Charlotte: The Practical Education of a Distressed Gentlewoman (4 page)

Freddy, on entering, overheard that
last exchange. “I'd appreciate it if you could keep that secret.
Henry would be upset if he found out about my
involvement.”

Bayliss thought, “I'd be willing to
bet Henry knows.” but kept his thoughts to himself. He added aloud,
“Mr. Talbot, I wish you would let people know about your
charities.”

“
Sorry Mr. Bayliss, no, that's a
private matter. I don't desire the attention. Charity is not
charity if you use it to publicize yourself. I might be wealthy,
but thank God I'm not a Pharisee.”

Freddy then sat down at the table
across from Charlotte and asked simply. “Have you made a decision,
or should I go back to the pub and get another pint while you
continue discussions?”

Charlotte gave Freddy an intense
look of dislike. Mrs. Answorth broke in, “Dr. Answorth had a
suggestion. You and Miss De Vere could get married, a marriage of
convenience. That way she could stay in her estate.”

Freddy laughed. It took him no
little time to compose himself. When he recovered he asked, “Are
you serious?” After he then gave Charlotte an unsettlingly serious
examination, as if he were examining a lot of defective goods and
finding them not up to specification he continued with, “What did
you think of this idea Miss De Vere?”

Charlotte started to stammer out
“No, not ever,” but ended up saying, “I'm not sure.”

Dr. Answorth replied, “Miss De Vere
is a highly eligible young woman with a distinguished bloodline.
Marrying her would buy, pay your, sorry, introduce you into polite
society.”

“
So does my fortune. I don't have
trouble mixing with the ton in London, especially when they need a
loan. She may have a distinguished bloodline, but she's poor.
She'll be lucky to attract a husband of her own station in
life.”

Charlotte, highly annoyed with the
turn the discussion was taking, interposed, “Dr. Answorth, Mr.
Talbot, please. I am not a piece of livestock to be bargained
over.”

Freddy thought for a moment,
Charlotte was clearly a pretty woman and he had a suspicion that if
he were on her good side, she would be pleasant company. She
certainly could look better if she were decked out in a dress that
complimented her looks rather than subtracting from them. He could
almost imagine falling in love with her. At least if he could be
sure that, unlike so many of the beauties he'd met, it was him and
not his money that she loved. He made his final and best offer,
“This is a new development. It merits careful consideration on both
our parts. Tell you what. I was going to foreclose on you if you
didn't sell out. My offer of eleven hundred pounds for the house
and demesne still stands. The interest and principal due on the
mortgages is about five hundred. I'll pay you six hundred cash and
count the difference to the mortgage payment.”

“
Mr. Talbot!”

“
That's my best offer. Can't say
it's not fair. Otherwise, I will just foreclose on you and take the
lot.”

Mr. Bayliss added, “Remember what I
told you about the Talbot's and their business
practices.”

“
What did you tell them, Mr.
Bayliss?”

“
Just that you play for keeps in
business.”

“
Damn right. How well you know
me.”

Charlotte looked at Mr. Cruise. He
nodded, “You won't get a better offer for the house.” She looked at
Freddy, then extended her hand to him. “You have a
deal.”

Freddy was relieved, had Miss De
Vere been difficult, he would have proceeded to foreclose on her.
He might have been started foreclosure proceedings with reluctance,
but ineluctably they would have moved to the inevitable conclusion
of his taking the estate from her. Taking her hand he replied,
“Thank you.”

As they were leaving, Mr. Bayliss
asked Freddy, “Would you really have given them cash for the whole
thing? That's very unlike you. Normally you'd just
foreclose.”

“
There is a minor matter of the
local farmer's good will. It would create a pile of difficulties
for my governor and me later if I 'did down' the beloved daughter
of the old lord when she was in trouble.”

“
Ah. Sentiment. I thought it had
no place in business.”

“
It doesn't, and don't you forget
it. But I'm not about to damage the property by acting
daftly.”

“
If you say so. I still think
you're acting a bit daft. Don't let her pretty face sway you. She's
a minx, not worth it.”

“
Don't worry, I won't, and I'm
well aware of Miss De Vere's low opinion of me. This little
maneuver buys us the time to smooth things out. Now you'll arrange
the contracts with Mr. Cruise?”

“
Yes.”

“
Good, go over them very
carefully, I don't have a good feeling about him. Not sure why, but
he wouldn't be someone I'd choose to employ.”

Mr. Bayliss concurred, “Those
negotiations were too easy. He should have fought harder for his
client. I would have.”

“
That's why you're our
solicitor.”

In their gig on the way home, Dr.
and Mrs. Answorth asked their young guest what she intended to do
now that she had sold the hall. “I'd love to get out of this
village. See society.”

Dr. Answorth replied, “Six-hundred
pounds won't last you very long in London, nor in Bath. Better put
it in the four percents.”

“
Live on twenty-four pounds a
year? I'd rather try my luck in the marriage mart and become a
governess if I don't make a hit. Besides the farm income will
help.”

“
Mr. Talbot was correct about the
income, debt and principal, Miss Charlotte. You might be able to
hold onto the land for a year, if you're lucky.”

“
I can always sell some
land.”

“
Not with Mr. Talbot holding the
mortgages. He will have to be paid off first, for the full value of
the bond on that land.”

Charlotte was disconcerted. “Dr.
Answorth, I had hoped when I sold the hall, I would be free of it.
I'm still stuck here, glued in place still, aren't I?”

There really was nothing to be said
in reply to this.

Mrs. Answorth finally broke the
silence and asked her husband, “Dr. Answorth, how is your
gout?”

“
My gout?”

“
Didn't you want to go to Bath,
for the waters?”

“
Yes, but”

“
Why don't you arrange for your
curate to take over for a month or two? Mr. Cartwright needs the
practice if he's to find preferment. We'll take lodgings in Bath
and you can take the waters. I'm sure Miss De Vere would be pleased
to accompany us. That way we'd know someone in Bath.”

Unwilling to let
the grass grow under their feet, Freddy's sister, father and mother
arrived within the week. The good people of the nearby villages of
Holt and Staverton found this to be a mixed blessing. The bulk of
the servants at the hall were immediately rehired, much to their
relief, but the new family didn't keep a proper distance like old
Lord Staverton. Worse still, they had brash London manners and were
prone to say what they meant and push hard for bargains when making
a deal. Still, on the whole, and here both Freddy's and his father
George's willingness to stand rounds in the pub as well as general
cheerful attitude helped immeasurably, they were accepted, at least
for the time being.

One person who was not pleased was
Miss De Vere. It would be a dreary and tedious few weeks before she
and her friends the Answorths could depart for Bath. Early on, in
what she could only describe as 'the occupation', she found that
when Freddy said 'house and contents' he meant it.

The day after the sale, Mrs.
Answorth and Charlotte drove the rectory gig to Staverton Hall in
order to retrieve Charlotte's dresses and the odd bits of jewelry
she had left in her room. When they knocked on the hall door for
entrance, Freddy himself answered it.

Seeing Charlotte's shocked
expression, he said, “Sorry, I haven't gotten the hang of waiting
for a footman to come and open the door for me. Always thought it
dashed rude to leave our guests waiting while a servant ran up here
to do something I could easily do myself. What can I do for
you?”

“
I've come to retrieve my
wardrobe.”

“
Your wardrobe?”

“
My gowns, I need them for
Bath.”

“
I'm sorry but they are part of
the 'contents' of the house, are they not?”

“
Surely you don't want
them?”

Freddy stood back and surveyed
Charlotte with his measuring eye. She found it oddly disconcerting.
“No, but you're about m'sister Elizabeth's size. She might want
them.”

“
You must be joking.” She looked
Freddy directly in his face and did not see the smallest trace of a
smile or humor, let alone any sign that he comprehended her
dilemma. He shrugged, “No, if not Elizabeth, then the rag
merchants. See what we can recover for them.”

“
But my things, I left them here
expecting to be able to take them.”

“
I'm sorry but the contract for
the sale clearly states 'house and contents'. You should have read
it before you signed it.”

Charlotte bit her tongue to hide
her feelings. She turned on her heels and returned to the gig with
Mrs. Answorth. As they left the grounds a torrent of her opinion
came forth. It started with “That unreasonable, impertinent,
unbearable man,” and ended several minutes later with a plaintive
lament of “What am I going to do for gowns when we go to
Bath?”

Freddy was a bit disconcerted
himself. He was reasonably sure that Elizabeth would laugh at the
idea of using this woman's gowns. That comment was a feeble attempt
at humor which went astray. After all Lizzy had access to the best
and most stylish mantua makers
ⁱ
in
London and their father, while until recently extremely prudent
with money in business, gave her a more than adequate clothing
allowance. On the other hand, that upstart little, the word beauty
came to mind, only to be dismissed with the word minx, deserved the
difficulty. Finally, the clothes had to have some value in the
second hand market. He went in search of his man Phelps to discuss
the problem. Mayhaps a solution would present itself.

It was Elizabeth who solved the
problem for him, by accident. The rest of the Talbot family arrived
late in the afternoon. She descended from the carriage, looked
around the yard, and announced that the place met with her
approval.

“
Freddy! It's perfect. There are
cows and horses and everything is so fresh.”

“
London has been getting a bit
rank of late. All those people and all that coal smoke. I've felt
so much cleaner since I've been looking for a house in the
country.”

Elizabeth asked, “Do we have any
horses? I could so do with a ride.”

“
Henry! Can you help my
sister?”

Henry came running. “Sir! Mr.
Talbot, what?”

He paused, there were the two Mr.
Talbot's, father and son. He alternately looked at both of them for
instructions.

“
Henry,” Freddy asked, “Is there a
horse Lizzy can ride?”

“
There's the mare, but” Freddy's
father interrupted him.

“
But nothing, Get Lizzy mounted,
please.”

“
Mr. Talbot?”

“
Yes, what is it?”

“
The mare isn't like her horse in
London. She's a bit hard to handle and riding in the country isn't
like traipsing around Hyde Park.”

Freddy generally respected Henry's
judgment about horses, but his father didn't.

“
See that my daughter has her
ride!”

“
Yes, Sir!”

Mounted sidesaddle on what had been
Charlotte's least favorite hunter, Elizabeth began to wonder if the
horse was possibly a bit more than she could handle as it sidled
along in an ill temper. A few moments later she knew it was much
more than she could handle. It started acting up while they were
still in the stable-yard. Once they left the yard the horse shot
off at a fast canter. Lizzy held on for all she could as the horse
raced over the fields, jumped hedges and generally ran wildly out
of control. The horse decided to jump one last fence, shied at the
last minute and Elizabeth slid forward over the horse's neck to the
ground. She lay there, in the mud, stunned, while the horse ran
off.

Charlotte was riding down a shaded
country lane on her favorite mount. The horse was an old mare, a
bit of a slug really, but she was even tempered and friendly.
Charlotte had brought her along to the Answorths because she
couldn't bear the thought of leaving her behind. Her beloved mare,
her first horse, the one she learned to ride on, was more of a pet
than a mount.

A dark hunter, bearing an empty
sidesaddle crashed into the lane in front of her and sprinted
away.

Charlotte thought out loud,
“Somebody's had an accident, I wonder who?” She traced the horse's
path back through the fields, and found a disheveled woman sitting
in the mud and holding her head.