Lord
Bainstall was announced by the butler and Isobel was a bit taken aback by his
unprepossessing appearance. He was a stout, middle-aged man, with an unhealthy
air about him. His pallid countenance and flaccid frame were those of one who
might be an excellent trencherman, but clearly pursued little vigorous
exercise. He had a rather petulant expression, not assisted by small, weak
eyes, which he blinked rapidly.
Bainstall
was looking mournful, and he gestured towards the bier. “A very bad business
this,” he said. “The thought that a man so young could be struck down in the
flower of his youth, must make each of us recall that at any time we could be
called upon to give an account of our actions in this world, and that we should
be prepared to justify ourselves to our Creator.”
Letty
looked rather nonplussed at his moralizing, but replied quietly. “Quite so,
Lord Bainstall. I believe that you are not acquainted with my friend Lady Exencour.
Allow me to introduce you to her.”
Isobel
summoned up a vision of her grandmother, who had been a very
grande dame
indeed, and favored the baron with a frosty smile, a slight nod of her head and
offered his lordship two fingers to shake. Letty turned her head aside to hide a
smile, and then invited them to sit.
Bainstall
seated himself heavily. “I came as soon as I heard, cousin,” he said. “I fancy
you must find yourself very much in want of my advice.”
Letty
did not know how to answer him politely, so she remained silent and tried to
avoid looking her skepticism. Isobel took up cudgels on her behalf, however.
“I
think that Letty suffers from no shortage of friendly advice from those who
have her interests at heart,” she said.
“Indeed
not,” replied Bainstall in a displeased tone. “But who can better ascertain
those interests than the head of her family?” he inquired rhetorically.
“Perhaps
Lady Morgan’s opinion might be solicited first,” answered Isobel sweetly.
Letty
had to smile at this exchange. “Cousin, your kindness in wishing to assist me
in this difficult time is appreciated,” she said placatingly. “However, Lady Exencour
too has my welfare in mind.”
Unfortunately,
Lord Bainstall chose to ignore this invitation to cease hostilities and looked
closely at Isobel. “Ah, you are the former Miss Paley, are you not, Lady Exencour?”
he asked.
Isobel
merely nodded and smiled in reply. Undeterred, Bainstall pressed on. “Letitia,
I must tell you that I do not think that Lady Exencour is one in whom you should
confide. She led you very much astray two years past when you visited her in
London, and you should not place your trust in her now. Although you came to
your senses and returned to your home, Lady Exencour’s influence on your
actions can only be described as ill-advised.”
There
was silence after this speech as both ladies were so much angered by it as to
be temporarily rendered tongue-tied. Bainstall, fancying himself to have had
the last word on the matter smiled at Letitia. “You must allow yourself to be
guided by me, cousin, and we shall see you respectably settled.”
The
door had opened silently during this last speech by the baron and Lord Exencour
had entered undetected. He now stood with a gleeful smile on his handsome face,
watching his wife draw breath to embark upon a blistering retort. Electing at
the last moment to cast water rather than oil upon the flames of her wrath, he
cleared his throat and stepped forward.
“Ah, you
must be Bainstall, Lady Morgan’s cousin. I am Exencour. Lady Morgan has
undoubtedly already introduced you to my wife.” Francis smiled easily and extended
his hand to Bainstall. He then turned to Letitia, effectively cutting off any
comment her cousin might wish to make.
“Lady
Morgan, you will be happy, I believe, to hear that my search has prospered and
I have been able to locate your bailiff. You are fortunate; he had purchased a
passage to America, and was waiting to take ship in three days’ time, although
I fancy he would have called upon you first in any event. He seems to be an estimable
fellow. I have invited him on your behalf to return to Morgan Park, which he
does with great willingness. He will wait upon you in an hour's time.”
Letty
was delighted to have Grieves restored to her and opened her mouth to thank Exencour
when she was interrupted by Lord Bainstall.
“If I
am to meet with your bailiff soon, cousin, perhaps you could have me shown to
my room so that I may change my clothing from this travelling garb.”
The
other three looked surprised, but unanimously chose to leave the baron to enjoy
his ignorance. The bell was rung and soon Bainstall was being shown to the
green bedchamber.
“Oh
dear,” said Letty as the door closed behind him.
“What a
pompous bore,” Isobel burst out. “Letty, he is twice as bad in person as he was
in that dreadful letter.”
“Yes, I
fear that it will be very difficult to avoid offending him deeply, Isobel, for
it is plain that he feels it is his duty to take my affairs in hand, and
indeed, I do not wish him to do so.”
“It is
a shame that Morgan Park is not a huge pile like Strancaster,” said Exencour
with a glinting smile. “When my mother wishes to avoid an annoying guest, she
has only to place him in a distant chamber, where the bell most mysteriously refuses
to function. Unable to summon a servant to show him back to the family rooms,
the poor wretch may wander about for days, even risking starvation, in search
of the remainder of the party.”
“Alas,
Morgan Park is too small to perplex even my cousin for more than a minute or
two,” answered Letty. “We shall have to resort to plain speaking it seems.”
“Well,
Letty, it is best to begin as you mean to go on,” said Isobel. “And if you are
to manage for yourself now, Lord Bainstall will have to be put in his place. Although
I doubt he will know it when that happens. He seems remarkably thick-witted to me.”
An hour
later Bainstall descended from his room. He had changed his travelling clothes
for some suitably funereal garments, and looked the picture of a bereaved
relative. He found Letitia in the sitting room.
“You
must be very weary, Letitia,” he said. “You need not be present for this
interview; I will handle it on your behalf. Please lie down and tend to
yourself for a little while.”
Letitia
straightened her spine, which was indeed beginning to droop from weariness. “Thank
you, Cousin, but that is not necessary,” she said in a firm voice. “I must deal
with this on my own. You will not always be present for me to call upon, so I
mean to take this on myself until James is old enough to assume responsibility.
Perhaps if I had taken a greater interest in the estate at an earlier time, I would
not be in the desperate case I find myself now.”
“Nonsense,”
replied Bainstall. “Although your husband clearly mismanaged Morgan Park, it
was his estate to do with as he pleased. No reasonable bailiff will take his
commands from a woman, and you will be hard pressed to make him listen to you. Things
may very well go from bad to worse.”
“I have
known Grieves for years, and I am better acquainted with him than you are,”
observed Letitia. “I believe that he will be more forthright with me than he
would be with you, a stranger, although you are my cousin.”
“You
will be far too indulgent with him,” said Bainstall. “I understand that your
late husband had some suspicions that he was stealing money and had him dismissed;
this is a matter which must be looked into carefully. It will not do to have
the estate not only disrupted by its master's death, but also placed under the care
of an unreliable employee.”
“That
is exactly why I do not want you present,” Letitia said, her voice rising. “Alfred
was attempting to blame Grieves for his own gross neglect of our lands. I need
Grieves because someone who knows the history of the estate and the missteps
Alfred took is required to correct them. If you were to accuse him of stealing,
which is quite untrue, it would simply drive him away.”
“Your sentiments
are, of course, admirable in one of your sex, but they are not suitable for
business of this nature,” said Bainstall, in what he presumed was a soothing
voice. “You will allow him to think that he can have the ordering of the farms.
He will need to speak to a man in order to understand that he is answerable to
others.”
At this
moment Lord Exencour chose to enter the sitting room in search of Lady Morgan. He
took in the scene at a glance; Letitia's cheeks were flushed and there was a
martial glint in her eye, while Bainstall looked more than ever as though he
were about to have an apoplexy. Lord Exencour hastened to play the diplomat.
“How
pleasant to find you two here,” he said quietly. “I am sent on an errand by my
wife to seek you out, Lady Morgan. I trust I am not intruding?”
“Not at
all,” replied Letitia. “My cousin was just recommending to me that I allow him
to deal with the bailiff for me, but I, although appreciating his offer, have
decided I must deal with the matter myself.”
“I see,”
said Lord Exencour. “I am sure that Lord Bainstall will respect your decision,
no matter what he thinks of it.” He turned an inquiring eye on the Baron.
That
individual looked decidedly annoyed. “It is, of course, Letitia's decision to
make,” he responded with ill grace. “I believe that it is a badly thought out
plan, however.”
“We all
have to make mistakes and learn from them,” said Lord Exencour with the air of
a sage. “Lady Morgan will have many more decisions to make in the future. Surely
we owe it to her to support her in this time of change.”
“Of
course, of course,” said Bainstall testily. “Well, Letitia, it looks as though
you will see the bailiff by yourself. But do not say I did not warn you.”
“Thank
you, Cousin, for that endorsement,” said Letitia, a touch of irony creeping
into her voice. “And now, I must see what it is that Lady Exencour wants. If
you will excuse me, gentlemen?”
With a
grateful smile for Exencour, she exited the room, leaving the gentlemen alone.
There
was a moment of silence, and then Bainstall spoke. “I must say that I do not
understand why you are encouraging Letitia in this nonsensical notion of hers
that she must do things for herself,” he said. “I plan to assume the burden of
caring for her and her children, and she need never have another thought about the
matter.”
“Perhaps
Lady Morgan would prefer not to be a burden upon you and to take care of her
children herself,” volunteered Lord Exencour.
“It is
not a woman's place to take care of herself,” said Lord Bainstall. “As the head
of the family I am responsible for her and the children. My predecessor was her
father; I owe some duty to her as his daughter. If she will simply turn her business
matters over to me I believe I can make her comfortable.”
Exencour
gave him a pitying look. “You do not know Lady Morgan very well, do you?” he
asked.
“I have
not seen her for some years,” said Bainstall. “But, although she was indulged
by her parents, when she was a girl she was biddable enough. I believe that
once she has overcome her grief at Lord Morgan's death she will understand that
it would be best if she allowed me to manage her affairs.”
Lord Exencour
turned his back to the Baron in order to hide a smile of amusement and poured
them both a glass of sherry.
“Let us
drink to the happy day,” he said, handing Bainstall a glass. “I am sure Lady
Morgan will appreciate your worthiness if you are simply persistent enough.”
An hour
or more later Letitia re-entered the sitting room to find Lord Exencour alone,
sipping a glass of sherry and surveying the bleak view from the window. He
turned as door opened, and hurried forward when he saw the strained look on her
face.
“Sit
down, Lady Morgan,” he said. “Would you care for some sherry?”
“I
believe I would,” said Letitia, her voice rather faint. Lord Exencour procured
the liquid for her, and waited some moments as she sipped at it, her eyes fixed
on the opposite wall.
“Where
is my cousin?” she asked finally.
“He has
gone out to inspect some of the farms,” said Lord Exencour. “He wishes to
ascertain the productivity of the land.”
Letitia
smiled faintly. “How kind of him,” she said. “I know that he means well, but I
find his actions meddlesome.”
“He is
a difficult person to deal with,” agreed Lord Exencour. “The sincerity of his concern
cannot be discounted, but his manner of showing it is overbearing.”
“Exactly,”
Letitia agreed. “I am glad he is not here. I have had dreadful news from Grieves,
and I do not think I could bear to listen to Bainstall's strictures without
becoming very angry.”
“What
did Grieves say?” asked Lord Exencour gently.
“For
the past five years nothing has been invested in the estate,” said Letitia. “All,
all was turned over to Alfred, who spent it no one knows where, though I can
certainly make some conjectures. He would not listen to Grieves’ representations
that the land was going to ruin; Alfred simply demanded the money and ordered
Grieves to be silent. It will be some time before the estate is once again
profitable, as there is so much work to be done.”