Charlotte: The Practical Education of a Distressed Gentlewoman

by Amelia Grace Treader

  “Lizzy, I'd rather not. I want to make my own way.”

  “Well, it's your lookout, but I'd say it would be useful to have at least a bit of the ready on hand. Should you find your way deeply mired.”

  “That's different. Then I'd need the help.”

  Outside, Freddy begged his leave, “Miss De Vere, Lizzy, I must return to my work. I still need to meet with Major Travers. I'm sure that you can sort out the remaining few problems, so until tonight I bid you adieu.”

  Freddy was hard at work when one of his office boys brought him a visitor.

  “Sam, good to see you. Are you still interested in a position?”

  “Depends, were you able to salvage much from my father’s mess?”

  “I've made a start, but it will take one of my solicitors a few days to get the details figured out. He may need to talk to your father and see if there is a way to reschedule his debt.”

  “One of your solicitors?”

  “The firm is too big for just one.”

  “Oh, I had no idea your company was so big.”

  “It is. What it needs is an engineer to look at new projects.”

  “Why?”

  “We're moving into the thin end of modern technology. Steam engines, tram ways.”

  “I don't know anything about steam engines.”

  “You know more than me. There are only two or three engineers in Britain who are any good at it. I've tried to hire them and they've said no. Are you willing to learn?”

  “Yes, but I know more about earthworks, siege lines, fortifications and moving cannon.”

  “Canals are big earthworks. We're not done with canals. While I'm trying to divest from the Somerset canals, we're still expanding up around Birmingham.”

  “I can do that.”

  “How about factory siting?”

  “Big buildings, water supplies?”

  “That's about it. Just has to be checked when we finance or join a firm that's building one.”

  “I think I can help with that.”

  “Sam, it sounds like you have the basic skills. What I really need is someone I can trust to dig up the truth with some of these wild ideas. Are you interested?”

  “I might be, but I will have to think about it. It's a big jump from the army to your firm.”

  Freddy and Sam returned to Freddy's house on Portman Street early in the evening. Freddy had promised Elizabeth to bring Major Travers to supper. While it was not as elegant as Clarridge's, a family dinner at the Talbot's was usually not to be missed. As they gave their outer coats to the footman, the butler coughed to attract Freddy's notice.

  “Sir,” he explained discreetly, “There is someone in the parlor who would like a quick word with you.”

  “I wonder what this could be about. Sam, I'll catch you in a few minutes, if you'll excuse me.”

  “I'm sure Miss Talbot won't mind if I chat to her while you're detained.”

  Freddy winked, “I doubt it.”

  Freddy entered the parlor and somewhat to his surprise found Charlotte waiting for him. She stood to greet him and said, “Mr. Talbot, Lizzy warned me not to make a big fuss, but I have to thank you for what you did for me.”

  Freddy stiffened with embarrassment. “It was nothing, please don't mention it.”

  “It wasn't nothing, not to me.” She reached forward and grabbed his hand. “The other thing she said I must do is to try my best to make you laugh.”

  Freddy unbent, “Make me laugh?”

  “Not just that, I'm not very good with jokes and japes. She said to make you happy. Can I try?” She gave his hand a squeeze. “I know I've not always been nice to you. I'm sorry for that.”

  Freddy gave her one of his increasingly less frequent smiles. “Miss De Vere.”

  “Please call me Charlotte, at least in private, I think we are close enough friends for that.”

  “Charlotte, then,” words failed him, so he squeezed her hand back. She understood his acceptance of her apology. Both unsure of what should come next, or what to say to each other, they stood there in silence, together. Freddy finally found something to say, “Major Travers and Lizzy will be wondering what's become of us. Shall we join them?”

  “Yes, lets.” She gave him a quick, furtive peck on the cheek, blushed and then the two of them walked out of the room together.

  When they arrived in the dining room, Elizabeth inquired, “Where were you? The dinner is ready to be served and you know how upset M. Pierre gets when his food is kept past its peak.”

  “Temperamental French cook. Sometimes I wonder whether he's worth it.”

  “You always say that until you taste his cooking.”

  10. The Crisis.

  The clanging of the knocker on the front door announced a visitor while the four of them, Charlotte, Elizabeth, Major Travers, and Freddy were still seated at the dinner table. When the doorman went to answer it a small, somewhat dirty man who smelt strongly of horses stood there. It was Freddy's former groom, and now his father's groom, Henry. “Yes?”

  “Out of my way. I need to deliver this message to Mr. Talbot.”

  “The family is at dinner, and can't be disturbed.”

  Henry replied, “This is critical, express from Staverton and Mr. Talbot's father, so yes they can.” He pushed his way past the doorman, then bolted down the hall to the dinning room. Despite the efforts of the doorman, and several of the footmen he reached it, opened the door and entered.

  Freddy looked up from his conversation, “Henry, my God, what is it?”

  “It's trouble sir.”

  “Did someone die?”

  “No, Sir. They send their best wishes.”

  “Then is it father's new bank? I was worried about it.”

  “Some of it, sir. It is private, like, confidential.”

  “Miss Elizabeth is one of my best advisors, she's privy to everything. If it concerns Staverton, Miss De Vere should be informed as it is still her family's estate. Major Travers, here, is an old and trusted friend. Is it too private for that?”

  “No sir.”

  “Then what's going on?”

  “It's that solicitor, Mr. Cruise. He up and ran off with the bank's money and the mortgages he drew up for Lord Staverton, the ones you hold sir, they're all in a mess. It's a right imbroglio it is.”

  “Henry, your vocabulary has improved. Where did Mr. Cruise bolt to?”

  “They say Bristol, to catch a ship to America.”

  “I'm sorry Sam, Miss De Vere, Elizabeth, I'm going to have to post up to Staverton tonight. I'll have to send for Bayliss. Henry?”

  “Sir?”

  “Have the runners been called in?”

  “Yes, your father sent an express as soon as something seemed awry.”

  “Good, now go get something to eat and a bit of a rest. We'll ride in an hour or so.”

  “Sir”

  Major Travers spoke, “Freddy, before you go. What about your sister and Miss De Vere?”

  “What about them?”

  “Shouldn't they be there too?”

  “Yes, please handle it, Sam. I've got to go as soon as I can.”

  After Freddy left, Sam looked at Elizabeth and Charlotte. “What now?”

  Elizabeth replied, “What do you think you should do?” It was something of a test. He paused, thought for a few moments then replied, “Miss De Vere, Miss, Talbot, Elizabeth, if you're ready in the morning, I'll escort you to Staverton. I'll have to get leave, of course, but that shouldn't be hard.”

  “Good, is nine too early?”

  “I'll have a post waiting here at nine. Please be ready.”

  “Excellent. We will be ready.”

  The next morning, at nine sharp, Major Travers had an aged yellow bounder at the door. “Sorry,” he said, “This was the best I could do at short notice.”

  Elizabeth looked at it, “Does it have wheels?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do the horses have glanders or any of those odd d
iseases?”

  “No. Nor are they lame.”

  “Then let's go, times a'wasting.”

  They boarded and the postilion rode out of London, through Maidenhead following the Bath road. It wasn't until they should have been near Reading that things began to look unusual. Elizabeth commented, “Major Travers, while we've been talking, I think the post boy has taken a wrong turning. This doesn't look like the Bath road, does it?”

  “No, it doesn't.” He put his head out and addressed their postilion, “Are you sure you know where you're going? This doesn't look like the Bath road.”

  “It's a short-cut around a nasty bit of road south of Reading. It were washed out in the storms last week.”

  Turning to Elizabeth, he added, “It sounds like he knows where he's headed.”

  The carriage stopped in the middle of a field south of Twyford. Major Travers remarked to Elizabeth and Charlotte, “This is odd, we're well off the main road. This farm track can't lead anywhere.” He thumped on the roof to attract his post boy's attention. “Come on man, we need to make it to Staverton today. Why are we stopped?” There was no answer. Well not quite. The window next to Major Travers was smashed open and then an arm with a gun pushed through. Major Travers reacted almost instinctively, kicking the arm up and forcing the gun to fire through the roof of the carriage. Grabbing the arm with one hand, he reached into his jacket and pulled out a large knife. This he pushed it into the man. Unfortunately, their assailant twisted out of the Major's grip and ran off. The events happened too quickly for either Charlotte or Elizabeth even to start to scream, let alone do anything useful.

  “Sam,” Elizabeth said when she finally recovered her breath, “where did you learn that?”

  “Spain. Had to deal with my share of bandits and guerrillas. I learned to react quickly.”

  “What do we do now?”

  “It looks like our post boy has scampered off. I'd best see what I can do.” He alighted from the carriage. They were at the end of a farm track, somewhere in the country to the east of Reading. He re-opened the carriage door and said, “Lizzy and, uh, Miss De Vere, It looks like I'll have to back the carriage and trace our path back to the main road.”

  While they were being driven by Major Travers, Elizabeth mussed, “Charlotte, that robbery.”

  “Lizzy?”

  “It was very odd. Highwaymen used to be fairly common but since the Bow Street Runners started a horse patrol, they have been scarce. I've ridden post to Bath many times and there was never anything like this.”

  “The post boy did drive us off the main road.”

  “I wonder if he was crooked. That would be the way to stage one of these robberies, but they'd have to plan it farther in advance.”

  When they finally reached the posting house at Caldicot Green Major Travers dismounted from the horse and went in to give the posting company officer a few choice words. When he came out with the station manager scraping and bowing, he told Charlotte and Elizabeth, “They will get us a new postilion. I've made sure the manager will file a report. Not that it will do a lot of good. What I wanted to ask you was, did we need a new carriage or should we just push on with this one?”

  Elizabeth answered, “How long a wait for a new one?”

  “It could be arranged tomorrow.”

  “Then we'd best go as soon as we get a new post boy. Could they sweep the seats for glass while we're waiting?”

  Delayed by their unfortunate encounter, the yellow bounder flew up the path into the yard at Staverton Hall in the late afternoon. A peculiar smell permeated the air around them as Elizabeth, Charlotte and Major Travers exited the carriage.

  Charlotte sniffed, “It smells like pigs. What are they doing here, so close to the hall?”

  Elizabeth replied, “I don't know, smells a bit like London. I guess father is getting homesick.” In addition to its porcine augmentation, the hall showed the signs of frantic restoration. The doors and window trims were being painted, the roofers were on the roof looking for and fixing the leaks in it, and the over-grown hedges and plantings were cut back to reveal the front of the building. Freddy's father came bounding out of the hall.

  “Lizzy, you've finally made it! Is that Miss De Vere? Delighted to see you again. I hope you're not too dismayed by the changes?”

  “No, the hall looks better than it has in years. It smells a little different, though. Did you have to have the piggery set up so close to the hall?”

  Ignoring the question about his prized pigs, Mr Talbot replied, “Good, capital, capital, capital. Who is this young man?”

  Major Travers stepped up and introduced himself, “Sir, We've met before, but I'm sure you've forgotten. I'm Major Samuel Travers.”

  “Oh yes, I remember you now. One of Freddy's friends from school. Well come in, Freddy, Mr. Bayliss, your steward and some chap they've been calling Willis are here. Dreadful business this.”

  “Father,” Elizabeth asked, “Why the pigs?”

  “Pigs? Oh yes, it's a pet hobby of mine. Trying to improve the farm economy by finding alternatives to just growing corn. Thought about bringing in a prize bull to improve the cattle with better breeding, but there's something about these pigs. I love watching them eat. They really enjoy their food, and the way they convert food and scraps to solid porker is just amazing. Reminds me of your uncle Henry it does.”

  “Do they have to be this close to the house?”

  “Yes they do, I like them. You get used to the smell and it reminds me of home.”

  “So there are pigs in London?”

  “Some, and not all porcine.”

  “Father!”

  “Any road, you need to get inside. Freddy's all in a tither and wanting to get started on sorting out the mess. I think Miss De Vere, he was waiting on you, since many of these decisions require your approval.”

  He led them to a front parlor, which had been converted into an impromptu office. Freddy, Mr. Barford, Mr. Willis and Mr. Bayliss were there. Seeing his visitors enter Freddy asked, “If you've had a chance to refresh yourselves, I'd like Mr. Willis to tell you what he found out.”

  Charlotte gave Elizabeth an anxious look. Elizabeth took the hint, “Freddy, we've just arrived, could you give us a few minutes and maybe send for some tea.”

  “Cat-lap for the ladies? What about you Major Travers?”

  “I wouldn't say no to it, but a sherry or something a bit stronger would not come amiss. We had an exciting ride to get here.”

  “Tell me about it while we await the tea.”

  “We were driven off of the main Bath road south of Reading and met a highwayman.”

  “Driven off?”

  “The postilion was in on it. He bolted when the highwayman scampered.”

  Elizabeth blurted, “Major Travers, you've left out the best part of it. You stopped the robbery by kicking the gun and then stabbing the highwayman.”

  Major Travers was both too weathered and too male to blush, but he stammered in embarrassment, “It really wasn't much. The fellow wasn't expecting me to be there or to act quickly.”

  “Not much? If you hadn't been there, I don't know what would have happened.”

  Freddy looked at his friend, “Sam, thank you. It sounds to me like you could use a brandy. I'll ring for it.”

  After the tea, sherry and brandy arrived, Freddy asked Mr. Willis to describe what he found.

  “Mr. Talbot, as you requested, I started to nose around Staverton. That solicitor, Mr. Cruise. I noticed him slip off to a cockfight in Colne. He bet very heavily. Solicitors don't do that.”

  Mr. Bayliss concurred, “At least the good ones don't.”

  “So I pretended, like, to be a sold out officer looking for a farm to buy. Went and asked to see what was available. He showed me his books, and took me to the manor where the deeds were recorded.”

  “What happened next?”

  “Nothing while he was present, but I returned the next day and searched the mortgages. Remember wha
t I told you about the mischief with the mortgages on the Chalfield estates?”

  “Remixing parcels to issue a second mortgage?”

  “That's what he'd been up to. Any road, somehow he found out I'd been looking at the records and did a runner.”

  “Mr. Bayliss, when we purchased to mortgages, did you notice anything?”

  “They looked normal, title, parcel description. Nothing unusual.”

  Mr. Willis continued, “That's the beauty of his scheme. It looks fine unless you go to the manor and look at the original records and identify the parcels.”

  “Damn.”

  Freddy's father came in towards the end of the conversation. “I'd say Mr. Cruise was an enterprising chap.” He held out a express package. “This just arrived, from Newman's. I doubt it is good news.”

  It wasn't. Before his untimely demise and while he was still simply the honorable John De Vere, had issued a 'post-obit' bond for fifty thousand pounds, to be payable when his father died. It was to cover his gambling debts, under the fallacious assumption that lady luck would let him buy it back before it was called in. Unfortunately, lady luck turned her back on him.

  They didn't have long to discuss the implications of this latest arrival before dinner was announced. Freddy asked Major Travers and his father to remain for a short discussion while the others went in.

  “Father, the carriage Lizzy and her friend were riding was attacked today. If my friend Sam weren't there I'm pretty sure that it would have been very bad.”

  “What happened Major Travers? I missed that part of your discussion.”

  “The post boy drove us off into the countryside, to what looked like a prearranged rendezvous with a highway man.”

  “Oh.” Mr. Talbot paused, “How was the post hired?”

  Sam replied, “I went to the usual agency. That old carriage you saw was all they had. I didn't notice anything odd about it, or the post boy.”

  Freddy nodded at his father and then told Sam, “Sam, we were worried about this. Elizabeth is a potential target for many sorts of blackguards. It's both the money she usually carries, and her person. We have to be very careful, especially around London, that she doesn't go astray. If you see what I mean?”