“Why do you believe the ill-luck was not accidental, Mr Wellmouth?”
“Because we caught some of the miscreants who admitted they’d been paid by some nob to sabotage my business. But they had never seen him personally, just some underling. We’ve tried to follow the saboteurs but they have not led us back to their principals. Then we started getting offers for the business, ostensibly from Higgins & Morpeth, which were accompanied by some kind of implicit threat to me, my family, employees and to anyone else I might sell to. I resisted selling and we prevented some of the sabotage, but my business’ takings are well down and my head man Claud Gamp cannot explain the losses satisfactorily to me.”
“I was going to suggest that if you are not ready to sell Wellmouth Chandleries, perhaps you might consider taking Blighton Holdings on as a partner, even if only short term. However our most pressing problem is making sure your son James and his employees are not arrested and summarily tried for causing a disorder. I wondered if they could be transferred to your shops that are much further away and work under assumed names until it all blows over? If the surplus employees at those shops could swap with those in hiding, you could re-open the London shop. I don’t think the Higgin & Morpeth shop will be opening again any time soon.”
“I would have been honoured to be in partnership with you, my lady, like your uncle, your word can be trusted. I could not dare risk your safety, under the circumstances of the threats, even though you now have that handsome husband to protect you. Kittleton may not be good with money, but he is a prince where women are concerned…” Geoffrey Wellmouth shut his mouth and looked abashed as if he had revealed knowledge he should have kept secret.
Celestina noted the change of his expression and changed the subject.
“So do you think it is a good idea to move your staff? Even though I suspect they won’t want to move out of London, at least none of them have wives and children. I was wondering whether you might consider letting me employ James for the time being as I doubt if he’d be noticed if I transferred him to one of my midland factories and he might learn a little about the manufacturing processes. I have an under manager’s position he could hold for a few months’ until we have found out who is at the back of all this.”
“I also wondered if you might find another pair of eyes might find some explanation in your accounts of what exactly is causing the losses. If you wish I could loan my head man Hector Browne, who could go through your accounts and see if there is any obvious problem for you. I will also put wheels in motion to try and discover who Higgins & Morpeth’s mysterious backer is.”
The door crashed open and Katie stood abashed as Edmund, Celestina’s footman took the heavily laden tray from her arms. Celestina stood whilst Katie moved a small circular table nearer to the bed and Edmund placed the tray upon it.
“Cook sent up some of your favourite macaroons and some fruit cake, because she says Master is not eating well enough. Please make sure he eats something, my lady, er ma’am,” Katie said backing out of the room and closing the door as Geoffrey thanked her.
Celestina poured a cup of tea for Geoffrey to his preferences and handed to him before pouring herself one. She selected a piece of fruit cake and placed it with a couple of the macaroons on a plate for him.
“I wondered if it was indelicate to ask what you are suffering from Mr Wellmouth and whether your doctor is optimistic about your recovery,” Celestina asked him after they had drank their tea and she had removed his cup so he could consume the pastries.
“There is no great mystery, my carriage had a broken axle. Although of course it was not an accident. The blacksmith who examined the pieces of the carriage, insists that it had been interfered with. I broke several ribs which have healed quite well and badly cut my lower leg in the crash. Although the local doctor cleaned and stitched my leg at the time, it simply never healed properly. My sawbones has bled me and cleaned out the wound several times, but it refuses to get any better. It has turned into a nasty abscess and I don’t think he has any idea how to make it better. I fear it will mean I will lose the leg.”
“I’ve met a new young doctor with some modern ideas. He is not fashionable with society yet, but seems to be achieving some successful cures. He does not agree with bleeding his patients. Would you mind terribly if I asked him to call and see if he could do anything to make your leg less painful?”
“That is kind of you, my lady. I would be grateful if he can do anything to help it. I feel so powerless to deal with my business while I am laid up in bed. I would be grateful if you could keep James busy and out of the way until this all blows over. I don’t think my head man Claud is going to like your Mr Browne going through my accounts, but I’d feel better if I knew how we could be losing so much money.”
“I will ask for the accounts for the last couple of years to be delivered here from my offices, together with the associated paperwork tomorrow and if Mr Browne can see what he can discover from them. It would relieve my mind no end. I had decided to sell my business to Higgins & Morpeth, but I feared they would just sell off the stock and terminate the employment of all my staff. I admit I have been delaying making a final decision, but I have been so unwell that I could see no other solution. My boys are hard-working lads, but none of the three of them are ready to take over the business while it is under this kind of attack from a competitor.”
“I had better take my leave, Mr Wellmouth and I promise to send the doctor and Hector together with some assistants to see if they can find anything amiss with your accounts. I will arrange for James to write to you when he is settled into his new post.”
***
The new young doctor arrived less than two hours after Celestina’s departure from Geoffrey Wellmouth’s home. He tutted when he exposed the suppurating ulcer that infected his leg, but then requested hot water and towels from Katie before he himself cleaned the leg and on examining it further found a few small splinters of paint and wood which might have come from the debris of the carriage crash, which he removed. He covered the abscess with honey and carefully re-bandaged it. Then he left a draught to help him sleep, which Gregory found most effective. The new doctor made regular visits including one to professionally inform Mr Wellmouth’s former doctor, that he had been asked to take over his care but the leg slowly began to improve, which greatly pleased the patient himself.
Hector and some of Celestina’s best clerks arrived the following day and carefully examined the finances of the Wellmouth chandlery businesses. It took them some time to go through them comprehensively, but they worked conscientiously. At first glance his books seemed to be completely in order, but there was a pattern of numbers in some places that did not appear natural. Hector pointed out the discrepancies to the clerks and they went deeper into his company finances, locating the original invoices and bills for all the suspicious entries. It did not amaze Celestina to find that most of that supporting paperwork was also missing. Gregory Wellmouth was staggered when he was shown the evidence of dishonest accounting. He realised that his respected right hand man, Claud Gamp had been deliberately falsifying the accounts and that a considerable sum of money had been misappropriated, presumably by him.
When the accounts had been fully collated, it appeared that over eight thousand guineas had been taken from his company. That was without the losses from the various thefts and sabotage that had been orchestrated, it was no wonder that the firm was struggling. With his leg now much improved, Gregory Wellmouth dressed and for the first time for over a month went downstairs to await Mr Gamp, whose presence he had requested.
***
It had been five whole weeks since Celestina had last visited Kittleton Place, she had made excuses to herself not to visit, but had not realised that she had been avoiding seeing Xavier. Yet when she went to sleep at night, her dreams were filled with him, and she woke to find the bed beside her unoccupied and that her body ached for his touch. She was furious with herself for missing him and his lovema
king, but she knew she would have to return there, if she intended to continue with her plan to have a child by him. So it was with mixed feelings that she set off from London that Friday night for the house she still thought of as her husband’s home.
Chapter Fourteen- Return to Kittleton
Celestina was unsure whether she wanted to return to Kittleton Place, she was reluctant to spend time in the country, which she saw as time wasted, as she could have spent those hours in dealing with her businesses. In addition to her dislike of being indolent, she was confused about how she now felt about Xavier; she longed to see him, yet dreaded that he might have relapsed to become a drunken slob again, without Hector’s supervision. There was within that dread, also a kind of hope he would fail, because then his fall from grace, would justify the anger she still felt bubbling within her over his former treatment of her.
She still did not want to believe he had really returned to her village and intended to marry her when she had been sixteen. Because if she accepted he had tried to keep his promise to her, then she had to believe the ten years of boiling hatred she had felt, had been without point or value. She found the idea of throwing away ten years of carefully nurtured fury, almost impossible to contemplate. If she admitted she had been wrong in maligning Xavier, then she had to accept that she had been appallingly negligent, in not contacting him and letting him know of her continued existence. She would have been at least partially responsible for her own misery for they could have been married much sooner and already have children.
The idea that she should feel guilt for not getting in contact with Xavier earlier was a new thought, which she brought out every now and then, like rubbing her tongue over a sore tooth. It hurt and she did not want to accept any responsibility for their not meeting again sooner. So instead she reminded herself of the many women Xavier had enjoyed during their separation. Of his gambling, drinking, duelling and brawling. If they had met again when she had been sixteen, would he have been a good husband to her? She refused to accept it. Would the presence of a wife have curtailed his behaviour much? Her logic argued he would have resented his penniless wife and left her to rot in the country, while he sowed his wild oats through the fleshpots of London. So even though she believed he had returned to claim her, Celestina’s anger argued he had not spent those ten years apart, in chaste despair grieving for her death.
No, Xavier seemed to have tried to spend them having as good a time as possible, with little care for how much debt he ran up or how many husbands he cuckolded. So now she had bought herself Xavier as a husband and thought she knew what she was buying, Celestina was realising Xavier Falconer was a completely unknown animal. While she had allowed her anger to dash uselessly against him, he seemed to be determinedly trying to make her love him. If she compared the Xavier Falconer she was now married to, to the one in the reports she had received, then then were not the same man. She seemed to have married a man, whose servants adored him, who was hard working and conscientious.
This Xavier was a man who treated her as a delight, who had far more respect for women than most were shown by their husbands. He seemed to be genuinely and profoundly grateful for her financial contribution and to be doing his best to both minimise her expenses, but also to repay her, for her hasty bargain by sensually giving of himself for her pleasure every night. In return she had pretended frigidity and had not contributed to his lovemaking by a single caress.
She was vexed at herself, remembering how easy he had found it to seduce her when she had been a sixteen year old innocent. She had harboured such romantic ideas of her beautiful lord. But over those ten years, he had honed his innate sensual skills and she was well aware, how difficult it was for her to bear his ministrations in bed. His lovemaking was so erotically charged and tender that she could almost fool herself that he had feelings for her.
Every night lying with him, she fought her desire to wrap her hands around his neck, to twist her fingers into his dark thick curls, to allow him to kiss her on the mouth and to enjoy the sensations his kisses had tantalised her with so many years ago. When he made love to her, she held her hands rigid at her sides and refused to let her fingers caress his back and shoulders. She bit her lips to stop crying out when he brought her body to rapture and fought the urge to stroke his skin and dig her nails into his muscular back.
Worse she found herself wanting to explore his body once more as she had, on their first delicious night together and to spend time touching and kissing him in places which he might also enjoy. Xavier had made no further attempts to see her face and had not even interrogated her staff about how she looked without her veil. While she was relieved he had not tried to discover what she looked like, she felt guilty now about her deception. She had tried ineffectually to tell him the truth, but somehow the words would not come. When he made love to her, she was convinced he was aware how much pleasure she enjoyed and ineffectively hid from him. He never seemed to gloat about her enjoyment, but continued to strive to satisfy her more. Now however she believed that he was working persistently to make her show fully her desire for him and his body.
Since her marriage, in her dreams they were always alone together. No Hector, no servants intruded on their idyll. The scenes changed, but the details remained the same. One dream showed the pair of them riding together, another sitting in the sunshine in some charming grove and making love in the warmth of the autumn sun or in the chill of the evening. She had pictured herself dancing with Xavier on the terrace of some massive house while an orchestra played within, or cuddled up on a settee in front of a roaring fire as they took turns to read aloud.
But no matter what activity they did together, all her hopeful dreams and imaginings ended with Xavier kissing her and making shockingly pleasurable love to her. She had assumed her years with her uncle had changed her and made her less emotional and irrational. She no longer believed she sought romantic love, merely a handsome husband she could control, who would engender beautiful children on her. There was no logical reason for her to treat him as anything other than another employee, one who admittedly rendered to her a rather intimate service, but certainly not a lover or life partner. However she cringed when recalling how rude she had been to Xavier, yet she had lavished presents on him and his home, while she had treated him both unkindly and impolitely. She barely conversed with him and kept the details in her letters to him sparse and unaffectionate. She treated her lowest lackey, better than she had treated her own husband.
Celestina had decided she had no need to explain how she spent her time away from him and certainly had been determined not to miss him when they were apart. Yet as she travelled to Kittleton Place accompanied by her maid, Amy, she felt her pulse race with excitement and her mind was overjoyed that she would be seeing Xavier again. Tonight she would share his bed and he would make ardent love to her through the night, until he fell asleep exhausted with her in his arms. She realised that she wanted to tell him about how she had spent her time and to hear about what he had done himself.
She tried to dismiss her feelings towards Xavier as being caused by her bodily reactions to their coupling and as a natural softening towards the man whom she had acquired to father her children. Celestina argued that she was only concerned about whether the things she bought for his house found his approval, because she was so aware of not being naturally from the top echelons of society. Her birth had been that of a lady, but never as a noblewoman. She had married above her, even if Xavier was a penniless drunk and rake. She had been brought up as an affluent cit’s daughter and heir, only her money made her acceptable. Her insecurity came from fear of having the vulgar taste ascribed to the nouveau riche, because she had not been brought up as an aristocrat.
Celestina scolded herself for worrying about whether Xavier had been lonely and missed her in her absence as unnecessary. Yet she hoped he had missed her. She tried to convince herself that her concern for his well-being was no more than owning the responsibility she felt tow
ards someone who was her pensioner. Surely that was only slightly more than she felt about her employees?
That was where her casuistic logic failed and she found herself accepting she was lying to herself. She missed him and his lovemaking, but she had been trying to buy his love with everything she had done for him. She was jealous of those who were around him in her absence, but determined never to show it. Celestina was ashamed about how she had treated Xavier, yet she was not prepared to admit her fault to him. As her carriage slowed before reaching the gates of Kittleton Place, she set her shoulders square and resolved to become the Countess of Kittleton. She would become a lady whom Xavier could be proud of. How could she take her place at his side when she remained veiled? She would have to tell him when the time was right, she concluded, knowing that she was putting off the inevitable.
The gates were speedily swung open and she recognised Amos Burland and his wife opening the gates, with a number of young children waving behind them. She waved regally back to the children, as her carriage swept up the drive, but she saw Kittleton Place with new eyes. Now the drive and rolling lawns had been maintained, and with the sun about to set painting the sky a rosy red, she realised how beautiful the old house truly was. For the first time, she felt the pride of belonging and ownership of the house and its surroundings. She smiled because she knew she was falling in love with Kittleton Place and that she was already deeply in love with its master.
***
Xavier saw the carriage entering the drive and rushed to be out the door and waiting for his wife when she reached the house. As the carriage drew to a standstill, Xavier let down the step and opened the door to hand his wife down before the footman had a chance to oblige her. He was left with assisting Amy from the vehicle, while Xavier escorted Celestina up the front stairs and through the open front doors to be greeted by Millett and a number of the staff who bowed and curtseyed to her. As her cases were brought in, Xavier escorted her through an immaculate hall now smelling deeply of lavender with all the furniture and panelling shining from energetic polishing.
The Purchased Peer Page 13
