The Vice Of Virtue (A Poor Man At The Gate Series Book 10)

by Andrew Wareham

  “Would that I had been born a man, sir! I fear that my young brother is right – he is the best hope of our family. The Stars, of course, are far better served for children – my lord is a man of some discretion whilst you, sir, and your brothers George and Henry, are leaders of commerce and industry, and Mr Justice Star will undoubtedly make his mark in the legal world.”

  “And Mr John Star may yet become great amongst the criminal fraternity, and we must not forget Mr Luke Star who may become a leader of the Church Militant in America!”

  Charlotte, as occasionally had been the case in the past, deplored her husband’s too easy descent into levity.

  “What of Mr Bob Star, Matthew?”

  “I do not know, my dear. The future for sheep is not bright, I fear me, and the bulk of his land is good for nothing else. I have wondered whether he might not be able to turn some of his pastures to beef, for that will always command a higher price than mutton. Milk as well might be better, but I fear that the high moors will support no other beast than the sheep. I do not see that he will earn any great income even a few years from now. The golden years are passing for farming, despite the shortages of foodstuffs we now face. Ten years from now and there must be a decline, for the fear of starvation must open the ports of England to the wheat lands of the whole world.”

  “What of horses, Matthew? There is a great call for pit ponies, I am told, and the towns always have their demand for working horses.”

  “I spoke to him on that topic only last year, and he said he would have nothing to do with the breeding of pit ponies – a man must love pennies more than animals to be part of that trade, he said.”

  “Possibly, but the well-being of his family should come first in his mind. Your brother George, by the way, thinking of animals, has asked that he might be favoured with a pair of puppies from this last litter. I, carelessly, had commented earlier that we had been seeking homes for them, so could not say that all were spoken for.”

  “His children will be of an age to have their own dogs now… There is no choice, but he is a man who values money more than people, and who may prize the dogs more as rare possessions than as pets. We would as well be forced more into his company and to visit at his new estate not infrequently, and his lady is just a little underbred for my taste!”

  Matthew rarely criticised – she was surprised.

  “Then perhaps I should see more of her, so as to bring her up to scratch, as the sporting people say!”

  “You might wish to arrange with Joseph’s lady that she should do the same, and thus assume some of the burden of civilising the manufacturer’s daughter!”

  “Blunt, perhaps, sir! I might wish to express myself somewhat more obliquely to Mrs Joseph Andrews.”

  “A spade not to be addressed as such, ma’am?”

  “No, sir. Nor yet in your naval terminology to be called any sort of shovel!”

  He bowed in appreciation of the point scored.

  “George will certainly be made a magistrate before too many years have passed, must therefore occasionally rub shoulders with the Lord Lieutenant and the County. A knighthood might eventually come his way. It would be as well if his lady were to be at home in higher circles. I was somewhat disconcerted to be asked the price I had paid for my carriage, and amazed to be advised to speak to her first before purchasing ponies for the children, she having contacts with the less expensive sellers.”

  “Her father would have known them, no doubt.”

  “So he might have, but I have no wish to consort with the owners of back-street livery stables!”

  Charlotte was forced to agree with him – there were standards to be maintained, or in Mrs Star’s case, created.

  “We must dine them more frequently, sir. There is slight alternative that I can see – we must introduce her to more exalted company, little though I relish the burden. Will you speak to Lord Star?”

  Matthew said that he would – the head of the family could share the burden, and his lady could whisper a few carefully chosen words on the topic of dress and conventional fashionability.

  “I shall address my own brother on the topic, as well, sir. He might introduce George to a more appropriate tailor. If George is to become very rich then he may not remain as a mere manufacturer – he must play a part in the greater world.”

  Matthew demurred at that; he had no wish to encourage George to go to London, or not yet for a few years.

  “He must content himself with a provincial tailor, my dear. There are one or two in Liverpool and Manchester who are not quite contemptible. They will not do for us, of course, but should suit George’s needs quite admirably. I presume his Mr Tonks will wish to indulge himself as well. There’s a point, I never did inquire – what is it about the Parkin family? I have a feeling there is that which I should know. You are aware that this man Tonks is wed to Parkin’s sole offspring? His lead mine came with the marriage settlement and Roberts is to work it for them – at a proper fee, of course.”

  “Not, as they say, my cup of tea, Matthew! The family much blown upon! Though, giving the matter fair consideration, marrying the girl off to this Tonks person is a very satisfactory way of bringing the mine into our family’s ambit whilst keeping that set out of it.”

  “The mine promises to be rich, I am told. An underground seam fortuitously discovered and carrying respectable values of silver, which is in great demand still by John Company.”

  “The Parkins have a streak of madness running through them, Matthew. Our neighbours in the hills tell me that for three generations now they have run to baying-at-the-moon lunatics, having to be locked away by the age of fifty or so. The father of the present Mr Parkin was given to outbursts of rabid violence whilst the present man is engaged in a bitter, unreasoning feud with an equally irrational younger brother. The girl, this Tonks’ wife, is said to be in the habit of indulging in foul-mouthed ranting coupled with wild physical assaults on all bystanders. Mr Tonks, if he is at all wise, will never fall asleep in her company!”

  “I understand she is with child, so she cannot have fought him away quite wholly.”

  “I much hope that the baby will be put out to nurse, husband!”

  “Surely, no mother would… But, if she is truly mad, then she will not know what she does. Can we speak to Tonks?”

  They thought a few seconds before Matthew shook his head to answer his own question; they certainly could not, it would be unthinkable, a breach of every canon of decency even to raise the possibility with a man that his wife might act in such a way.

  “Besides, my dear, he must surely have discovered by now any tendencies towards irrational violence that she might possess.”

  “Probably, sir. I did not mention, by the way, that Parkin married late in life, caught in parson’s mousetrap by his housekeeper of the day.”

  “No!” Matthew was truly horrified by that disclosure. A gentleman was unwise to enter into relations with any of the staff, but to marry a menial was quite beyond the pale.

  “Still, my dear, when all is said and done, just who or what goes by the name of Tonks?”

  “Brother George suggested the name to be Hanoverian in origin, the father possibly of the King’s German Legion.”

  “More likely a private soldier than an officer, I do not doubt, sir!”

  Matthew had not explored that possibility, he recalled.

  “They have taken George’s house since he has transferred the family to his estate up the coast from here. George has bought the property adjoining Sir Erasmus Clapperley – a very respectable house and a not insignificant acreage but mostly of poor, sandy heathland. Suitable more for a park for the children to ride than as a working estate, George tells me. Bee-skeps the main activity, so he says, and a very good honey to be available to the whole family – which will be welcome and will keep his name in all of our minds.”

  “Very clever, Matthew! We will all be obliged to him – all of us will enjoy his honey, so hard to lay hands o
n! Has Joseph said anything to you of an estate? Has he the idea in mind, do you know?”

  Matthew waved a hand, this way, that way, to signify uncertainty.

  “He has thought of a landholding, that I know, but in what terms I am not sure. I suspect that he is delaying the purchase for some years until he can make a very positive statement to us all. I would imagine that he could purchase a thousand acres now, but hopes to lay his hands on ten in five years or so. He has several times admired our place up on the moors and expressed a wish for something like himself. He might have it in mind to buy a mountain in Wales, perhaps!”

  Henry Star sat opposite to his wife in the withdrawing room of their town house in New Orleans, quietly smiling.

  “And so, my dear, I think you will agree my course to be wholly sensible!”

  “How could I ever expect your judgement to be anything else, my love? A purchase of pinelands in Florida in an out-of-the-way corner, accessible sensibly only by sea, the land consequently cheap beyond belief. The production then of turpentine and tars for the naval trade, in short supply at the moment, the price rising, you discovered, in England; North and South Carolina almost the sole suppliers at the moment. In a generation or so, when the demand for wooden-hulled ships is less and the need for tars lower, then the policy will be to fell the pines and replace them gradually with other desirable timbers, fruit-trees even. Bonded servants to provide the labour, at low cost, and in a place where it will be very difficult for them to abandon their lawful master and abscond to an illusory freedom. A stroke of near-genius, sir!”

  Henry might not have gone quite that far in his self-congratulation, but he had no doubt that it would be a source of considerable profit.

  “I intend as well, ma’am, to make an investment in iron and coal somewhat further north. In fact, a long way to the north, into the new fields opened to commerce by the Erie Canal. I beg you will not discuss this with our acquaintance here, but it seems to me that we are seeing the potential for a great schism between the North and the South of our country, and I think it wise for the sake of our children that we should keep some part of our wealth in the Northern States, safe against future disaster in the South. We have gentility in the South, ma’am, but the north has industry and wealth, and I fear for us if ever we should come into collision.”

  “I am Northern by birth, husband, and you are English; perhaps that enables us to make a clearer assessment of the strengths of the two parts of our land. I believe that the Southern chivalry would win many battles, if ever they came to be fought. I am sure that Northern industry would win the war, however. It would be very much as well to preserve a substantial part of our substance against the chance of calamity. Particularly as it would seem that we shall be blessed again, husband!”

  Henry showed his delight, hoping that there might be a daughter, though refraining from the desire that it might be a girl in her image.

  “I shall wish to return to the plantation, if that should be convenient, husband. The air is so much healthier; the food fresher; the water, even, may be described as more wholesome – better far to remain a few months there, sir.”

  “You shall go on the day you choose, my dear. Have you shopping yet to be completed? Must you delay any great length of time?”

  “I had hoped to remain a while longer whilst the Committee was brought into being, but that is now ineligible, I believe. Will you make a small donation in my absence, Henry?”

  The churches had come together to form a Poor Relief Foundation, to be organised and overseen by a self-appointed group of ladies, all wives of prominent men and leaders of society. Grace had been asked to join them at a very early stage – she had been one of the first to be contacted, a very flattering testimonial to her conventional virtues and to Henry’s wealth.

  “I will do all that is proper, of course, my dear. No doubt you will inform the ladies of the reason for your absence from their conclave?”

  “That will be my pleasure, and the envy of many, I doubt not.”

  The Stars successful marriage was a cause of much admiration amongst Grace’s set. Henry took care not to make any great display of a mistress, and what he did in private was his own business, after all. The kindness and courtesy he unfailingly showed in public was freely commented upon, to the extent that a number of Southern gentlemen had his conduct held up to them as an exemplar they might wish to follow.

  “I have pointed out on a number of occasions that true gentility is more to be discovered in England than elsewhere in the world, Henry!”

  He debated whether a disquisition on tact might be appropriate, then shrugged – he did not care too greatly that a number of Louisiana gentlefolk might be irritated with him. The business community had little other than respect to offer, and they were the ones who counted.

  “What of Mr Luke Star, husband?”

  “He is to take ship next week, along the coast, that being the simplest method of travel. He is to be escort to a pair of strong bulls, I gather, sent to improve the local herd, and I have provided letters of introduction to a number of leading figures. He will set up a small store initially, importing black powder and rifles from my enterprise here. I expect him to be tasked to create a militia of sorts, to take the men in hand, to turn the posse comitatus into a more military body with a permanent being. The change from peace-keeping to a war-like status will be advantageous, I am told.”

  “Will he ever return to his true avocation, to the cloth, husband?”

  “I do not expect him to, ma’am – his hands are now so bloody that he could not seem other than a hypocrite to preach the Lamb of God!”

  Henry did not mention that Luke had expressed nothing other than relief at his escape from the Church; she might not, he thought, have understood or sympathised with him.

  Luke was still in a state of puzzlement. He had discovered that he did not really wish to be a minister of religion, and had become a warrior essentially by accident. Now, trapped into the path of war, he found that he had no love for bloodshed. He wondered what he did, truly, wish to make of himself: what was he to be in later life?

  A farmer on the American plains? A cattle herder in effect, not necessarily a correct existence for an English gentleman.

  He might consider opening a school – literacy was valued amongst the Americans, more so than in England, but they still did not seem to wish to pay teachers a high salary.

  He was to become a storekeeper of sorts for his brother; perhaps he could expand into dry goods and build an emporium. But it was again hardly a genteel occupation. Napoleon had called the English a nation of shopkeepers, but that did not bestow great status upon them.

  His new acquaintance, Mr Stavros, who had behaved so well during the shipwreck, was to accompany him to Texas, there to discover what might be achieved by a commercial man of enterprise. The new lands were potentially rich so he might do very well there. Stavros had showed anxious to remain in his company and Luke was very pleased that he should; amongst other things he expected they could speak Greek together and reminisce of the good old days. Probably Mr Stavros would have some ideas for Luke’s future as well – he was a very clever man.

  The family gathered for Mr Nash’s wedding, Robert having passed the word that the gentleman was to be welcomed fully into the clan whilst being strongly encouraged to stay in his native Ireland. Jonathan Quarrington attended as well, being wishful to confer with Robert without being observed to pay him a visit.

  “Thing is, my lord, that you are known to be a Tory, and my people have all been put into the hands of the Whigs, which of course places me into their camp. I have been consulted on occasion on matters of trade. Was it to seem that I was in close converse with you then doubts could arise regarding my essential soundness – and that would never do.”

  Robert agreed; there must be a General Election at the death of the King, and that was more likely than not to result in a change of government with much patronage to be put into the proper hand
s. Mr Quarrington must seem whiter than white in the eyes of his party leaders.

  “Fortunately, sir, the matter of appearance at a levee no longer presents any problem. The word I have is that His Majesty is too unwell to make any further Court functions eligible. He has the gout and the dropsy and his legs are weak and his heart uncertain, so I am told. The problem is, as far as his doctors are concerned, that treatment for the gout may worsen the dropsy, and physics for either may trouble the heart; yet if they give no medicines then all three ailments must certainly worsen. Add to that, they have prescribed a reducing diet – it is whispered that he is more than eighteen stones, greater than two hundred and fifty pounds! But the King will have none of it, nor of their fish and fowl regimen – he demands beefsteaks, and who may gainsay the King?”

  “The Great Reaper may do so alone, I believe, my lord.”

  “Just so, Mr Quarrington. He has not another year in him, it is whispered.”

  “Then Silly Billy it will be and followed by the young princess.”

  “The end of the power of the English Monarch, sir – and the rise of the politician, God help us all!”

  Quarrington chuckled – it seemed to him that no man could regret the passing of the King as ruler, or welcome the institution of the untrammelled politician in his place.

  “What a sad world it is that we live in, my lord!”

  “It is indeed, Mr Quarrington – no joy is untrammelled and all progress contains the seeds of despair. The steam engine and the manufactury have made us all richer, and have created towns that are distinguished almost solely by poverty and filth. The general masses are learning literacy, and are reading works of sedition and atheism and ripe perversion. The courts are spreading the benefits and freedoms of the law, and the judges and barristers are becoming tyrants over us. Now the railway is upon us, and God alone knows what unprecedented evil that will create!”