonderful news, Nancy. Do come into the house and tell us all about it. Is Harry leaving the army?’

  ‘No, no, m’lady, he doesn’t want to leave the captain, but he’ll get home whenever he can.’

  When Nancy had told them her plans, she ended by saying, ‘I’d so love you to come to the wedding, m’lady, but . . .’ She stopped and bit her lip.

  ‘No, Nancy,’ Annabel told her gently. ‘I’d love to be there, you know that, but I really can’t.’ The young woman looked relieved, as if the matter had troubled her. ‘But I’ll be thinking of you all on your big day,’ Annabel went on. ‘Never doubt that.’

  So life had settled down into a routine, the years passed and soon it was time to consider Charlie’s formal education too.

  ‘What is it?’ Theo said, coming to stand beside Bertie at the window.

  ‘Look. See who’s getting out of that carriage over there.’

  ‘Oh my,’ Theo whispered, ‘it’s – it’s Aunt Annabel. And who’s the boy with her? Surely, it’s not . . .?’

  ‘It is. It’s Charlie. She must be bringing him to start school here too. Come on, let’s go down.’

  They clattered down the stairs ignoring warnings from any passing master to ‘walk, boys, if you please’, and ran out of the front door and onto the driveway, skidding to a halt in front of the newcomers.

  Annabel looked at them and blinked. ‘Oh Bertie and – and Theo. Oh my goodness!’ She stretched out her arms towards them and, without a thought for decorum, they rushed to her, enveloping her in a bear hug, even knocking her huge hat with its fancy plumes slightly awry.

  ‘How you’ve grown! Oh Theo, how lovely to see you.’

  There were tears in the boy’s eyes. He hadn’t seen her since the night he had watched her walk away from him, down the driveway and out of his life. But he had never forgotten her and since meeting up with Bertie at school, he had asked about her constantly. Bertie, of course, had seen her often in the intervening years.

  Now Annabel turned and drew Charlie forward. ‘And this, Theo, is your cousin, Charlie.’

  Theo grinned at the younger boy, who was looking very nervous. ‘How do you do, Cousin Charlie?’ Theo stuck out his right hand and shook the bewildered boy’s hand firmly. ‘We’ll look after you, won’t we, Bertie? Three cousins all together. What larks we’ll have.’

  Annabel chuckled inwardly, but secretly hoped that news of any ‘larks’ would not get back to Dorothea.

  ‘Oh, they’re cousins all right,’ it was said in the staffroom when it was reported that there were now three boys connected in some way to the Lyndon family. ‘Crowstone is the earl’s sister’s boy, Lyndon is the earl’s son, though it’s rumoured he’s not to inherit, and Banks, well, he’s the son of the present earl’s older brother who died. Wrong side of the blanket and all that.’

  Eyebrows shot up. ‘And Roper has admitted him to the school?’

  ‘Now, who in their right mind could resist Lady Annabel? It was she who brought him. And besides,’ the speaker lowered his voice, ‘I think a handsome donation to the school exchanged hands on his admittance. By all accounts it’s her we have to thank for the new library.’ He winked and tapped the side of his nose. ‘And now her own son is here too.’

  ‘Mm, they’ll need watching. I smell trouble from those three.’

  But the master’s pessimism was misplaced. True the boys were high spirited and mischievous, but no more so than any other boy in the school.

  When Annabel had left that first day, Theo and Bertie had escorted their young cousin to the dormitory he was to share with nine other boys. ‘You let us know if anyone bullies you. We’ll sort ’em out,’ Theo promised.

  ‘I expect they might tease me about this,’ Charlie laughed, still a little nervous, but he was growing in confidence now that he had the support of his two cousins. He held up the knitted rabbit that Bertie had given him. It was worn now, but worn through being loved and cherished. Annabel had mended it carefully more than once.

  The two older boys stared at the woollen toy.

  ‘It’s Hoppy!’ Bertie grinned. ‘You kept him all this time.’ His face sobered. ‘But I’d keep him hidden, if I were you.’

  Charlie settled in quickly. He missed his mother and great-grandparents dreadfully and he worried that something might happen to one of the older ones whilst he was away. But both Edward and Martha, now seventy-six and seventy-five respectively, were still in remarkably good health and Charlie’s entry into boarding-school life was undoubtedly eased by the presence of his older cousins. Word soon went around the school: ‘Don’t touch young Lyndon, else you’ll have Crowstone and Banks after you.’

  Meadow View Farm seemed strangely quiet without Charlie and Annabel wandered through the house and farmyard for some weeks quite lost without him.

  ‘Tis for the best, my lovely,’ Edward consoled her, though he was missing the boy just as much and Martha shed tears every day. ‘He needs to go to a good school and be with other boys. The time will soon pass.’

  But it didn’t for Annabel; it passed all too slowly and she found herself counting the days until the next school holiday.

  She had heard nothing from her husband. She presumed he had not divorced her for desertion or she would have known. Nor did she know if he had taken any action about disowning and disinheriting Charlie. All she knew was that it was generally accepted that Theodore Crowstone was the Earl of Fairfield’s heir.

  Fifty-Eight

  Of course, it was bound to happen one day. As Theo had told Bertie, his mother, Dorothea, rarely visited, but when, a year after Charlie’s arrival, Theo made the mistake of doing so well in his term work and examinations that he earned the form prize for that year, Dorothea determined to attend the school’s Speech Day to see him receive his book prize.

  ‘There’s not a lot we can do to keep you two hidden.’ Theo wrinkled his brow. ‘If it’d been Sports’ Day, we might have managed to keep you out of her way, but as the whole school attends Speech Day, there’s no chance.’ He turned to Charlie. ‘Is your mother coming?’

  Charlie shook his head. ‘No. She said that because you’re receiving a prize, she knew your mother would want to come this year and she didn’t want anything to happen to spoil your day.’

  Theo sighed heavily as he murmured, ‘I’d have liked her to be here, though.’

  ‘Best not, eh?’ Charlie said softly.

  ‘Should we pretend to be ill?’ Bertie suggested. ‘Matron’d keep us in the sickbay, wouldn’t she?’

  ‘I doubt it, unless she thought you’d got something contagious. Old Roper expects us all to attend even if we have to crawl there.’

  And so the three boys took their places with the rest of the three hundred or so pupils in the school’s vast hall. Parents and visitors sat at the back. Bertie and Charlie were nervous, fearing a confrontation, but Theo seemed remarkably relaxed.

  ‘Have you got a plan, Theo?’ Bertie whispered as they filed into the hall.

  Theo chuckled
. ‘You could say that.’

  ‘No talking,’ came the stern voice of their form master. ‘Crowstone, you must sit at the end of the row, since you are to go up on stage.’

  After what seemed an age, after the school hymn had been sung, the headmaster had given his annual report and the guest speaker had given his address, it was at last time for the pupils to receive their prizes.

  When his turn came, Theo marched proudly up to the stage as his name was read out, shook the speaker’s hand and received his prize as they had all rehearsed the previous afternoon. Returning to his place beside Bertie, he winked at his cousin.

  At the end of the prize giving, the speaker asked the headmaster to allow the whole school an extra half-day holiday, as was customary on such occasions. When Mr Roper smiled and inclined his head, the whole school cheered. When the noise died away, the headmaster rose and instructed the school to be dismissed but added, ‘Will the prize-winners and their families please remain behind. Afternoon tea will be provided in the canteen.’

  As Bertie made to leave, Theo grabbed his arm. ‘You’re staying, old chap. And where’s Charlie?’

  ‘We – we can’t stay, Theo.’

  ‘Yes, you can, you’re my family.’

  ‘But your mother . . .’

  ‘There’s nothing Mama can say or do about it. And it’s high time she knew. We’re friends – the three of us – as well as cousins.’

  ‘But—’

  ‘Ah, there’s Charlie. Charlie, Charlie – over here.’

  ‘Less noise, Crowstone,’ a master hissed, but Theo only turned an innocent gaze upon him. ‘I’m just collecting my family together, sir, as the headmaster instructed.’ The teacher frowned, but could say nothing. Theo, turning to his cousins, added, ‘Come along, let’s go and find this afternoon tea.’

  Bertie and Charlie glanced unhappily at each other, but trailed after their older cousin. When Theo was on a mission, nothing they could say would dissuade him. Bertie squeezed the younger boy’s arm. ‘It’ll be all right, Charlie.’

  But Charlie wasn’t so sure.

  It had only been during the previous school holiday that he had learned about the family feud. His grandfather had taken him for a long walk in the fields to explain it all to him. ‘You’re almost ten now, Charlie, and it’s high time you understood a little more about your family.’ So, very gently, Edward told his great-grandson all that had happened ending, ‘But I want you to understand that none of it was your mother’s fault. She was wrongly accused of having an affair with another man other than her husband. You know what I mean by that, don’t you?’

  Charlie had nodded.

  ‘Your mother is a wonderful, caring and loyal woman. She would never have done such a thing, but your aunt is – I’m sorry to say – so ambitious for her own son to inherit that she has spread these scurrilous rumours about your poor mother. And, sadly, your father has believed her.’

  Charlie had looked up at Edward and, with a wisdom far beyond his tender years, said, soberly, ‘I expect my father didn’t really have much time to get to know my mother properly. You said they didn’t get much time to spend together even after they were married, did they? And he’d believe his sister, wouldn’t he?’

  ‘That’s about the size of it, my boy.’

  Charlie was silent for several moments before asking, hesitantly, ‘Do you think maybe Aunt Dorothea really did believe it or that she was being deliberately nasty so that Theo would inherit?’

  ‘That’s a difficult one to answer, Charlie.’ Edward knew the answer to that, but even now he didn’t want to set the boy entirely against his own father by telling him that Dorothea’s lies had fed the man’s obsessive jealousy. But he was startled by the young boy’s intuitive question. ‘Your cousin, Theo – has he said anything to you about all this?’

  Charlie shook his head. ‘Not about that, no, but he’s always asking about Mother and whenever she comes to school he’s the first to reach her.’ He grinned. ‘He beats both me and Bertie.’

  Edward chuckled. ‘So, there’s no animosity between you and your cousins?’

  ‘None at all. We’re great pals. Always have been and I don’t think anything will alter that,’ Charlie had answered confidently.

  But now, as Charlie followed Theo into the school canteen where parents waited to greet their offspring, he was trembling. And, beside him, Bertie seemed just as anxious. They were both to meet the formidable woman for the first time that they could remember.

  Fifty-Nine

  Dorothea was smiling as the three boys approached her, her gaze alighting and remaining on her son. ‘My darling boy,’ she gushed. ‘How proud I am of you. And are these two of your friends?’

  Dutifully, Theo kissed his mother’s cheek and then turned to make the introductions. ‘They are, Mama, but they’re also my cousins.’ He gestured towards each of them in turn. ‘Bertie and Charlie.’

  Dorothea’s face was thunderous as she stared at them both. ‘What – are – they doing in – this school? They have no right to be here, especially’ – she glared at Bertie – ‘him! I shall have words with the headmaster.’

  Theo shrugged with deliberate nonchalance. ‘Their fees are paid.’ He paused and looked his mother in the eyes as he added quietly, ‘By the same person who pays mine.’

  Her face turned purple and she opened and closed her mouth, fishlike, two or three times before grabbing Theo by the arm and hauling him away from the other two boys, but not far enough so that they couldn’t hear her words. ‘You will not associate with them in any way. Do you hear me?’

  ‘I hear you, Mama, but I’m afraid that is not possible in a school of this size. Besides, they are my friends – my best friends – and I intend it to remain that way.’

  Dorothea gasped. ‘You are wilfully disobeying me?’

  ‘If you choose to see it that way, then, yes, I am.’

  ‘How dare you?’

  ‘I dare because I know that you have been unfair to both Aunt Annabel and especially to Charlie. He is Uncle James’s son.’

  ‘How dare you?’ she began again, but Theo went on, ‘Just look at him, Mama, really look at him. He’s a Lyndon all right. He has brown hair like me and his eyes and the shape of his nose are just like Uncle James’s.’

  ‘Be quiet, you stupid boy. Don’t you realize what you’re saying? You’re throwing away your inheritance – everything I’ve worked for . . .’

  Theo calmly raised his eyebrows. He was behaving like a boy far older than his sixteen years. Standing up to his mother was not easy but he had promised himself he would do it. He hadn’t wanted it to happen yet, but circumstances had forced him to take a stand now and really, he thought, perhaps the sooner she knew his thoughts and feelings, the better.

  But she was still adamant in her scheming. ‘You are the rightful heir to the Earl of Fairfield and the estate. Just you remember that. Not that – that woman’s bastard. He is not your uncle’s son. He will be disinherited.’

  Theo stared at his mother. ‘So,’ he said slowly, ‘Charlie’s not been disinherited yet, then?’

  ‘Steps are being taken, I promise you. But – it’s difficult.’

  Theo shook his head. ‘But I don’t want to inherit something that isn’t rightfully mine.’

  Her grip tightened until her strong fingers were hurting his arm, but he steeled himself not to flinch. ‘It is yours. I’ve raised you to know your place in the world. You are the next Earl of Fairfield.’

  Theo shook his head and said softly. ‘No, Mama, I am not. I know it and – so do you.’ With a mature composure that Dorothea had never seen in her son before, Theo faced her with a steady gaze. She almost flung him away from her and turned away, marching angrily towards the door out of the canteen. As she passed close to a master, she almost shouted at him. ‘I wish to see the headmaster. Now!’

  The three boys, standing together, watched her leave the room, ushered out by a puzzled and somewhat worried master.
r />   ‘Oh dear, what do you think she’ll say to him?’

  ‘No more than he already knows, I shouldn’t think,’ Theo said, seemingly unperturbed by the confrontation with his mother. He laughed and put his arms around the shoulders of his two cousins. ‘Come on, let’s go and find some of this tea and cakes they’ve been promising us.’

  Moments later, Theo was piling his plate high with sandwiches and cakes but the other two found that their usual healthy appetite had utterly deserted them.

  Over the next few days the three boys awaited the summons from the headmaster, but it never came and at the end of the autumn term they travelled home separately. Luke arrived in the carriage to take Theo home to Fairfield Hall, whilst Annabel came to pick up both Charlie and Bertie.

  ‘Isn’t it a bit silly that I’m going right past his door and yet you have to go several miles out of your way to take Bertie home?’ Theo remarked to Annabel when they met on the driveway in front of the school. Luke stood a short distance away, embarrassed at seeing his former mistress and unsure what he should do. But Annabel, ever mindful of the awkward position in which the people of Fairfield – and especially the servants at Fairfield Hall – found themselves, merely nodded and smiled at him before turning her attention back to the three boys and their luggage.

  ‘I don’t mind,’ she said. ‘But I’ll drop Bertie off on the outskirts of the village as usual. I don’t want to cause trouble. Now, let’s get these trunks loaded.’

  ‘Mam and Granny would love to see you,’ Bertie said. ‘You could come to our house. Couldn’t she, Theo?’

  After the older boy’s stand against his mother, Bertie and Charlie had an even greater respect for their cousin. They’d always looked up to him, but now they were in awe of his bravery.

  ‘I don’t see why not. It’s a free country, Aunt Annabel.’

  ‘I’ll think about it,’ she promised as she kissed Theo’s cheek and held him close for a few seconds. Far from being embarrassed, the boy hugged her in return. ‘See you next term,’ he said cheerfully, but as he turned towards Luke and the waiting carriage, he saw Bertie and Charlie struggling to lift their trunks onto the back of Annabel’s carriage.