The Purchased Peer

by Giselle Marks

  “I’ll tell Mam and Dad and ask them to consider it tonight.”

  “Good, I’d like to have the gates shut over-night, especially when my Countess is home. I think we may have to oil them and make sure the undergrowth is cleared first before they will close.”

  Chapter Six – Improvements and Mischief.

  By Friday evening all the cut hay had been taken in and the house smelled of sweet confections being prepared in the kitchens. Xavier had moved the scything group to cut the rushes by the stream and decorative small lake that was some distance behind the house. The drive was less rutted and pot holed and the next week’s work was already planned. The orchard had been laden with pears, quinces, damsons, greengages and plums, which had been carefully picked. A very laden cart had returned to the kitchens with the fruit. There had also been some nut and apple trees which were not yet ready to be picked, but some of the bramble bushes had also been ripe and several baskets full of berries had been on the cart.

  Most of the apples would be put to one side for putting through the cider press, but the best apples would be stored. Some plums were prepared for drying, but most would be bottled or turned into jams or conserves. Antoine, the new chef explained in rather poor English what he wanted from his helpers and muttered about the absence of vegetables in his kitchen. Hector tried to appease him, but Hector had no French so he was unsuccessful and Xavier had to be asked to explain that the fruit had been picked first and some more vegetables would be picked for preserving next week. In the end Xavier went into the formal gardens behind the house which were much overgrown and brought in a basket of vegetables which he and Hodges had planted in flower beds earlier in the year.

  The house was now very much cleaner and tidier although most of the house needed some serious redecoration and refurbishment. A builder had arrived Friday morning and Xavier had shown him the most important repairs that needed doing. No carpenter had turned up but the mason, a Mr Rutter said that his colleague Mr Hopwood would be visiting when he had finished his current commission during the following week and sent his apologies. The smaller dining room had been cleaned and polished and the table covered with fresh pristine linen and matching crockery and silverware, but with only four place settings. For the first time since his marriage, there would be a separation between servants and their betters for the service of a meal.

  Xavier bathed and shaved before dressing in a claret coloured coat, which was probably the least faded and bedraggled of his clothes. He tied his long hair back into a queue with a dark ribbon and waited for the arrival of his countess. However the next vehicle to arrive was a large wagon pulled by two huge draft horses, which slowly negotiated the drive and then parked outside the house. The driver clambered down leaving the reins with a younger lad. He walked around to the rear of his carriage and began untying a number of large objects which were covered in waterproofed cloths and then covered in padding.

  Xavier followed his butler Millett out to see what the removal of the wrappings would reveal. Millett went and had a short conversation with the haulier and then disappeared inside to conjure up some labour to assist with carrying in the objects. Xavier was surprised at what the packaging revealed, because the first object was a musical keyboard instrument, however Xavier did not think it was a spinet or harpsichord. He noticed the name Silbermann was inscribed upon it, and he watched as his new footmen struggled to carry it into the house at his directions installing it in the long unused ballroom. The second object was clearly a spinet together with its stool and this he suggested was removed to the main drawing room.

  Xavier thought the haulier had finished unloading, but he untied the ropes around another padded mound. As the wrappings gradually fell away, Xavier could see that this contained a number of oil paintings of assorted shapes and sizes. The footmen finally returned from carrying in the spinet and delicately tackled the pictures one by one. Xavier suggested they be stacked in the ballroom until there was time to decide where to hang them, but he realised that among the pictures were a number of family portraits, which his father had sold off when he had been young. Most of the other pictures he had never seen before, but were of a quality far higher than any that had formerly graced the walls of his home.

  Hector came out to see what all the disruption was about and tipped the haulier, which whether it was necessary or not, would certainly encourage him to bring further loads to Kittleton Place. As the haulier moved round the drive to go on his way, Celestina’s carriage appeared at the gates and swept down the drive. Hector and Xavier waited by the steps for the carriage to pull to a stop. Xavier noticed vaguely for the first time that her horses were chestnuts, while the horses she had brought him, had all been black. He wondered if her research on him had uncovered his early preference for black horses or perhaps she had thought they made a prettier picture with his black hair.

  Xavier moved forward to open the carriage door and put the step down ahead of the footman who was riding in the boot. He was relieved to see that she had at least brought more servants with her. Celestina gracefully climbed down carrying a closed wicker basket that seemed to be moving from within and making mewling noises. This basket she placed in Xavier’s arms. He grinned, how like his wife to dump him with a basket of kittens. Hector was welcomed and then handed another larger closed basket by a pretty maid who tripped down the steps behind her. The footman unloaded a bag for each of the ladies, before Jeffreys drove off to the stables.

  “Cats, my lady?”

  “The house has vermin; the cats may reduce their numbers while I locate a rat-catcher.”

  “I will make sure a rat-catcher visits, my lady.”

  “The house seems to be looking a little better, my lord.”

  “Thank you for the return of the family portraits. Some of the other paintings are far better than anything the Falconers have ever owned.”

  “Then perhaps they will remain unsold for our children to enjoy, my lord.”

  “I would like that, my lady,” He said bowing over her hand, having dumped Millett with the basket of kittens.

  “What am I to do with the kittens, my lord?” he enquired somewhat affronted.

  “Take them to the kitchen and see if Antoine accepts them. I fear he may consider serving them up to us for dinner.”

  Dinner was served after Celestina had had an opportunity to freshen up from her journey. Only Hector and Mr Bayliss joined the Earl and Countess for dinner. Celestina’s maid, Amy joined the other servants below stairs and introduced herself to them. Xavier was not alone in wishing that he could share the big table with his employees, rather than dine formally where the conversation was stilted and awkward. He tried to converse with his wife, Hector and his steward, but the conversation kept juddering to a silent halt.

  ***

  “I apologize, my lady but I am tired and ask your forbearance for my discourtesy in retiring early. Please take your time before retiring,” Xavier said bowing over his wife’s hand.

  “Tired, Xavier? I will not be long up and will see you shortly.”

  Xavier kissed his wife’s hand again, but Celestina thought the gleam in his eyes did not indicate tiredness on his part. Mr Bayliss also made his excuses and shortly followed after Xavier. This left Celestina and Hector together.

  “It looks like you have made some progress in my absence, has his lordship been very obstructive?” she asked.

  “The absolute opposite, he’s been as nice as can be. I think you may have misjudged him a little. He cleaned out the stables himself, cooked lunch and breakfast for everyone until Matilda, one of the maids took over, and filled in the ruts in the drive while supervising the cutting and drying of the long grass as hay which is already stored. I had no idea what to order the workers to do outside, but he is keeping them busy and seems to have practical ideas. Bayliss remonstrated with him over working himself. He laughed it off.”

  “And his drinking?”

  “He has not even drunk a glass of wine with
me at night. He’s taken a pint of cider with the workers outside while he was labouring, but he has been most abstemious. He wants to go to market tomorrow with young Avery to pick out a couple of draft horses.”

  “Do you think he can be trusted? Drinking and gambling can be very addictive.”

  “I don’t think you’ll ever know unless you give him a chance, but he generally seems quite content.”

  “Which was not really what I intended,” she huffed.

  ***

  Later that night many miles away, two men were hiding in the dark waiting until the nearby inn’s stables were quiet. It was raining heavily there and the post house was unlikely to have any more traffic. Most of the grooms had already gone to their sleep in the loft. The chief ostler was still in the inn having a heavy wet. When they could only hear the revelries from the tap room they crept closer to where the carriages had been parked. The larger man carried a rusty saw and had a pocket full of sawdust. His smaller accomplice had a dark lantern which he held turned to dark so it would not reveal their presence.

  “Couldn’t pick a worse night for it, could Ferris?” The smaller lad muttered grumbling as the rain lashed down on them.

  “Hush Tommy, we don’t wanna get caught, what did he say about that carriage again? There are six here,” the burly man built like a wrestler asked his mate as he crouched trying to work out which of the six he was supposed to deal with and not get seen.

  “It has no shield and is painted a dark green, Hogo, the swell cully said.”

  “That rules out three, two with shields and one is painted pale blue. Wonder who’d buy a barouche that is powder blue. More money than sense. Ostler had to cover it with a tarpaulin because it was getting wet.”

  “Won’t be a barouche anyhow, Hogo, him said it was a closed carriage, not an open vehicle.”

  “Take the lantern over there Tommy and try to figure out what the colour of the other three are,”

  “This one looks black and the furthest one is a sort of dark red colour. So I think it must be this one. Looks a sort of greenish shade of black.”

  “Good I’ll slide underneath, you hold up the lantern.”

  It was a fairly battered closed carriage which would seat four fairly uncomfortably on worn leather upholstered seats. The leather might have been originally grey in colour, but was now more of an ugly brown colour from what the men could see by the light of their lantern. The yard was muddy and full of puddles as they splashed around to the rear of the vehicle. They were already wet and muddy, but were getting wetter. The smaller man lit the undercarriage of the vehicle so the larger could bring his saw to bear on the back axle, close to the road-side wheel. Although the saw was fairly poor, the axle metal was easy enough to saw part through.

  Then he lit a candle from the lantern and rubbed some of the melting wax together with some sawdust which he pushed into the cut in the metal. They checked the work was not visible from behind the vehicle and splattered some more mud underneath the carriage. As they were straightening up, the side door of the inn opened and the chief ostler staggered out. Tommy and Hogo crouched down behind the carriage and hoped he would miss them on his meandering path across the yard. They backed away as quietly as they could as the ostler headed in their direction. They were close to the stable block when he sighted them and let out a yell, Hogo reached for a shovel left outside by a lazy groom in the hope that the rain would reduce the dung clinging to it.

  As the ostler tried to cry out again Hogo swung the shovel, connecting with the older man’s skull. It hit with a nasty crack and the old man went down fast. He fell awkwardly slumping without any control, blood flowed generously mixing with the muddy puddles in the yard. Tommy retched and threw up in the yard. Hogo was made of sterner stuff and he dragged the body to the stables and slung him in an empty stall. The horses were restless at the smell of blood, but no one came and they soon settled down. Hogo and Tommy slipped away into the night to where they had left their horse and cart in the rain. Their part of the job was done. But they would be searched for in the morning because the ostler would not wake.

  Chapter Seven – Complications

  Xavier awoke early, but not nearly early enough to catch out Celestina, who was already gone from his bed. He washed and dressed in old riding clothes, tying his long, dark hair back in a queue. He knocked on the adjoining door to his bedroom and was instructed to enter. Celestina was up, veiled and seated reading through a ledger, Xavier glanced at it, noticing that it was not in Hector’s hand-writing, so was clearly not the one he had been compiling of the spending that he was doing to restore Kittleton Place and pay his bills.

  “Hector says you want to buy two draft horses at market today. I gather you suggested taking young Avery with you,” she remarked conversationally.

  “Yes, unless you have some objection, my lady. I appreciate all the time and money you have been spending to bail me out of debt.”

  “I was going to ask if you would tour the house with me and make decisions on what curtaining and upholstery to order and how you want the rooms decorated, my lord. The ton disparages those not of their number for our taste, so I would not like to offend you by changing your home too drastically. But I agree you need the draft horses, so that it can wait until you return.”

  Xavier realised his wife, who had seemed so self-assured, was nervous about whether her taste would meet with his approval. That crack in her ice maiden exterior was worth remembering, because if he did not tread carefully, he could easily hurt her.

  “I think the house is too dark and dingy. Mrs Fretwell is going to organise a window-washing party next week and some of the creepers need to be cut back. I’ve never considered redecoration, because I’ve never had the spare money to undertake it. You’re my wife, it’s your house, I want you to feel comfortable in it, so make whatever changes you wish. I suggest you ask Eliza, Mrs Fretwell, the housekeeper to show you around and choose between you. I’d prefer bright cheerful colours and for the decorations to be kept relatively simple. I can look over what you have chosen if you wish? Then if there is something I really dislike we can choose something else together.”

  “That might be quicker. How much do you think it will cost to buy two draft horses?”

  “They could be less than five guineas each or as much as fifteen, my lady. It will depend on the quality of the beasts, and the number available for sale.”

  “Here are fifty guineas, which should cover the purchase and pay for you and Robert Avery to eat a decent lunch. Get a receipt for the sale from the seller or auctioneer, my lord,” She said counting out the money into a small leather bag.

  “Thank you, Celestina. Testing me? I promised to stop drinking and I have. Watching Kittleton fall to pieces around me, made me want to drink to blot it all out. Now I have hope and something to work towards, I will not betray your trust.”

  “And your gambling, my lord?”

  “Will be harder for me to give up, my lady, but I promised and I keep my promises.”

  “You have not always done so, my lord.”

  “True and I regret it, my lady.”

  Xavier bowed himself out of her bedroom, and despite his shabby clothes still looked every bit the gentleman. Somehow peasants did not have that natural arrogance and swagger, even in old clothes he still looked a lord.

  Celestina partook of breakfast with Hector and then sought out Mrs Fretwell. She found her supervising the removal of rugs from the guest bedrooms to be beaten in the gardens on such a pleasant, sunny morning.

  “Mrs Fretwell, my lord suggested that you helped me with choosing the new décor for the house. It is all so faded and tarnished that it needs a major update, but I admit I find it daunting to know where to start.”

  “It used to such a pretty house but it has got very shabby, my lady. It would be lovely to see it all refurbished. It does not really matter where we start, if it all has to be done.”

  “I brought some fabric and paper samples from Lon
don, but I thought my lord might want to choose how it was decorated ….” Celestina said, sounding a little despondent.

  “Men don’t care much about such things, my lady. So long as they have a good meal put it front of them, then they are content. His lordship never much liked things to be too fussy. There were some china ornaments in the bedrooms in his father’s day. But he insisted on them being removed from his bedroom and put into guest rooms where he wouldn’t see them. He muttered about them harbouring dust, ma’am. Should I send young Samuel,” gesturing to one of the young footmen, “to fetch the samples, pencil and paper, my lady?”

  “Yes that is a good idea, thank you Mrs Fretwell,” she declared trying to be formal.

  “Eliza would do, my lady, even if you want to be more formal when you have guests. My lord suggested the servants’ quarters should be done first, as they are the most dilapidated. They should be simple to choose for and when they are done it will free up some of the guest rooms, so we can move furniture and people around, ma’am.”

  Eliza was correct; it did not take long to select a simple clean colour scheme for the servant’s quarters. Stone for the walls but some cheerfully coloured curtaining materials and fresh bed quilts. There were plain wooden chairs and cupboards and although some needed replacing, the existing curtains were falling to pieces. Celestina felt the mattresses needed replacing with something rather better and made a note of the number required.

  “If the guest bedrooms are done in a simple order it should reduce the amount of furniture needing to be moved about, Eliza. In some ways the lack of ornaments makes the restoration easier,” Celestina declared beginning to get into the spirit of their plans.

  “Yes, ma’am, and there is less to clean, but some ornaments will gradually be accumulated. Not just to replace what was there before, but things you and your lordship really like. Honestly, my lady, most of the ornaments here before were hideous. I suppose they were expensive, but I doubt his lordship misses them much,” Eliza stated.