by A. O'Connor
“I’ll speak to you any way I want, because you’re my wife. A fact you seem to have forgotten lately.”
“Oh, I haven’t forgotten it! How could I possibly forget it, when I’m stuck here under the same roof as you and your disgusting habits and manners.”
“What did you say?” He eyes bored into her angrily.
“Disgusting! You disgust me!” she shouted at him.
Suddenly his arm rose into the air and he hit her with the full force of the back of his hand. The force of the blow sent her flying across the room and laid her out on the floor.
She managed to sit up and held her hand to where he had struck her. He stood there, glaring angrily at her.
She struggled to her feet and stared at him. Then she raced across the dining room and out the door. She headed towards the stairs and she didn’t stop running until she was in the safety of her room and had locked the door behind her.
chapter 68
In the House of Commons an MP was giving a speech on the new Wyndham Act that had just been passed.
“With this Act, which applies only to Ireland and not the rest of the United Kingdom, the British government is making available funds that will be loaned to Irish tenant farmers in order for them to buy their holdings from their landlords if both parties so wish. It will provide landlords who are agreeable to sell with the price they demand and provide the farmers with the finance to buy and secure the land they work. The agrarian strife that has blighted Ireland has been a huge concern to the governments of this country for many decades. While we may think that the worst of this Land War ended in the last decade, I have heard only recently of the turmoil on the Armstrong estate in the west of Ireland which demonstrates the situation remains volatile and ready to erupt at any time. It is sincerely hoped that this Act will at last provide the mechanism to allow peace throughout the countryside of Ireland.”
The MP sat down as members of the house cheered in support.
“Charles,” demanded Arabella after reading an article on the evictions on the estate in the local paper, “this cannot continue! What are you going to do to stop this disaster you have unleashed?”
“I’m not going to do anything! I will continue with the course of action I have started. I assure you they’ll give in.”
“You can assure me? You can’t assure me of anything! You’ve never been able to assure me of anything since the day I met you! You stumble from disaster to disaster, never thinking of the consequences, always thinking you know best.”
“And what do you do? You sit here in this house, looking out at the world scared!”
“If I’m scared of the world, it’s because it has become a scary place because of you!”
“You’ve never been a good wife to me. Never! You’ve never supported me or my actions.”
“You never tell me what you’re up to or what actions you take until it’s too late!”
“That’s because I’d never get anything done if I told you anything. All you’d ever say is ‘No, don’t do it!’”
“Yes, because everything you touch turns to poison! The children are scared –”
“Prudence isn’t scared,” he said proudly.
“But Pierce is,” she said.
“If he is scared it’s because you have made him so, with your fragile nerves! Besides, Pierce is now thirteen. He’s going to be going away to boarding school soon.”
Arabella knew Pierce was due for school, but she dreaded the thought of losing him and only having him home during the holidays.
“So, you will do nothing to try and get a resolution with the tenants?” she asked.
“I will not be broken!” he confirmed. “Even if you are.”
“And how you wish you were married to somebody like Victoria!” she said. “Go on, say it, you’re thinking it!”
“Yes, I wish I was married to somebody like her!” he shouted at her.
“And I wish I was married to somebody like Harrison! The difference is Victoria would never even have looked at you, but Harrison was in love with me, and I threw it away because of you!”
chapter 69
Emily stepped out of the carriage, looked up at Armstrong House and felt an enormous feeling of relief to be back. She walked up the steps and went to try the door but it was locked. Unusual, she thought, as she knocked at the door.
“Ah, Lady Emily – welcome home,” said Fennell.
Emily had written the previous week saying she would be back.
“It is good to be home, Fennell,” she said as she entered the comfort of her home.
She saw Charles walking down the stairs.
“If it isn’t my favourite sister!” said Charles on seeing her.
Emily raced to him and collapsed in his arms. “Oh Charles!” she said as she suddenly started to cry.
A family summit was called in the drawing room at Armstrong House that evening with Margaret, Harrison and Victoria joining Charles and Arabella.
Emily sat on a couch, pale and thin. “I’m not going back!” she declared. “I’m never going back to him.”
“And what do you propose to do?” questioned Margaret, her face a mask of concern.
“I don’t know. Divorce him, I suppose.”
“Divorce!” exclaimed Margaret, dismayed. “On what grounds?”
“Extreme mental and physical cruelty – do you want the details?” Emily challenged her mother.
“No – no, I’d rather not hear them,” said Margaret. “This family has never had the scandal of a divorce and you can’t drag us through the divorce courts.”
“All that can be decided later,” said Victoria. “The main thing is that Emily knows she’s safe and we support her.”
Margaret sighed loudly. “Well, I suppose we were all preparing for this day eventually. It was a disaster waiting to explode with a man like that. Everyone warned you what you were marrying.”
“Everyone except Charles,” said Arabella, giving him a cynical stare.
“Does he know you’ve left him?” asked Charles.
“I just left a letter for him. I couldn’t take it any more,” said Emily.
“You did the right thing,” said Victoria. “And what are your immediate plans?”
“I don’t know. My immediate plans were just to get away from him.”
“Well, you must stay here at Armstrong House for as long as you want,” offered Charles.
Emily smiled gratefully at him.
“If you can put up with everything that has been going on here,” said Arabella.
“Yes, I’m hearing awful stories about the estate,” said Emily.
Victoria said, “Why don’t you come and stay with me and Harrison? It’ll be much quieter –”
“And safer!” interrupted Arabella.
“– than Armstrong House,” concluded Victoria.
“Victoria to the rescue again!” said Arabella.
“You’re all very kind,” said Emily, looking at them appreciatively. “But what I really just want now is my mother.” Emily looked over imploringly at Margaret.
Margaret smiled at her. “Of course you must come and be with me at Hunter’s Farm. I know what’s best for you, I always have.”
Margaret held out her arms and Emily rushed across the room and enveloped her mother in a hug.
chapter 70
Charles was walking down the beach with Victoria as the waves lapped against the sand. He had been explaining how some of the animals been maimed on the estate in a new upscale of the Land War.
“Oh what a brutal thing to do! I can scarcely believe it!” Victoria was shocked.
“It was an awful sight to witness.”
“I can only imagine. How did Arabella take it?”
“How does Arabella take anything? Collapsed in a bundle of nerves and hit the gin bottle,” said Charles.
“Oh dear!”
“I hope you don’t mind me coming over and unloading all this on you all the time?”
“It’s just that sometimes I feel you’re the only person I can talk to, Victoria.”
“I know from my father dealing with unions how these things become so intense.”
“I feel trapped! I can’t give in and yet I can’t see how to solve it either.”
“Maybe if you talk to the farmers – reason with them.”
He looked so worried, she reached forward and hugged him tightly. He held her close.
Harrison walked into Ocean’s End after returning from Dublin on business. He picked up the post and quickly looked through it.
“Did you have a good journey, sir?” asked the butler, coming and taking his suitcase.
“Yes, fine thanks. Where’s my wife?”
“Mrs Armstrong went for a walk with Lord Charles, sir. They’ve been gone a while.”
“I see,” said Harrison and he walked into the parlour and left the post on a sideboard. He walked to the back of the room and looked out.
Victoria and Charles were coming up the steps from the beach, laughing. Harrison watched as Charles held out his hand and assisted her up the last steps. They walked through the garden, stopping occasionally to examine a plant or a tree and then made their way to the French window.
Harrison quickly made his way to the other side of the room. Victoria opened the French window as she was speaking to Charles.
“So the next thing the parlour maid said was,” Victoria suddenly adopted an Irish accent, “‘Ah, begorrah, sure you’ll never roast them spuds and them still sitting in the larder!”
Charles and she laughed loudly as he closed the door behind them.
“Harrison!” said Victoria, seeing him. “You’re back early!” She went to him and kissed him.
“Yes, I caught an earlier train.”
“Good. Will you be joining us for dinner, Charles?”
“I’m afraid not, but thank you for the invitation. I have to attend to estate business,” said Charles.
He kissed Victoria on the cheek and clapped Harrison on the back.
“See you soon!” he said as he left.
“Attend to estate business? Destroy the estate’s business, I think he means,” said Harrison, sitting down after pouring himself a drink.
“Oh, give the man a break, Harrison,” pleaded Victoria. “He feels the whole world is against him.”
“That’s because the whole world is against him after his ridiculous antics.”
“I don’t care what anyone says. There’s no excuse for the treatment he and his family have been meted. Maiming animals, violating property!”
“Oh, wake up and see what’s going on, Victoria!” Harrison became angry. “He’s destroyed centuries of hard work and goodwill in a matter of months.”
“He knows he should have handled things differently, he told me so. The trouble is, what does he do about it now?”
“You’ve become quite the confidante to him, haven’t you?” Harrison looked at her cynically.
“I’d like to think I’ve won the trust of all your family.”
Harrison looked pensive.
“What’s the matter?” she asked, going and sitting beside him.
“Victoria, I’ve been thinking lately . . . I think we should go back to the States.”
“Back to the States!” Victoria was astonished. “But why? We love living here.”
“We never planned to live here permanently. It was only ever temporary. We’ve been here far longer than I ever envisaged, Victoria.”
“But we can’t run out on your family in their time of need, Harrison. They need our support with all this trouble going on.”
“It’s exactly because of this trouble I think we should go back to America. I don’t like living here any more with all this going on. We are Armstrongs too and because of Charles’ actions we are being tarred with the same brush.”
“But you have been getting on so much better with him,” she said.
“Yes, our bridges are mended, and that is a wonderful thing. But his actions over the past months have made me realise that he has never changed. He is still the greedy self-centred man he always was, who will ruthlessly railroad over anybody to get what he wants.”
“I see,” said Victoria. “I didn’t realise how strongly you felt.”
“I do! And I fear if I stay here and continue to witness his behaviour, I will end up hating him again.”
“Well, that would be a disaster. But what about the rest of your family – James and your mother? And Emily, now that she’s back. Don’t they need us too?”
“They are all adults capable of looking after themselves, without the need for us to hold their hands. Besides, Mother has always been incredibly pragmatic. She wouldn’t want to stop us from getting on with our lives.”
“Well, this has all taken me by surprise,” she said, looking despondent.
“And, don’t you think it’s time we started our own family?”
“We’re both still young. I thought we decided there was no rush and we could just enjoy married life for a while?”
“I know, but not such a long while! I think it’s time we started a family. And I don’t want to bring up our children here, not with all this festering resentment towards the Armstrongs.”
“I’d certainly miss everyone and everything here. I do love it so,” she said, looking sad. She looked at his face. Harrison would only say something like that if he had given it considerable thought and decided what he really wanted. “But if that’s what you want, then we’ll go back to the States.”
He reached forward and held her tightly.
chapter 71
Pierce was to start school and there was great preparation readying him for going.
Arabella had thought he would be reluctant to go away to boarding school in England, but he seemed to be looking forward to it. She imagined all the agitation on the estate had made going away seem more attractive to him.
Arabella was making the journey over to England with him and the morning they were setting off was a flurry of activity.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come with us, Prudence?” asked Arabella.
“No, I’ll stay here and mind Papa,” said Prudence happily.
Charles bent down and hugged Pierce in the forecourt. “Always remember everything I taught you,” said Charles.
“And remember everything I’ve taught you!” said Arabella, concerned that her son would ever use Charles as his model in life.
Pierce got into the back of the carriage and Arabella kissed Prudence.
“I’ll see you in a week,” she said before turning to Charles.
They looked at each other.
“Look after yourself,” said Arabella, leaning forward and kissing him quickly before getting into the carriage.
Prudence and Charles waved as the carriage set off down the driveway, then walked back into the house with their arms around each other.
“I suppose I will be lonely now he’s gone,” said Prudence. “But I still have you and Mama, and grandmother and everyone else.”
“There’s a good girl. Now you run along, I’ve some important work to do,” said Charles as he headed into the library.
He did have important work to do. He was expecting a visit from Edgar Joyce, their bank manager from Dublin. Mr Joyce had been wanting to meet Charles for some considerable time. Charles had been putting it off but now, with Arabella out of the way, it was an ideal opportunity.
Edgar Joyce was shown into the library by Fennell.
“How is the situation down here on your estate, Lord Armstrong?” asked Joyce, sitting down opposite him across the desk.
“We have everything under control,” Charles assured him.
“That’s not what I’ve been hearing, unfortunately. Lord Armstrong, I’ve been sent down here to meet with you by the board of trustees at the bank due to the concern over your ever-deteriorating finances.”
“I see.”
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br /> “I don’t know if you are aware just how bad your situation has become. The estate has been literally months and months without any payments from your tenants, resulting in no cash flow and large overdrafts.”
Charles felt himself become annoyed.
“I think, Mr Joyce, the fact that the Armstrong estate stretches to eight thousand acres means I am not on my uppers, just yet!”
“No, but if this Land War you’re involved in continues much longer you will be! Quite simply, you are dependent on your tenants’ rents and to begin this – war – with them was a huge act of folly on your part.”
“I didn’t start it! They did by not paying their rents on time!” snapped Charles.
“Whoever started it, the problem now, Lord Armstrong, is nobody seems to be in a position to end it, tensions are running so high.”
“The problem is, Mr Joyce, that neither you nor the board of trustees have any idea of the magnitude of running an estate like this,” Charles defended himself.
“I quite agree! I don’t, they don’t, but unfortunately the situation appears to be that you don’t either! You are aware of the new Wyndham Land Act passed by parliament?”
“I am, of course.”
“Many of our gentry clients around the country are choosing to avail of it. They are selling their estates for the amount they want to their tenants by the funds being made available by the government. It’s a very good deal for landlords, better than anyone ever expected. Quite simply they are sick and tired of all this agrarian trouble and dealing with the locals, and opting to take the money and run. We consider you an ideal candidate for this opportunity.”
“Sell my estate! Have you any idea how long this land has been in my family?” Charles was aghast.
Joyce looked bored. “I can hazard a guess, because I’ve lamentably heard the history of many estates around the country from clients who I have urged to sell!”
“And deprive my wonderful son of what one day will rightly be his?” Charles was furious.
“Put quite simply, Lord Armstrong, if you continue the way you are, all you’ll be leaving your – wonderful – son is a title and a mountain of debt! You obviously should keep the house here and a couple of hundred acres around the house to secure your prestige, past heritage and a small but secure future income. Although I would advise you to curtail your lifestyle considerably. This Land War you’ve engaged in has severely weakened your family’s finances, and your own spending habits since you became Lord Armstrong would make a Bourbon king blush.”