By Eastern windows (10 page)

‘I know you are a very busy man,’ Lachlan said, walking forward. `So I will be brief and take up as little of your time as possible.’

‘Captain Macquarie, I am only two minutes in! This is a disgraceful hour to call.’

‘It is half past nine, sir. Two hours later than the time you thought fit to call on me last week.’ Lachlan put a hand inside his jacket and brought out a fold of papers. ‘Now, as I said, I shall be brief.’

James Morley stared at him. It was the first time he had seen Macquarie out of uniform. He wore a dark blue riding coat cut away short in the front to show a matching waistcoat, and the cloth of both, Morley noticed, was of fine quality.
 

Lachlan glanced at the chair beside him.
 
‘I take it I may sit down?’

Morley was still staring. In those clothes Macquarie looked every bit a gentleman and not at all like a soldier.

Lachlan sat down. ‘I have come to put forward my proposal of marriage to your sister-in-law, Miss Jane Jarvis.’

James Morley blinked vaguely, and then shook his head stubbornly. ‘I have told you, Captain Macquarie, it is out of the question. How many times must you be told that Miss Jarvis is a daughter of an honourable English family on the island of Antigua and – ‘

‘As I am a son of an honourable Scottish family on the island of Mull. And
honour
, Mr Morley, can never be bought or measured by wealth. I would be obliged if you would try to remember that.’

Morley gaped at him like an astonished trout. The man was speaking to him in a voice and tone he might use to some erring private on the parade ground.

‘Now,’ Lachlan continued. ‘Miss Jarvis has already accepted my proposal of marriage. So in the hope that you and her family will also agree, I have listed, for your information, figures which will give you a detailed account of my finances.’

Morley waved the papers aside. `This is a complete waste of time. Even if I were to agree, Mr Thomas Jarvis of Antigua, I can assure you, will never agree to his sister entering into a marriage contract with any man who gives the slightest suspicion of being a fortune-hunter.'

 
So there it was, out in the open. Morley suspected his real goal was not Jane herself, but her fortune.

‘Mr Morley,’ he said softly, his voice very controlled, ‘I suggest you take very great care. This is the second time you have insulted me, and my tolerance does have a limit.’

He was silent for a second two, then continued, ‘Six months ago I would not have considered myself in a good enough financial position to propose for the hand of a young lady such as your wife's sister, my pay as a captain then being no more than five hundred pounds a year.’

‘Five hundred pounds a year!’ James Morley started with surprise. He had been under the impression that Army captains earned no more than a couple of shillings a day. Or was that only in England?
 
In the militia?
 

‘You surprise me,’ Morley said, then repeated his thought. ‘I had the impression that captains earned no more than a couple of shillings a day.’

‘Privates and all ranks up to NCOs earn no more than a couple of shillings a
week
,’ Lachlan informed him. ‘But I, sir, am a commissioned officer.’

‘Five hundred pounds a year?’ Morley repeated, his tone softening.

‘Since then,’ Lachlan continued, ‘in the course of the past few months, I have been given my own company, as well as being appointed a Paymaster of the Regiment, and now I have been appointed as Major of Brigade, all of which has resulted in an increase to my annual income of over three hundred pounds a year,’

‘Three hundred pounds...’ Morley added it up. ‘You mean… you earn eight hundred pounds a year?’

‘I do.’

‘Have you, perchance ... any savings?’

Lachlan shrugged. ‘One thousand pounds.’

‘One thousand
pounds
?’ exclaimed Morley, his bug eyes almost bursting out of their sockets. ‘You did say
pounds
— pure sterling? Not rupees?’

‘Mr Morley, there is no need for you to keep seeking verbal confirmation of the amounts. The figures are all listed before you in detail. My pay as a Captain, Paymaster of the Regiment and Major of Brigade, adding up to a monthly income of six hundred and three rupees, or sixty-seven pounds nine shillings in sterling.’

‘Quite.’ Morley looked down at the paper, scrutinising the figures. ‘I make it more than eight hundred pounds a year ... I make it eight hundred and
nine
pounds and eight shillings to be exact ... Ah, I see it's not a mistake, you have been exact on paper –
 
£809. 8s.’

He looked up with a smile of approval.

Lachlan restrained the urge to spit at him. ‘I am a Paymaster of the Regiment, you will recall? The British Army is not in the habit of placing its money in the hands of officers who do not know how to be exact in their figures.’

Morley blinked. ‘No, of course not. I was simply surprised that you did not mention the total amount. Nine pounds and eight shillings is no trifling sum, not even when added to the annual total.’

It was then Lachlan realised that money was Morley's God, poor bastard.

‘And as you can see,’ Lachlan pointed to the paper, ‘I have set that thousand pounds aside so that, in the event of Jane’s family accepting my suit, it can be settled on her as a marriage gift. It is not a fortune, I know, but it is
all
I have to give her at present.’

It was a small fortune, and Morley knew it. He sat forward.
 
‘But tell me, Captain, how did you manage to save such a large amount?’

‘Most of it is my gratuity from the Mysore campaign. But I have been saving extremely hard from the first day I met Jane.’

‘Indeed?’ Morley now sat in utter calm, all his muscles relaxed. He clasped his hands together on the desk and studied them.

‘Well, I must confess, the situation is not nearly as impossible as I originally thought. I think it very considerate of you to settle the sum of your savings on Miss Jarvis ... in the event of you being united. But I must inform you, quite candidly, that Miss Jarvis's fortune must also be settled on her alone ... in the event of you being united.’

‘Mr Morley, with all due respect, I don’t give a damn about Jane's money. My feelings for her are not influenced by any mercenary motives. All I care about is the girl herself. And in the event of our being united, her own fortune can run on accumulating without my being allowed to touch even a penny of the interest of that money, which shall remain hers alone.’ He stood up. ‘You will inform me of the response to my proposal as soon as possible?’

‘I shall discuss it with Mrs Morley, certainly. As soon as I return home.’

‘You will, I hope, remember to mention it to Mrs Morley's young sister also, in view of the fact that it is her I wish to marry.’

‘Naturally I shall mention it to Jane, naturally,’ Morley replied in a tone of indulgence. ‘But there is, um, one small matter...’ he peered down at the list on his desk and turned a page, `that you, um, seem to have overlooked, Captain Macquarie.’

‘Oh?’

‘In the event of you being united, Miss Jarvis, you know, could not be allowed to even consider the prospect of living in officers' accommodation. The acquisition of a private house would be necessary. A house of style, elegance, and comfort –
outside
the town. No respectable lady these days could be expected to live
inside
the town. The acquisition of a country villa would be required.’

Lachlan reflected on this.
 
`Yes, I agree, that would be the first requirement.’
 
He withdrew a set of keys from his pocket. ‘That is why I took possession of an excellent house yesterday, in a clean, airy, and undisturbed area –
outside
the town.’

‘Well, well,' said Morley. `You have become very sure of yourself all of a sudden.’

‘I have always been sure of myself, Mr Morley. It is other people in this world that often puzzle me.’

‘Leased, is it? The house.’

‘Yes, leased,’ Lachlan replied. ‘A necessity for the military, in case of future postings to elsewhere.’

‘And the monthly rent? May I ask how much?’

‘No.’

James Morley shuffled slightly in his seat. ‘Mrs Morley will want to inspect it, you know, the house. In the event of the suit being considered, Mrs Morley will want to make sure that the house you have taken is satisfactory in every way.’

‘Then I hope she will like it,’ Lachlan said with a tone of finality. ‘Because I know her sister will love it.’

He left then, and James Morley peered through the split-cane sunblind on the window and watched Macquarie step into the harsh sunlight where he stood for a moment untying the reins of his horse.

From the window Morley scrutinised the appearance of the tall young captain. As always Macquarie was impeccably dressed, even when in uniform, the tight-fitting blue riding jacket immaculate and perfectly tailored, the neck-cloth snowy, the black boots quietly polished – all betraying a certain fastidiousness about his grooming and clothes, unlike some of the more slovenly officers of the various regiments in Bombay.
 

And yet, Macquarie wore no jewellery, Morley suddenly realised. Why, every
authentic
gentleman in Bombay, whether civil or military, wore a few pieces of jewellery – a diamond cravat pin, gold and pearl fob-watch, one or two ruby rings – but Macquarie had worn no rings, no jewellery at all, save for the plain gold pin in his neck-cloth.

Morley stood reflecting.

Despite everything Macquarie had said, and despite all evidence to the contrary, he still had a sneaking suspicion that the Scot was on the trail of a fortune.

Morley narrowed his eyes as he watched the captain mount his horse. ‘Well,
you
may be sure of what you want, sir,’ he muttered, `but that does not mean you will get it.’

FIVE

Private McKenzie was very sad to be dismissed as Captain Macquarie's manservant, but he understood that the matrimonial residence of an officer was no place for a raw-mannered soldier from the barracks.

‘Och, I understand, sir,’ McKenzie said in a subdued voice, his huge shoulders hunched, his eyes cast down. ‘Ye must follow the rules and have a regiment of native servants now. Wouldna do for ye to have anythin’ less. Wouldna
do
at all.’

‘Don't look as if I have put a knife in your back, man. You knew you would have to return to the ranks one day.’

‘Aye, and I'm happy to be goin' back to ma comrades at last, sir,’ sang McKenzie in a shaky voice, on the verge of tears. `I canna wait.’

‘Here, this is for you.’

McKenzie glanced down at the money and shook his head. ‘Nae, sir. It was a pleasure to serve ye. Ye've been good to me in the past, aye, good enough.’

‘Take the money,’ Lachlan insisted. ‘It's simply a month's extra pay in gratuity, and customary for it to be given. It would cause me great dishonour if it was known that I dismissed my aide without even a rupee in gratitude.’

 
‘Och, aweel, if it's a matter of honour...’ McKenzie hesitantly took the money and then looked at Lachlan with the genuine loyalty of a devoted dog. ‘But thank ye all the same, sir, thank ye. I'll spend some of it with ma comrades to toast ye and yer missis in a dram.’

Lachlan smiled. ‘You know, McKenzie, not only are you an insolent and audacious scoundrel, you are also a rather good officer's servant. I may even find myself in the unbelievable predicament of missing you.’

‘Thank ye, sir. Ye have a reet nice way of putting things.’ McKenzie's eye moistened, his chest heaved. ‘And if ye ever need help in any way, sir, ye'll aye remember, won't ye, sir, that McKenzie's your man.’

Lachlan reflected for a moment. ‘Maybe I can arrange for you to become an aide to some other officer, or some other position that's less – ‘

‘The supply stores!’ McKenzie – never one to miss a chance – instantly perked up. ‘A job in the supply stores would be pukka, sir.’

‘The supply stores?’ Lachlan shrugged. ‘Well, I'll see what I can do.’

An hour later McKenzie was sitting amongst his cronies, drinking himself into a good mood and talking incessantly. ‘Lay on more drinks, Haroun!' he shouted boisterously to an Indian waiter. ‘Lay on for ma gaggle of comrades here, all good lads, even if the stingy bastards are content to sit and drink all night at ma expense. Lay on, Haroun!’
  

He looked at the men around him with a sudden scowl. ‘Why do men like the captain do it, eh? Marry themselves away? Now I’ve lost ma cushy job, and all because of a woman.’

‘I thought you said the captain was going to get you a job in the supply stores?’

‘Oh, aye!’ McKenzie exclaimed, cheering instantly. ‘I forgot that! The supply stores! I’ll be able to help maself to all I want and not pay a brass penny for it. Lay on more drinks, Haroun! Lay on!’

*

Five days later, at seven o'clock in the evening, Captain Lachlan Macquarie of the 77th Regiment and Miss Jane Jarvis of Antigua were married.