I am flattered, Mark, but why me?
Mark looked at his friend, his head a little to one side. Because I am sure you will do the job admirably and you are one of my oldest friends, so who better? As soon as I saw you coming down the street, I knew my problem was solved. You will do it, Drew, wont you?
Ill think about it.
Dont think too long. I have to go back to Norfolk the day after tomorrow and before that I have to bespeak me a suit of clothes fit for a bridegroom. Will you help me find it? You can help me choose gifts for my bride and her attendants, too, if youve a mind. It is always good not to do these things alone. A wise counsellor is what I need.
Andrew laughed. From having nothing to occupy me but a good dinner and a game of cards, I suddenly find my time filled with onerous tasks.
Helping me buy a wedding outfit is not onerous. I am not short of blunt. I can afford the best and, if it helps, I will undertake to have a hand of cards with you. We can go to Whites. Are you a member?
No, I havent been back long enough to join any clubs and without sponsors I am unlikely to be accepted.
No matter, I will introduce you. So, do we shake hands on it? He put down his knife and held out his right hand.
Andrew took it. Very well. Tomorrow we go shopping. I make no promises about attending the wedding though.
Mark grinned. He was satisfied for the moment. He did not doubt that he would be able to persuade his friend to Broadacres and then he might find out the truth about why he had disappeared so suddenly. He did not believe the tale of family business because, as far as he knew, Andrews only family was an elderly spinster great-aunt who had had no wish to look after the orphan when his mother and father both died within weeks of each other. She had put him out to foster parents until he was old enough to go to school. From the odd things Drew had told him, he had been subject to physical abuse and mental torment. Mark had always felt sorry for him when they were at school, because when all the boys went home for the holidays, he had been left behind. He had invited him to Broadacres, but until Drew was old enough to make his own decisions he had been forbidden to come on the grounds it would give him ideas above his station. It was when theyd left university that he had been prevailed upon to spend some time at Broadacres before looking for a way of earning a living. Why, if it was family business that had called him, did he make such haste to go to India?
* * *
When they had finished their meal, which Andrew insisted on paying for, they parted, promising to meet again soon. Mark hired a hackney to take him to Halliday and Son to consult the son, Mr Cecil Halliday, about the marriage settlement. Mark was a careful man, but he was not ungenerous; he wanted to be sure Isabel had enough pin money to buy whatever she liked in the way of gowns and fripperies without having to appeal to him every time. He was not unaware that Sir Edward was strugglingit was obvious by the state of the house and groundsand he had waived the dowry he had been offered. He knew how much of a sacrifice that would have been for the othersher ladyship, Jane and Sophiewho might suffer as a consequence. It was the last thing he wanted.
He was surprised when he arrived at the lawyers premises not to encounter Teddy, who was usually scratching away in the outer office. There was another man sitting at his desk.
Where is Mr Cavenhurst? he queried after he had been shown into Cecil Hallidays office and they had exchanged greetings and handshakes.
Mr Cavenhurst is no longer with us.
Not working here? Where has he gone?
The man shrugged. I have no idea, back to his lodgings or home to Norfolk, perhaps.
What happened?
Thats not for me to say, sir.
I understand your reticence, but he is to be my brother-in-law. Am I to assume you dispensed with his services?
You may assume that, the man said, tight-lipped. I shall say nothing.
Very well. Ill not embarrass you by asking any more questions. Shall we get down to business?
* * *
They spent the next hour fine-tuning the agreement and then Mark set off for Teddys lodgings. The young man had flitted owing rent, he was told by the concierge in aggrieved tones. Mark paid the back rent and returned to his hotel. He had known Teddy all his life, they had played together as children and gone to the same school, although Teddy was four years younger and theyd had very little contact while there. They had not attended the same university and afterwards Mark had joined the army in Portugal and Teddy had subsequently taken up the position of junior clerk to Halliday and Son. It was only recently, because of the wedding, they had seen more of each other.
Mark wanted to like Teddy for Isabels sake, but he had always found him brash and insensitive, which had come about, he supposed, because he was the longed-for son and heir. Born between Jane and Isabel, he had been thoroughly spoiled by his doting mama. So what had he done to make Halliday give him the bag? Whatever it was would not please Sir Edward.
* * *
He was able to make an informed guess later that evening when he and Drew met at Whites and were joined by two others in a game of whist. One was Toby Moore, an erstwhile army captain whom Mark had known slightly during the war, and the other was Lord Bolsover. They were not two he would normally have chosen to play with, but all the other men present were already settled at their games and he could hardly refuse a polite request to make up a four.
You are affianced to one of the Cavenhurst girls, are you not? Bolsover queried, while they waited for a new pack of cards to be brought to the table. He was a year or two older than Mark, extravagantly dressed. His dark hair was worn short and curled forward over his forehead and ears. His skin was tanned, which was surprising since, as far as Mark was aware, he spent long hours at the gaming tables.
Yes, Mark said. I have the honour to be engaged to Miss Isabel Cavenhurst.
The wedding to be soon, is it?
In a little under a month. Why do you ask?
Curiosity, my dear fellow. I am well acquainted with Cavenhurst.
Sir Edward?
No, never met him. I meant the son. We have had a few hands of cards together. I am afraid he is a poor loser. I believe he has run home on a repairing lease. I do hope he recovers quickly, I am not in the habit of waiting for my money.
Mark could well believe that and wondered where the conversation was leading. No doubt he has gone home for the wedding.
So soon? I think not. It is to be hoped his father can come up trumps because at the moment I hold all the cards. I have bought up all the mans debts and they were spread far and wide. I do not think Teddy Cavenhurst ever bought anything with cash. Everyone knew that creditors who could not make their debtors pay often sold the debts for a fraction of the original figure, in order to be rid of them.
His heart sank, but he hid it with a laugh. Sir Edward has always stood buff for his son. Have no fear.
I had heard the estate was in a poor way and Sir Edward hard put to come about. Bolsover spoke nonchalantly as he picked up the pack that had just been put on the table in front of him and broke the seal.
Where did you hear that? I know nothing of it.
His lordship gave a cracked laugh. Worried that the ladys dowry is at risk, are you?
His lordship gave a cracked laugh. Worried that the ladys dowry is at risk, are you?
No, of course not. I do not know where you obtained your information, but I suggest you tell whoever it is that they are in error. Now, as we have the cards, shall we play?
To be sure. His lordship finished shuffling the pack and put it on the table. Will you cut for trumps, Mr Ashton?
The subject of Teddy and his debts was dropped, but it worried Mark. From the way Bolsover had spoken about the dowry and the Greystone estate, the amount must be substantial. Surely not enough to ruin Sir Edward? How much was it? He could ask Isabel, or better still Jane. She would be bound to know and also the extent of Sir Edwards problems.
* * *
You are not concentrating, murmured Drew, during the break between one game and the next as the pile of coins at Bolsovers elbow had grown. I had already won that second trick, you did not have to waste a trump on it. That is a beginners mistake.
Im sorry. It wont happen again.
Dreaming about your bride, are you?
Mark smiled, but did not answer. He picked up the cards Toby Moore had just dealt. This was better; he had a good hand. They played in silence and recouped some of their losses. Drew was a very good player; he seemed to know where all the cards were and by the end of the evening they were in profit.
* * *
A satisfactory evening, Drew said, as they strolled to Jermyn Street where he was lodging.
I think you must be a seasoned gambler, Mark said. Hector Bolsover has a reputation as a sharp, but you made him look clumsy. He wont like that.
What do you know of the man?
Not a great deal. I believe he is unmarried and spends all his time in the clubs and gaming hells. I have heard he does not always play fair, though no one has seen fit to challenge him. If he has Teddys vouchers, it could go ill for the Cavenhursts.
So that was what you were in a brown study about?
It is worrying.
Are you concerned about the dowry?
Good heavens, no! It is the least of my worries.
So, we are still going to look for wedding finery tomorrow?
Naturally we are. They stopped outside Drews lodgings. And you are going to come back to Broadacres with me, arent you?
Have I said that?
No, but you will. I want you to meet Isabel again before the wedding. We will invite the Cavenhursts over for supper.
Drew laughed. In the face of such a prospect, how can I refuse?
Mark went on his way to the Wyndham town house in South Audley Street well satisfied.
Chapter Two
Papa, can you spare me a minute? Jane had found her father in the estate office where he worked most mornings. The desk in front of him was scattered with papers. He had evidently been raking his fingers through his greying hair; some of it was standing up on end.
Oh, it is you, Jane. Come in and sit down. I thought it was that reprobate son of mine and I can hardly be civil to him at the moment.
Jane advanced further into the room and sat on the chair placed the other side of the desk, a position usually occupied by the estate manager, but she had just seen him leave and knew her father was alone. I am sorry to hear that, Papa. It is on his behalf I am come.
So, he has descended to sending his sister to plead for him, has he?
He feels that you have not fully comprehended the trouble he is in and that perhaps I can explain it better than he.
Sir Edward managed a humourless laugh. I comprehend it only too well, Jane. What he does not comprehend is how impossible it is for me to comply with his outrageous demands without impoverishing the rest of the family.
Jane gasped. Surely it is not as bad as that?
It is every bit as bad as that. My investments have failed. Last years ruined harvest and the demands of my tenants for repairs, not to mention Isabels wedding, have been the last straw. We are going to have to retrench. I am sorry, but Teddy will have to find his own solution. I warned him the last time he came home that it was the last time. He must learn I meant it.
But what is he to do, Papa? He is young and impressionable, it is only natural he wants to spread his wings and keep up with his friends.
Then he should choose his friends more wisely.
But, Papa...
Jane, you will displease me if you continue. You have a soft and gentle heart and it is to your credit, but in this instance you are backing a lost cause. You would do better to put your mind to ways of retrenchment, ways that your mother will accept as reasonable.
Very well, Papa. She rose to go, then turned back. Isabels wedding is not in jeopardy, is it?
No, I think we can manage that.
She left her father, but did not immediately seek out her brother. She needed a little time to herself and she needed to think about the task her father had set her. One thing was very sure: her inheritance was going to have to be sacrificed and the sooner she accepted that the better. She went up to her bedchamber, put on a light shawl and a bonnet and set out for the village.
* * *
But for the problems that weighed her down she would have enjoyed the short walk. The sun was shining, the birds were singing and the hedgerows were bright with blossom. Hadlea village, set in the north Norfolk fenland, was not a large one. There was a church, a rectory, a windmill, two inns and several cottages grouped around a triangular village green on which there was a pump and some old stocks, though no one had been put in those in her memory. Side roads from the green led to a farrier and harness-maker who also mended shoes, a butcher and a tiny front-room shop that sold almost anything the village women might need from salt to sugar and soap to candles, working boots to plain cotton tick. For anything like muslin and silk, ribbons and bonnets, they had to make a trip to Norwich or Kings Lynn or wait until the travelling salesman came round, usually at the end of the harvest when his customers had a little money to spend.
Jane made her way to the rectory and was greeted cheerfully by Mrs Caulder. Come in, Jane, I will have some tea and cakes brought into the parlour. Its time Henry came out of his study. He has been in there all morning, working on tomorrows sermon.
Mrs Caulder was very plump, a testament to a love of her cooks cakes. She fussed around, giving the orders and calling her husband to join them, while Jane sat on one of the chairs and wondered how she was going to explain that the five thousand pounds she had promised for their project would not be forthcoming. She could not divulge the true state of affairs.
How are you my dear? Mrs Caulder asked. Did you walk here? I did not hear the pony and trap.
I walked. It is such a lovely day. Even as she spoke, she wondered if the pony would have to go, or perhaps the carriage, or the riding horses.
To be sure it is. Ah, here is Henry.
The Rector was of medium height, with a shock of grey hair, which he wore long and tied back with a thin black ribbon. He was a jovial man and beamed at Jane. What a pleasure to see you, my dear Miss Cavenhurst. I hope I find you well.
Very well. But I am afraid I have some disappointing news.
Surely not the wedding? exclaimed his wife, handing Jane a cup of tea.