Finders and Keepers (56 page)

‘If I explain the situation to the trustees they'll understand and see it the way I do,' Harry persisted.

‘Believe me, Harry, I have tried.' Mr Richards took the coffee Sali had poured for him. ‘If you'll forgive me for saying so, you are allowing your heart to rule your head, and the trustees are doing the converse. In my experience, when heart meets head there is never enough common ground to reach a compromise. If you want to take the Ellis children from the workhouse you will have to find somewhere else for them to live.' He filched a sheet of paper from his notebook, leaned forward and handed it to Harry. ‘That is a list of modest farms and smallholdings in the Swansea Valley owned by E and G Estates that are vacant.'

‘All repossessed by Robert Pritchard,' Harry said in disgust.

‘And all empty,' Mr Richards emphasized. ‘And I mean empty – no furniture, no livestock, not even the bare essentials of a table and bed. I believe that given the way the Ellis family have been treated by the representative of E and G Estates, the trustees might look favourably on a request from you to earmark one of those properties for the family's use. But the problems don't end there, Harry. Should you take the family from the workhouse you will become legally responsible for them. The trustees see that as an onerous and unnecessary burden.'

‘Not on an estate the size of mine.'

‘Financially, it won't be.' Lloyd finally spoke. ‘But the Ellis family might well become an emotional drain on you, Harry. Hopefully, you won't remain a bachelor for ever, and your future wife may resent your involvement with this family.'

‘And if she, whoever she may be, asked me to abandon the Ellises, as they have been so many times by people who should have cared for them, I'd walk away from her.'

‘You say that now, Harry, but who knows what the future holds? Circumstances change.' Lloyd offered his cigarettes around.

‘I don't need reminding that only a few weeks ago I wanted to go to Paris for a year and now I'm not sure that I want to go at all.' Harry set his coffee cup on a sofa table and took one of his father's cigarettes.

‘We didn't say that, Harry,' Lloyd said flatly, ‘you did. Stop being so hard on yourself, you are only twenty-one. You have your whole life ahead of you, and you have to stop blaming yourself for what Robert Pritchard did. You were in school when he was appointed. And no sooner did you finish university than you left here to take care of Dad.'

Harry quoted the lecture Lloyd had given him so many times. ‘“Wealth brings responsibilities. You owe it to the people dependent on the wages your companies pay to make sure that every business you own is run fairly and honestly. And the only way you can do that is by monitoring them. It is time you learned everything there is to know about them and the people who labour for your benefit.”'

‘I've always been too severe with you, Harry.' Lloyd reached across and gripped Harry's shoulder.

‘No, you haven't. All you ever tried to do was make me see that my inheritance was more than a windfall of wealth. That I owed a responsibility to the people who work for the companies held in trust for me. And you were absolutely right to do so. I have done a lot of thinking this week and I've made a few decisions. I want to try to be the kind of man Granddad was. When I reach old age, as I hope I will, I want to be able to look back and say, “I did make a difference. I did manage to make some people's lives better.”'

‘That's a tall order, Harry.' Lloyd smiled.

‘I know, and I also know that I'll never be a fraction of the man Granddad was. But you're right, it is high time that I shouldered my responsibilities and tried to put things right in the companies I will inherit. I know that I haven't done anything to convince you that I have a serious side, not yet,' he said earnestly, ‘but the Ellis family wouldn't have lost their home and each other if it hadn't been for my shortcomings.' He looked at Mr Richards. ‘I told you what I thought of a man who would employ an agent like Robert Pritchard and it still holds. The Ellises are in desperate straits because of my refusal to take control of my inheritance.'

‘Your mother and I are here if you need us to do anything, Harry,' Lloyd offered.

‘That's good to know.'

‘So, what do you want to do, Harry?' Mr Richards asked.

‘Offer Mrs Morgan a job looking after the Ellises and hope she'll take it. Attend the trustees' meeting in the morning and then travel to the inn. Rent a cottage for the Ellises until Mrs Morgan and I can prepare one of these farms for them. As soon as we have somewhere to house the family, go to the workhouse and get the Ellises released. When they are settled, I intend to take a good look at E and G Estates. If Mr Beatty is willing, I'd like him to stay in Brecon and work with me to clear up the mess Robert Pritchard made. He knows a great deal more than I do about my own business,' Harry said wryly.

‘It may take an increase of salary, but I'm fairly certain that we can persuade Mr Beatty to stay in Brecon, Harry.' Mr Richards closed his notebook and returned it to his pocket.

‘You're going to be very busy, Harry. You'll find time to telephone us when you reach the inn tomorrow?' Sali took Mr Richards's empty coffee cup from him.

‘Of course.'

‘And at least once a week,' she pressed.

‘At least, but I've a feeling that it'll be a lot more often than that, given the help I'm going to need. Thank you, Mr Richards, for all your hard work on my behalf.' Harry shook the old man's hand.

‘My pleasure, Harry. I only wish that your Great-great aunt Edyth could see the fine young man you've become. She made a wise decision when she left her estate to you.'

‘I'll see you to your car, Mr Richards.' Lloyd opened the door.

‘And I'll ask one of the girls to get your coat.' Sali went into the dining room, where the maids were putting away the silver.

Lloyd laid his hand on Harry's arm to detain him after Sali and Mr Richards had left. ‘This Mary Ellis, how old is she?'

‘Nineteen,' Harry answered shortly.

‘Pretty?'

‘No.' Harry met Lloyd's searching gaze. ‘Beautiful.'

‘And from what Mr Richards said, illiterate and uneducated like most of the women Robert Pritchard raped.'

‘Yes, and because she's lived in isolation with her family all her life, she's wild and full of crazy ideas, especially when it comes to caring for her brothers and sisters. And no matter how impossible they are, she tries to carry them out. She will do anything to protect them. Robert Pritchard knew that and used it to hurt her.'

‘You love her?' Lloyd asked bluntly.

‘With all my heart.' It was a relief to admit it.

‘But her lack of education is an obstacle.'

‘Only for her. I'd marry her tomorrow if she'd have me.' Harry meant it. Life had battered Mary with more injustices than anyone person should suffer in a lifetime, yet she had remained essentially true to herself. And he thought that if he could get her to care for him half as much as she cared for David, Matthew, Martha and Luke, he'd have a love worth more than all the wealth in his trust fund.

‘Then good luck with her, but a word of warning: tread carefully. Damaged women are fragile; smother them with kindness and you'll suffocate them.'

Harry looked at Lloyd in confusion. His stepfather sounded as though he was speaking from experience, but he couldn't be … He looked to his mother, immaculately and elegantly dressed as usual, as she helped Mr Richards on with his coat.

Toby and Bella walked, hand in hand, out of the library. Edyth, exhibiting the first trace of her old spirit that she'd shown since she'd come home from the infirmary, was making faces at them behind their backs.

‘All right, Edyth?' Harry held out his hand, and she went to him.

‘Aren't I always?' She smiled up at him, before sticking out her tongue at Bella and Toby's backs when they went into the drawing room.

‘No, you are not,' Sali corrected her fondly. ‘And you are supposed to be taking things quietly, young lady. If Bella sees that tongue of yours there'll be ructions.'

‘Young Ross going back with you tomorrow, Harry?' Lloyd asked.

‘Yes,' Harry confirmed.

Lloyd glanced at him and said just one word: ‘Good.'

Harry sat up as straight as he could to compensate for the low chair on which he was sitting, and faced the workhouse master across his desk. ‘I believe that I have complied with all the requirements. The regulations state the Ellis children can only be removed from the custody of the parish if they are transferred into the care of a respectable person who will be responsible for their welfare as well as meet the financial obligations of their keep.' He glanced at Betty Morgan, the picture of propriety in her widow's weeds. ‘You have seen Mrs Morgan's references from her employer of the last twelve years and her reference from my father,' he couldn't resist adding, ‘the MP.'

‘Yes, we received them last week and checked them out.' The master squirmed and stared down at his desk rather than meet Harry's eye.

Harry wasn't surprised at the workhouse master's disquiet. Word travelled fast in a small town like Brecon, and everyone who had done business with Robert Pritchard either had been or was about to be interviewed by the police. Anthony Beatty, who had worked closely with Harry during the two weeks it had taken him to prepare the cottage he had rented in Abercrave for the Ellises, had told him that the workhouse master was no exception, and there were rumours that Robert Pritchard had sold the master furniture at preferential prices in exchange for the swift removal of families after evictions.

‘You found Mrs Morgan's references satisfactory?' Harry challenged.

‘Eminently. But the Ellis family will need more than housing; they will need to find work in order to support themselves. Otherwise they could become a burden on the parish again at some future date.'

‘They will need educating first,' Harry said firmly. ‘You have seen the letter from the trustees of my estate.'

‘Offering to support them until such time as they can earn their own keep, yes, Mr Evans, but that sets a precedence. Paupers -'

‘They are no longer paupers,' Harry corrected. ‘They have a place to live and a guaranteed annual income.'

‘Which they may dissipate in a reckless manner.' The master pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket. He fiddled with it but made no attempt to open it. ‘The parish has to consider their ultimate welfare. This family was taken into the workhouse because they ran up debts.'

‘The debt was to a company I owned, and I sincerely doubt it existed outside of the agent's machinations,' Harry retorted. ‘I have no doubt whatsoever that Robert Pritchard cheated the Ellises. I have come here with Mrs Morgan today because you assured my solicitor on the telephone yesterday that there would be no obstacle to our removing all four Ellis children today.'

‘Ordinarily, yes, Mr Evans,' the workhouse master hedged.

‘There are problems?'

‘With young David Ellis, yes.'

Harry sensed what was coming. ‘You have already found him a job.'

‘We found him a place, yes, on a farm.'

‘What farm?'

‘I'm not at liberty to say.'

‘Why didn't you inform my solicitor of this when you spoke to him yesterday?'

‘Because I assumed that I could get David Ellis back in time to leave with you today, Mr Evans. The Ellis family are in the care of the parish -'

‘So you keep repeating. But as soon as they are removed and placed in Mrs Morgan's care, they will no longer be a burden on the parish. I doubt that I need to remind you, yet again, that they are only here because of the criminal acts of a man who was in my employ. And I am sure that the farmer who has the boy will be equally happy with another. David Ellis couldn't have been with him much more than a week or two.'

‘He took him the night he came in.'

‘But no one knew …' Harry breathed out heavily. ‘Ianto Williams.'

‘Someone told you?'

‘I didn't need to be told. I saw Ianto Williams at the Ellis Estate on the day the family were evicted. David Ellis warned me then that he and his younger sister wouldn't be in the workhouse long, that they'd be taken as unpaid servants.'

‘We place our inmates with respectable people, Mr Evans.' The master turned crimson and moved his chair back from his desk – and further away from Harry. ‘It was a perfectly normal, legal arrangement,' he continued defensively. ‘Mr Williams needed a farm labourer; the boy was experienced and suited to the work.'

‘I don't doubt it, but now that the Ellises have a home in which they can live together, the boy needs to be reunited with his family.'

The master stared down at his desk again. ‘David Ellis has met with an accident.'

‘What kind of an accident?' Harry demanded suspiciously.

‘I don't know the details. The police went to Mr Williams's farm yesterday to interview him about his dealings with Robert Pritchard. They saw that the boy was ill, and arranged for him to be admitted to the paupers' ward in the infirmary.'

‘Here?'

‘The infirmary is run as a separate establishment, Mr Evans, but I was told that he had been admitted.'

‘Have his sisters and brothers seen him?'

‘It is against regulations for workhouse inmates to visit the infirmary,' the master recited officiously.

Harry rose to his feet. ‘I wish to see David Ellis and ascertain his condition for myself. When I return, Mrs Morgan and I will expect all three Ellis children to be ready to leave for their new home.'

‘Without their brother and sister you risk upsetting them.' The master left his chair.

‘The risk of upset will be less if you allow me to remove Mary Ellis so she can help Mrs Morgan care for them,' Harry ventured.