by Abigail Agar
“If we’re talking money, it would cost you about the same to get this place to the way it should be as it would cost to build a new place. I’m attached to this place and don’t want to see it go. It could be as comfortable as something new once the renovations were done.
“I guess what I’m saying is the money isn’t going to decide for you. It will cost about the same. It comes down to this, Percy. Do you like the place or not?”
“Winters, what is the cost difference to maintain either place?”
“Once it’s back to the way we want it? None. It’s not a money issue.”
“Let’s go take a look.”
Percy and Winters went into every room and talked about what needed to be done. The butler found them and asked Percy when he wanted to eat. Percy looked at his watch, shocked that it was nine o’clock.
He told the butler to tell Cook he wanted to eat now. He told Winters that he wanted to continue to talk about renovations through dinner.
They agreed to meet the next morning to finish the tour and tackle what areas needed attention first.
Percy went to his room with a cognac and parchment. His old desk still had a quill and a sealed bottle of ink.
He missed her. Three days on the road and one day in the Castle, and all he could do was wonder what she would think of the place. This project was going to take every day, ten-hour days to make a dent in it.
Thank God Winters knew what he was doing. After he left for the wedding, he wouldn’t be back for at least six months. The honeymoon and the townhouse redecoration would take at least that long.
He couldn’t leave Louisa in the house with workers coming and going. Even if she stayed at Frederick’s, she couldn’t supervise them without a man around. Wallpaper hangers would be in the bedchambers. No, it would be at least six months.
Percy got Winters to hire workers. Many workers. Percy would supervise one project, and Winters would supervise another.
He hired a gardener and two assistants. He explained what he wanted then let them get to work. He checked the progress every day and was pleased with it.
Cook made a noontime meal for the workers. A buffet-style table was set up, and the workers sat wherever they wanted.
Percy knew that for some of them, it was their only meal of the day. He encouraged them to take leftovers home. He told Cook to make more food so the workers had more leftovers.
“Should we add workers, Winters?”
“I don’t think so. We need to keep a close eye on what they are doing, and that would be difficult with more of them.”
Percy nodded. “What’s your opinion of the progress?”
Winters thought for a moment. “The roofs, windows, and walls are better than they’ve been in years. The bedchambers are coming along well. There are beams that have been added to every bedchamber. They will be finished shortly, and I think you’ll be pleased with the result.
“I think we need to redo the kitchen. It’s antiquated, and the servants have to go around each other in a tight space.”
Percy shrugged. “Sounds like difficult work conditions. Do it.”
*****
Every night, Percy went to bed thinking the project he took on expanded every day. He missed Louisa and wrote to her every night. She knew as much about the renovation project as he did.
She wrote about the wedding plans and what decisions she made. Amelia was feeling much better, so they were able to enjoy making the plans together.
What every man he ever knew said was true. Wedding plans were earth-shatteringly dull, and if they could avoid hearing about them, they would. Thank God Louisa wanted to take on the project by herself.
Frederick wrote about Sir John Tattersall. After meeting with him, Frederick heard he made a visit to his grandson the next day. Sir John and his grandson spent two tedious days going through the Tattersall books.
Simple questions were asked that could not be answered. To Victor’s credit, he made sure income was high. Of course, he had an ulterior motive. There was no need to worry about a business that did so well. He was left alone.
Sir John asked his grandson how often he went to the auctions. That’s when the relationship between grandfather and grandson fell apart. Someone recommended by Sir John’s solicitor now handled Tattersall’s books.
Frederick also wrote about his investment problems. He didn’t trust his foreman. He thought he was stealing Frederick blind.
Materials delivered to the site kept getting lost. He was paying twice for most of his materials. And there was another mill going up down the street. Maybe with Frederick’s materials? Not good.
Which meant a less than successful investment. Now that Amelia was feeling somewhat better, he was considering a trip to Manchester. He was reluctant to go because of her illness and the wedding but wasn’t sure he could put it off much longer.
Even another letter came the same day.
Dear Percy,
I miss you. I get far too few visitors at the warehouse since you’ve been gone. Amelia is doing better, and I keep an eye on your betrothed. She’s throwing you quite the wedding. But I won’t spoil the surprises.
I went up to see Donny Williams when Frederick went to see Sir John. I convinced him to come down so he could point out which horses needed to be put out to pasture instead of sold and put down.
Turns out Sir John knew Donny’s father, Danny. They had a solid friendship at one point. That made Donny sit up and listen when the old man talked.
Did Frederick tell you the old man isn’t really an old man? Donny is watching over the horses temporarily, but Sir John wants it to be permanent. We shall see.
Barton and Sir John had a falling out a couple of years back, so Sir John showed no mercy. In addition to barring him from the property, his solicitor is demanding he return the money he earned illegally at Tattersall’s.
Sir John knows he’ll never get it back. Did you know someone leaked the information about Barton to the newspaper? Who would do such a thing?
Hobart
The ton heard the word ‘illegally’ and turned their collective backs on Barton. If he deceived horse buyers, whom else did he deceive and for what reason. No one in the ton liked to look foolish.
He was no longer welcome at ton events, and his membership at White’s was revoked. He had little choice but to go back to Hamilton Place.
As the Duke of Hamilton, he was expected to be in town while the House of Lords was in session, but he knew better than venture out beyond that. He couldn’t and wouldn’t show his face at any ton events while in town.
Louisa wrote that Kent and Gertie decided to get married right away. She swore there was no need to rush. They just wanted to be together. Only time would tell.
They got a special licence, asked Cecil and Emma and Louisa, then got married. There were eight guests.
On the carriage ride home, Cecil, Emma, and Louisa laughed and had fun talking about Kent and Gertie.
Cecil said Kent and Gertie couldn’t wait for them all to leave so they could be alone. He said Kent kept telling Cecil to leave. That was why they stayed so long, according to Cecil.
Louisa went on to say how much he would have enjoyed the wedding. Cecil laughed at Kent’s expense the whole day.
Percy put down the letter. A month into fixing Gordon Castle with another month to go. He wanted to go home now.
Chapter 34
Percy read his correspondence for the day after he ate dinner. He put down the letters and began to pace. He felt he was in the wrong place. He should be in London.
It was time to run. He would never sleep if he went to bed now. The letters would keep him up. He wanted to be there. He wanted to experience what his friends were experiencing. He wanted Louisa.
Percy now knew the property well. The only problem he might have if he ran at this time of night was hitting in an irregular patch or twisting his ankle on a rut in the ground.
But that didn’t stop him. He went out the
front door and down the well-worn drive that led to Gordon Castle. Then he ran on the packed earth that was the road.
He liked this path. There were no bushes or trees in the way. He had tripped over a tree root more than once. It was two miles to town. Perfect. A four-mile run.
When he got home, he began to work on the honeymoon. He had gone on the Grand Tour after university, so he remembered what he did and didn’t want to do.
He and Louisa would take a boat from Dover to Calais. He thought they would go to Paris, Rome, and Marsala, Sicily.
The boat ride to Calais was only a couple of hours, but the carriage ride to Paris would be two and a half days. He figured they would spend about ten days there before moving on.
There was a quaint hotel in Paris Percy was fond of. He hoped it hadn’t lost its appeal since he last stayed there. They would walk around and have late dinners in the small cafés near the hotel. He thought Louisa would enjoy that.
Percy knew the ambassador to France. He thought they might dine at the embassy a few times.
The carriage trip to Nantes and the boat ride to Rome would be the worst part of the trip, but worth it once they got there. He planned to take her to the Coliseum, the Sistine Chapel, the Museums and the Pantheon, but he thought she might enjoy most the small squares with shops and outdoor cafés that served very strong coffee.
And there was a gelato shop around the corner from the Pantheon that Percy knew Louisa would like.
Percy didn’t know the ambassador to Italy, but he would be received at Percy’s request.
Percy remembered the carriage ride from the dock to the beautiful countryside and charming towns in Sicily. He remembered passing towns with the main square of shops, a church, and a meetinghouse surrounded by small cottages built from blonde coloured brick and topped with a slate roof.
The air was clean and smelled of the sea. A gentle breeze circulated keeping the air fresh. The sun shone brightly without a cloud in sight. During his previous trip, the villa had looked directly at the ocean with a beach between. Tall green vegetation grew around the villas for privacy. Percy laughed to himself. He hoped they would need plenty of privacy.
Percy remembered the colour of the water was nothing like he had ever seen. In England, the water matched the sky. A dark grey soup that stirred whitecaps but no colour.
In Marsala, the ocean was calm. More like a gentle lake than an ocean. The colour started as a light aquamarine blue that slowly brightened to a turquoise colour popular with hats worn on the streets of London in the summers. A bright blue as far as the eye could see followed. It too matched the sky.
Then they would take the cruel boat ride from Rome to Dover. Every moment on that boat would remind them that the honeymoon was over.
*****
Hobart wrote Percy a short letter to tell him Barton left London for Hamilton. It seemed since it came out that he was driving up the price of a horse through deception, his peers had abandoned him. Both he and Frederick believed Barton was no longer a threat to Louisa.
Frederick wrote about the wedding and how it was making his house unliveable. The women had become incapable of talking about anything else. He also wrote about his concern for his investment. It was going terribly wrong. As soon as the wedding was over, he needed to go to Manchester. Probably the next morning.
Percy also received a letter from Cecil letting him know he would wed a week before Percy and Louisa. He and Emma hoped he could come home a few days earlier than he planned so he could attend the wedding.
He also told Percy that he would be in Paris for a few weeks on his honeymoon with Emma and would love to get together if he planned to go there. Their honeymoons might overlap for a few days. Percy loved that idea and thought Louisa would too.
*****
Percy sat down with Winters to go over the progress of the castle’s renovation.
“I plan to leave three or four days earlier to go back to London. We should probably go over what’s been done and what needs to be done. Then I’ll know how much money to leave you and how long I can expect it to take. I won’t be able to return for at least six months. Let’s see if it can be done by then.”
Winters shook his head. “There is no way the project will be done in six months, Your Grace. I estimate ten to twelve months. I still recommend you return in six months to look at the progress. Hopefully, you’ll see a substantial difference by then.”
Percy and Winters went down the list they developed before they started the project. They crossed off completed projects and put a star next to the projects they were working on now.
Then they estimated when they could do each remaining project and how long each one would take.
“The kitchen is taking a long time. A wall needed to be moved to make more space. That project won’t be complete for a few months.”
Percy and Winters went down every item on their list. They estimated the cost and the schedule.
“I’ll put the money for the total project in the bank up here. Once I’ve received your invoice, I’ll notify the bank to release the funds to you.
“I’ll come up in six months and again in twelve months.
*****
“I’ve got to go,” Frederick said.
He and Hobart were sitting in the warehouse office. Frederick looked crushed. He slumped in his chair rubbing his forehead over and over again.
“Well, if you must, go now, tomorrow morning so you can get back in time.”
“Hobart, it takes close to three days to get there and three days to get back. I can’t miss the wedding. And, at this late date, it can’t be postponed.
“If it wasn’t so much money, and the project wasn’t at complete standstill, I’d go two weeks from now. But I can’t. A shipment is coming in, the biggest of the project, and the investment can’t afford to lose it. Or, as the foreman says, ‘misplace’ it.”
Hobart sat up. “Let me go for you. I’ll take care of everything you need.”
“Thank you, but I don’t know what I’m looking for until I get there and poke around. If it were something I could pass along to you, I would do it in a heartbeat. You know that.
“I will, however, take one of your men if you can spare one. I’d like to install someone to keep an eye on the place. There seems to be no oversight if the foreman is in on it.
“If I don’t make it back in time . . .”
“Your wife will kill you.”
“If I don’t make it back in time, walk my daughter down the aisle.”
“No.”
“What do you mean no?”
“You better make it back in time.”
*****
Percy directed his carriage to go straight to Louisa’s then move on to his townhouse and help unpack the trunks from the other carriage.
He knocked, and Mendon answered. Mendon bowed, “Your Grace.”
Percy stood in the door of the parlour and cleared his throat. Louisa looked up and screamed. She rose at the speed of fireworks at Vauxhall and looked just as beautiful. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him hard.
Amelia said, “Louisa, please remember yourself.”
Percy gently took her arms from around him and stepped back to look at her.
“You are so beautiful. I’ve missed you. Every minute I was gone.”
He pulled her to him and put his forehead against hers. “I came home early for Cecil and Emma’s wedding. I wanted to surprise you.”
“You did. Sit down and have tea?”
“I’d love to.” Percy turned to Amelia and bowed. Duchess, you look much better. How are you feeling?”
“I’m well, thank you. But Frederick’s not back. He’s making us all so nervous. So much has happened since you’ve been gone. We are ready for the wedding. The invitations went out last week and . . .”
Percy put his hand up. “Don’t tell me. I want to be surprised. Just like the honeymoon I planned. I want Louisa to be surprised. Tell me only what I need to
know. Where. When.”
Percy hoped the ladies believed him. He did not want to hear about the wedding. He loved Louisa deep down in his bones, but he didn’t want to hear about the wedding.
“I forgot. You will be surprised, and you will love it.”
“Louisa, if we married in a dirty horse stall in our worst clothes, I would be happy. I just want you to be my wife.”
Louisa smiled brightly. “I’ll surprise you. Mother and I have had so much fun. I hope you enjoy our wedding.”