Servants gossiped—no matter how loyal they might be to their betters—and Mary had no end of well-meaning visitors who were eager to let her know of any discord. After all, hadn't she lied to them and misled them for years regarding her affairs with the Marquis? Hadn't Mary Strongbow put on airs she had no right to?
She minded little for herself—after all, it was only a matter of time before the gossips would find other grist for their mill. What bothered her, was how it would play out in years to come. Young Clay might be made to suffer—especially if his high-handed manners were not put paid to.
Something must be done—and soon, but it seemed David could not sway his wife to allow discipline for the boy. Mary loved Hannah, but at times, she wanted to shake the younger woman and prayed she would see sense before Clay was beyond help.
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* * * * *
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"I tell you, he is just a child, David. I will not have you scold him so. He will learn in time, by your example. If you treat him like this, he will only resent you."
"Hannah, love... he cannot go unpunished when he puts a dead frog in Elspeth's bed and then calls her an addle-patted ninny for crying. It is cruelty, and I will not have it!" David started out softly and finished by shouting, for his wife was rapidly walking away from him.
"It is just childish pranks and he will outgrow it." Tossing her head angrily, Hannah called over her shoulder as she walked away, "If you spent more time with him, he could learn how to behave... "
David did not follow her, but went instead to the nursery floor where his son sat forlornly in the corner, his face to the wall as instructed. He stood looking at Clay for some time, then went across the room and stood beside the child. "Are you ready to apologize?"
"She's just a servant... one does not apologize to servants, father." The boy mumbled, but the autocratic tone was there nonetheless.
His temper snapping, David reached out and turned the boy roughly to face him. "I will not tolerate your attitude, young fellow. You must treat all servants with courtesy and kindness, for they work very hard to keep you in clean clothes and make your beds, cook your food... "
"They are supposed to... 'tis my due. Papa always said so."
"And if your Aunt Mary came here and scrubbed the floors, would you then treat her as a servant?" David was trying reason, but knew it fell on deaf ears when the boy only looked sullen, pulling away from his grip and facing the wall once more. "She wouldn't do such a thing. But if she did, she would be my servant as well."
The boy mumbled so low that David was not quite sure he had heard him, and fearing that he might strike the child, he did not pursue the issue. Instead, he tried a new track, for the boy was clearly not overset by his prior attempts to get him to see reason, in fact, seemed content to sit in the corner lest he have to comply.
"If you do not apologize, you will have no supper. You will sit here until it is time for bed and you will not have these!" David reached for the small wooden box that held the precious soldiers, minus one. "I will toss them in the dust bin tomorrow, if you have not done your proper duty."
"Take them then. I won't do it." David thought he may have gotten through just a bit, for the boy's voice had wavered and he sounded less certain when faced with losing his favorite toys.
David put the box under his arm and quit the room.
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* * * * *
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Elspeth was waiting in the hall, her thin face drawn and her lips compressed in an angry line. It was not the first trick Clay had played her, and she had found many creatures in her bed. Elspeth had had enough. Her coat was over her arm, her straw bonnet with its bright flowers perched atop her hair and her small satchel of personal belongings was standing by the door. She stepped forward when David came close and spoke without a trace of deference.
"I will go now, Milord. If you need a stronger hand with him, I might suggest my cousin Fanny. She has raised six small brothers and would have him in shape in no time. I... I am not equal to the task, for I can't abide those crawly things in my bed. Makes me quake, it does."
David shoved the box onto a nearby table and looked at the maid, his eyes sad. "I am sorry. I will make sure you receive an excellent reference... and as extra compensation for your trouble, I shall give you two months wages."
Elspeth made her curtsey, and, at David's signal, Darwin stepped forward to hand the maid her envelope of wages and escort her out of the house. David watched her go without remorse, for she was not a favorite of his. He knew she had been the cause of much gossip regarding himself and Hannah.
David privately agreed with Elspeth's comment that she was not equal to the task, for she had no real liking for the boy and he was sure Clay sensed it. He would be careful in future who he hired to tend the child and thought he needed a strong taskmaster.
Perhaps a tutor was in order, and a man would surely have more success with a small adventurous boy. As he ruminated, mulling over the idea, the thought occurred that Carlton might fit the ticket.
The man was educated and obviously more than a common man of the working class, though he hired out as a servant upon occasion. He would speak with him today, he decided, and went off toward the woods, not bothering with a mount, for the walk would clear his head and cool his temper.
As David passed the garden bower he spied Hannah, sitting quietly, her head bowed and her shoulders shaking with silent sobbing. He changed directions and went to her immediately, his hands drawing her from the bench, lifting her against him, and cradling her with strong arms, his lips close to her ear.
"I am sorry we have quarreled my love. Let us make it up. I think I've found an answer, at least in part, to our troubles."
Hannah stiffened in David's embrace, her resentment still seething and her heart aching for her child. She tried to pull back, but he refused to loosen his hold, and only allowed her to distance herself enough so that he could look down at her.
"Hannah, you must listen to me. I am not the wrong doer here and you are treating me as though I have erred. Look to the child as the source of our troubles, not I."
It was the wrong thing to have said and David wished the words back in his mouth as soon as he uttered them. He watched angry blotches rise on Hannah's cheeks as she glared at him, pulling hard away from his embrace.
"Clay is but a child. He is not a trouble, as you put it. How can you speak so of him?"
"I said he is the source of our trouble."
"Ah, so now he is not a mere trouble, but the source of it!"
She made as if to leave and David reached out, pulling her back none to gently. They had to talk this out now.
He took an deep breath, exasperated that he was having so much difficulty expressing himself, for she twisted his words so adroitly that he feared even speaking to her.
"Damnation! I am not sure what I mean! We should not be quarreling about this. He is our son and we should be working together to help him instead of squabbling this way. Can you agree to at least that much?"
He tilted her chin, forcing her to look up at him.
"If you think he is the source of our trouble, why bother?" She sounded petulant, but knowing her as well as he had begun to, David knew her ready to listen. He knew, as well, her show of defiance was nearly done. He had only to coax her a bit and she would calm down.
Hannah was not uncomfortable with David's strong arms around her and indeed, she welcomed his commanding presence, for she knew not what to do about the boy. She knew him to be arrogant and strong-minded and too outspoken for his years, but she could not allow cruelty to be added to his small sins. She glared at David, her amber eyes filling with tears. "He is not cruel. He is not!"
"I only said that because some of the things he does, my love, are wanting in manners and training. If we cannot control him at this age, think what he will be like ten years from now. I only seek to make his life easier for him... and us as well, by giving him what all parents need to give their chi
ldren."
"Which is?" Her voice had softened even more, and her eyes were downcast again, for she was trying to hide from the truth in his.
"Guidance and love and discipline to mix it well. That is all, my love. Trust me in this." He drew her closer once more and she did not resist, but melted just a bit more, for Hannah—in desperate need of his strength—allowed the warmth of his arms to be her protection against the world.
She bent her face into his shoulder and leaned into his embrace, sniffling so that he produced a handkerchief and gently blew her nose for her, as though she herself were a child.
"Better?" he whispered, soothing her with a caressing hand. When she nodded, he set her from him and took her hand. "Come along then, we have a tutor to interview."
Not questioning him, for Hannah knew David would always be strong and find an answer, she followed, her hand held fast in his own. When they arrived at the clearing where the cottage was, they stopped for a moment and gazed at one another. This was a magical place and the magic came round them, drawing them closer. David resolved to find another place for Carlton and get the cottage back. He would have this as a private retreat where he and Hannah could be alone.
David called out for Carlton as they crossed the yard and he came forward from the shed behind the house, his face wreathed in a welcoming smile. "To what do I owe the honor of this visit? I thought you'd never come visiting." He doffed his cap to Hannah and shook David's hand warmly.
"We've come with a proposition for you old fellow, and would like some cider to wash it down with." David winked at Carlton and swung Hannah up the steps, his hands at her waist. "I've brought my lady wife to aid me in the boon I would seek from you."
The age-old words fell from David's lips as naturally as his father had spoken them many years before, though in truth, phrases like 'seek a boon' had long been replaced by 'ask a favor'.
Hannah looked askance at her husband as he spoke, then shrugged. It must be this place for he always changed just a little when they came here.
There was something about the cottage in the glen that brought out a heartiness in people—welcoming and peaceful. All who came here experienced it, but for David it was especially strong, for he had been born in this place and carried it's magic in his soul.
Carefree and happy, he went into the small living room and seated first Hannah, then himself, at the table.
Carlton came, lugging the cider jug he had pulled up from the well. "Keeps nice and cold in that well. Just let me get some glasses."
The three of them sat, sipping at the strong cider and talking for a while about Clay and what to do for the boy. Carlton was very astute and in tune with the problem and had much to offer them, for his advice was sound, like the man himself. He listened to each one in turn, seeing that their dispute was causing some strife in the relationship. Choosing his words carefully, he began.
"I'd say that Hannah has the right of it on the one hand, and you on the other." He held his hands wide, encompassing both husband and wife, but looked at David and continued. "If you scold him too often, chances are, he will stop listening to you all together, and you'll wind up giving him punishments that are too strict. 'Tis human, you know, to be over-board about your children."
He then glanced at Hannah and spoke with more deference than he had to David. "And if you, Milady, do not aid your husband in curbing the child's behavior, his willfulness will turn into something quite nasty when he grows older." He sipped at his cider and looked at each of them in turn, gauging their reactions, for it was a very touchy thing, to discuss someone's child and his unhealthy behavior.
"He is more than willful, I would have you know. Clay is arrogant and rude and thinks himself above those of lesser standing. My father was such a man, and it did him no good. I would not have it for my son."
"He is not so above himself, husband. My son is just a bit high-spirited and perhaps will need a hand to guide him more strongly." Hannah tempered her words, trying to defend the child when she knew well in her heart that he was a little horror, and everything David had said.
"I see that it will take a third party to sort the boy out." Carlton smiled at her and winked at David, his kind face suddenly reminding Hannah of her father. She was so startled by it that she tipped her glass over. Jumping up, she went to the cupboard and got a cloth, wiping the table as she stared at the man.
"Have I grown two heads then, Milady?" Carlton moved restively in his chair, a prickly feeling chasing itself along his spine at her odd stare.
"I am sorry, it is just that you look much like my own father." Hannah blushed and turned back to the counter, embarrassed by her revelation. For, though Carlton was known to her, and a friend to her husband, she was not well acquainted with him and thought her remark forward.
Carlton looked at her for a long moment, his head tipped to the side as though he were making up his mind about something and then he smiled ruefully, saying, "Well, it could be because he is my uncle, lass."
His familiarity of address was lost on both Hannah and David as they took in his statement and what it meant.
"You are my cousin?" She looked as confused as she sounded, her eyes going big and round. "I mean, how?"
She stumbled over her words, shock rendering her almost inarticulate, as she fumbled for a suitable phrase. "Are you?"
"Well, don't sound so astonished. Surely I am not so terribly disreputable."
Blushing even more at his words, she stammered. "I... I did not mean that at all." She looked to David for support but he only gazed at her, his face registering his own surprise at the revelation.
Hannah reached for David's hand, as she did naturally when comfort was needed, as now. She was flabbergasted and said so. "How come you are not the earl? I mean, you are much closer related than Baits. I didn't know you even existed... "
"Most don't, and, truth be known, I didn't myself for a very long time. My mother was married to John De Lacey, who was the eldest son and heir of the earl of Crossham, who was our grandsire. He was cut off for marrying her, for she was a village maid, much like your mother, David.
"When the old earl died, he naturally came into his inheritance—you cannot disinherit an entailment, it seems. However, my father did not live long after that, for the hard life he lead trying to provide for us had worn him down. You see, he was born to the manor and bred to the peerage. Had no notion of how to go on. I was five when he died. I got to live in your house for just a year. I don't recall it, actually."
"Why did you not stay? You then were the heir. How could you have not stayed?" Hannah was alarmed, thinking her father had somehow bilked him out of his birthright, but he relieved her with his next words.
"Your father was twenty years younger than mine. He was just a babe when grandfather died and I was just five. The old man sent your father to live with his aunt, for his wife died in birthing and the old man didn't want to raise the boy until he had been weaned from the tit and breached.
"Your father couldn't have known about me. My mother took me away as soon as the will was read and she realized that she would have nothing and my upbringing would be taken over by the guardian... taken away from her, so to speak."
"But surely, someone looked for you... the heir?" Hannah's voice was strained; she could not take it all in.
"It was convenient for the family to forget about me. They probably thought they'd never see me again. I don't know just how they managed it, but I was declared legally dead and your father declared the heir."
As Hannah gazed at her newfound relative, she could see he was uncomfortable with his revelation and she smiled encouragement, reaching out to squeeze his hand that lay upon the table, nodding for him to go on. Carlton drew a long breath, exhaled it slowly and continued.
"I was in London most of my life; my mother had taken me there. I knew naught about the family in Derbyshire... and my name was changed from De Lacey, for I was called by my stepfather's name, Hawkins. I guess your father d
id not know I existed... but if he had, I am sure he would have named me his heir, for I am next in line, as the earl's brother was my sire."
He grinned at Hannah, who looked at him with astonished and gleeful eyes, and they both though of Baits and how this would overset him. Carlton had kept a careful eye on Baits these past months and liked not what he saw. He would be glad to displace the opportunistic fool. The sooner the better.
David cleared his throat, asking, "Do you have proof for the courts? A document of any kind?"
"Yes, I have all of it... the will, the birth certificate, the marriage lines. It is all safely tucked away at my solicitor's in London."
"Well, then, why have you not come forward? The community at Crossham is in desperate need of someone of your ilk to take it in hand. Baits has drained the neighborhood of its small living and rides roughshod over the folks there."
David was suddenly uncomfortable, for he'd had an peer as a servant, and didn't quite know how to treat him at this point.
"I wanted to be here... look out after you... "
Hannah intervened with a question of her own. "How did you come to know about it, if you grew up not knowing?"
"When my mother died, she left a letter for me with the solicitor and instructed him to deliver it when she was gone." He looked thoughtful a moment then continued. "I believe my mother was frightened that the law would somehow punish her for taking a peer away from his inheritance."
He then answered David's question. "My solicitor is Mr. Maguire, same one you use. He... came to me and asked if I would care to take on a young fellow who needed a friend desperately and was looking for a manservant. Knowing, of course, that I had been given the education—my mother saw to that, slaved she did to keep me in college—and knowing who I was, he thought that we could help one another, so to speak."
"How so?" David was fascinated.
"Well, I needed the polish and to learn the ways of a gentleman... and you needed someone to look after you that Maguire could trust. It was a simple exchange. I would learn by watching you, and you would benefit from my aid as well."
The Silent Love Page 21