“Mr Gamp, could you please tell the court, why did you fail to get invoices before disbursing Mr Wellmouth’s hard earned funds?”
“We were very busy and my under clerks were careless.”
“Isn’t it your responsibility to train your clerks and make certain that they follow your instructions?”
Gamp muttered something under his breath. Erskine waved a number of pieces of paper for effect and there was some laughter from the gallery. The judge glared at them and the court quietened.
“It is not as if this was only one omission, Mr Gamp, is it? I have all these payments made without invoices. How did your under-clerks miss demanding them on over a hundred occasions? One hundred and forty one instances have been discovered within the last year, where no invoice has been made available. I put it to you Mr Gamp, that none of these so-called transactions have receipts for the delivery of the goods either; surely you must have been suspicious about their probity and suspected they were fraudulent?”
Gamp had stuttered, shuffling, repeating belligerently that he was innocent, but the jury must have disbelieved him because he was found guilty on all counts. However even his conviction and his fear of the rope did not persuade him to loosen his tongue and reveal those involved in the crimes with him. Deciding which of the Wellmouth’s staff remained honest and which had been supplying information to third parties to ease sabotage was still to be discovered. Hector put inquiries into effect, to examine discreetly the Wellmouth senior staff for anything suspicious. Because until they had been proved to be honest, they might get bribed to encourage further sabotage.
Hector’s spies would watch especially for them appearing to have extra money to spend than usual or if they were being secretive and attending clandestine meetings with anyone not within their usual circles. So a number of his clerks were followed and their every movement noted. Two were now under even closer scrutiny but were still at liberty. They remained in Wellmouth’s employ, but false information was being directed to them to see if it would reach any other parties.
Hector and Celestina were both exasperated that the sleeping partner behind Higgins & Morpeth, chandleries and ironmongeries remained concealed, despite Hector setting his most efficient spies to uncovering his identity. Much of the previous spate of disruption of supplies to the Wellmouth chandleries had been prevented by Blighton shipping delivering their required supplies directly to the docks by each chandlery. This was by no means the cheapest form of transport, but Celestina trusted her own employees would not be corrupted by the mysterious backer of Higgins and Morpeth. Celestina wrote uninformative notes to Xavier, but his letters were far more affectionate in return.
***
While Celestina stayed in London, Xavier and his steward were busy. The sale of Brook farm had gone through and Xavier travelled to the neighbouring county for Matthew’s wedding to Katherine. Brook farm had been cleaned and repaired ready for the newlyweds. Xavier gave them a set of Spode pottery for best, which Celestina had ordered at his suggestion. The farm’s fences had been improved and a small drainage scheme was put into effect at Matthew’s suggestion with Xavier’s support. The roofing on the new cottages was close to completion and the houses would soon be waterproofed for the winter. Meanwhile Xavier and Matthew travelled to livestock sales to stock the new farm.
Although Celestina said she was too busy to travel to Kittleton, more presents came from London, the new curtains and upholstery were finished and a number of Italianate sculptures arrived for the gardens together with a specialist horticulturalist who would now lead the team of groundsmen. He could apparently advise Matthew on any new crops he was considering planting. He went by the name of John Cagnet. He appeared to be of French extraction although he spoke English with a thick London accent, while gesticulating dramatically with his hands. Xavier thought his spoken French suggested he had been born in France, but that his family origins were even lower than his speech in English might suggest. Xavier was unconcerned that his neighbours might be shocked by his colloquial slum French. Most of them were so poorly educated that they would be unable to understand him.
He was more concerned by whether Cagnet knew his botany and horticulture. After some interrogatories between them, Xavier discovered Cagnet had far more knowledge of plants and their nurturing, than he had any desire himself to know. Antoine, their chef having conversed with the new chief groundsman was horrified Cagnet should be sharing meals with my lord. He considered Cagnet’s language unacceptable in his own kitchen, even though none of the English staff could understand him. Xavier had to visit the kitchens to calm Antoine down, as he attacked Cagnet with a hot skillet, which he had in his hands at the time.
Cagnet was forbidden by Xavier to visit the kitchens. He could have any produce delivered by the outdoor staff, who would take Antoine’s orders, but he was not to visit Antoine’s domain himself. Xavier would have to dine with Cagnet until one of the new houses had been made ready and then he could make shift for himself. Cagnet insisted he had been promised that there would be a number of greenhouses, an orangery and similar built in the New Year. Xavier intended to check exactly what Celestina had promised the young man, before agreeing to anything.
When Mrs Fretwell complained to Xavier about “this here foreign John, who was flirting with her girls when they should be working,” he wondered if he was more trouble than he was worth. It was late autumn, so there were few flowers blooming, but Xavier noticed the grounds and gardens were much improved, so he began to listen to Cagnet’s ideas at dinner with more charity.
October passed and November came in hard and wet. The rain sleeted down and the ground workers were happy to help with decorating the inside of the now repaired loft to the stable block and to shift the hay from the barn into the loft. The quarters for the house’s grooms and any visiting grooms were now ready to be inhabited. Paul Avery and his son moved into their new quarters and made themselves at home. Xavier and Matthew Bayliss were relieved the roofs were finished on the newly built houses and only a few windows remained to be fitted to the final two houses to make them fully waterproofed.
The squatters in the tumble down cottages across the lane, looked on miserably as Enoch Caldercott helped finish the first of the houses with his family’s assistance and then simply moved across. They had noted his promotion to gamekeeper and the improved provision for his family jealously. Mrs Caldercott had bought a new bonnet and was proud that her husband was belatedly honestly employed.
The heavy rain had already been falling through his ramshackle roof so his family looked forward to spending the winter in a house with a roof which didn’t leak. The finishing touches inside the other houses continued and on the seventh of the month another five of the new cottages were ready for occupation. Xavier accompanied by John Burland and Matthew Bayliss visited the elderly single gentleman, a former footman in his father’s service. Old Harry Mundy was pleased to welcome my lord into his house, offering him a cup of tea, but the old man was shivering, huddled from the cold in shawls and blankets. Although he had a roaring fire, the wind rattled through the walls and under the door and the continual rain was coming through the ceiling in a number of places which was spattering into strategically placed buckets.
“Mr Mundy, I think you know John Burland, my ground foreman?”
“Amos’ son, yes he’s a nice lad.”
“He will be coming tomorrow morning with a couple of my footmen to help move you across to one of the new houses. There will be no rent to pay, so don’t you worry about it. I know you are fond of this cottage, but you can’t live in these conditions during winter. This cottage needs to have the roof taken off and to be properly repaired. If the bad weather has settled in for the year, it won’t be finished until spring.”
“You should not have put yourself to the trouble, my lord. I can manage here. I don’t wish to be a burden to you.”
“It is only what a good landlord should do for one of his retired employees. You we
re always a good worker, Mr Mundy and it is only your due. I thought you might need help with moving your things, so please accept the assistance of John and his party tomorrow early.”
The other four squatters’ cottages were knocked up by Matthew Bayliss who told them they could move into the other four finished cottages and stay rent free until Lady Day, which fell on March 25th when they would either have to leave or pay rent. He informed them of the prospective rent for the new cottages, but informed them the old cottages would be repaired, so if they wished to return to the smaller building when they were mended, stated what the rent would now be. As it was clearly not to be expected that the Falconers would pay for the repairs without some recompense, the squatters were grateful for a dry roof over their head during the winter, but must decide to pay rent or find somewhere new to live in spring. Despite the dreadful condition they were living in, there was some muttering, but they all agreed to move on the following day, as there was no sign of the rain letting up.
The moving of Harry Mundy’s belongings was conducted fairly swiftly by John and the other lads, they loaded up everything except the armchair he was sitting in, into a hand cart and took it into the new house. Then they set up everything in its proper place and lit him a fire. They filled his kettle and water jugs before they returned and carried Harry ceremoniously in his armchair covered by a tarpaulin against the unceasing rain. It was only when they had settled him by the fireside that they left to go about their normal work. The squatters struggled to move their possessions across, but between them they had made the move by the end of the day.
It was hard work moving but they were relieved to sleep that night under a leak-proof roof in a house which kept the elements out. The night brought high winds and even more rain, but all were safe and warm in the little hamlet. The following day as they awoke and went about their usual chores, they discovered Mr Mundy’s cottage roof had completely collapsed in the gale, as had his neighbour’s and that several of the others had lost large chunks of roofing. Several trees had come down on the estate but no one was injured and the wood was saleable. So as the gale abated, there was work cutting the small limbs for firewood for the house and Xavier came to an agreement about the tree trunks with Mr Hopwood whose lads took them away. Xavier rode through the hamlet on the following day and said a prayer of thanks. The move had been just in time.
The clear-up from the gales was undertaken in much milder but changeable weather. The battered old cottages were slowly stripped of their rotten thatch and inadequate beams, then the rubble was swept out and burnt on the first dry day. Tarpaulins were erected to keep the interiors as dry as possible, but repair work would not be possible until the weather settled. As the days passed some more packets of land became available. Matthew bought another fifty-four acres in some auctions and some hundred and twenty-two acres by negotiating directly with the selling farmers. None of the land was particularly good and some would need draining and clearing, but although the land did not connect directly with the estate the lots were in a rather stretched out block, which they hoped they would be able to expand as other land became available.
Towards the end of the month another small farm became vacant following the demise of the owner. His son had married another farmer’s daughter from further away. It was impractical to run both farms and so he opted to sell his smaller home farm, so he could improve his stock and perhaps buy some nearer fields. Rumours of his intention to sell reached Xavier through his estate workers, so he passed on the details to Matthew.
Matthew attended the father’s funeral and was invited back to the house with family and friends to take a dish of tea and some fruit cake. Matthew took the opportunity to speak to the son and they quickly agreed. The farm with ninety-eight acres of arable land, a small orchard and some twelve acres of additional woodland fitted next to the newly purchased acres but still did not abut directly to Kittleton Place. However it now could be combined with the one hundred and seventy-six acres to form a more profitable farm. The house was fairly small and shabby, but with some work the farm could be turned into a tenanted farm which would bring in income for the estate.
The new farm would make further inroads into Celestina’s fortune before it was up and running smoothly, but in a couple of years it would produce a regular income for the estate. Xavier agreed with Matthew’s estimate that if they could buy two similar areas of land for further farms, then by two years the estate would break even. Over the following years it could begin to repay the countess’ financial outlay. It would take some decades to pay back the full amount, but with good husbandry and careful selection of stock, the estate would no longer be a money pit which would forever require funding.
Xavier felt guilty about the continued expenditure to bring the estate back into profit. He knew Celestina was a very rich woman, but he had no idea whether the moneys she had paid to rescue his estate, were causing her financial difficulties or not. It seemed such a huge amount of money that he felt rather embarrassed even to write her about the purchase. Matthew had not told him what he had been permitted to spend or whether there was a limit per acre to which he could bid. So Xavier continued working as hard as he could during the days, determined Kittleton should become financially viable to reduce the demands on his wife’s purse.
He disliked being bought and remaining in her continuing debt; yet she had offered him the only solution to his insolvency which he could envisage. He had considered adventuring to India or the colonies, but Hodges would never desert him. Xavier had feared the old man would not cope with the unhealthy climate. When insolvent he had been unable to assist the poorer folk living around Kittleton. Xavier was however aware that it behoved a good lord to help the local population in hard times and to provide employment. Now he had an opportunity to make up for his former profligacy. Although he admitted to himself ruefully, he had not truly been the destroyer of his estate. His father and grandfather’s extravagances had already decimated the estate by the time he had inherited it and sold off the house’s finest treasures. His desperate attempts after inheriting to restore the estates soon proved hopeless without a major financial input. His despair had driven him to seek oblivion from his troubles.
Alcohol and debauchery had blotted out his misery for a time, but whenever he sobered he remembered his failures. The reality soon drove him to seeking amusement with like-minded young wastrels. Alcohol blotted out the memory of Kittleton’s decline and the pointlessness of his own existence. He could not even take a military career because an officer could not leave behind a string of debts. He had considered taking a wealthy bride, but those aristocratic debutantes with plump dowries were largely kept as far away as possible from such impecunious rakes as Lord Xavier Falconer. He had doubted the wealthiest of them had sufficient funds to do more than prop up the ailing Kittleton estate. It had been so far in debt by the time of his ascension to the title, his indebtedness was far beyond such a simple remedy.
Celestina had not rebuked him or complained about the expenditure on the house and estate beyond describing them as a money pit to Bayliss. Her generosity made him feel useless, especially for failing to provide her with the one thing she desired from their marriage. She was not with child and he wondered how long it would be before she railed at him for his failure to give her an heir. What chance had he of getting her pregnant, when clearly she found the marital act so repulsive she would avoid returning to Kittleton for months on end? He had hoped that she would bear his child and then Kittleton Place would be something they could leave to their son. He now feared that it would never happen and that their marriage would be ignominiously dissolved without issue.
For the first time for a long time Xavier was surrounded by people who thought well of him and yet he had never felt so lonely. He tried to keep his letters to Celestina cheerful but he missed her, he even missed Hector with whom he could talk, almost as an equal. He passed the time of day with Mrs Fretwell, but only about household matters. He sat
down to dine with John Cagnet but he did not consider him a kindred spirit and was looking forward to the seventh new house being made ready for his occupation, when he would move out of the Place. Up until this point he had found no difficulty keeping to the letter of his contract with Celestina. He had kept himself busy, enjoying the improvements to the house and lands, while looking forward to Celestina’s weekend visits. The house was now immaculate, although occasionally new pictures arrived to decorate the walls or elegant items of furniture, sculpture or decorative ornaments to give Eliza’s girls more to dust and polish.
Xavier accepted that as proof of Celestina’s continued interest in their marriage and felt grateful she had not yet suggested dissolving their unfruitful union. Cagnet managed to keep the conversation going almost single-handedly at dinner. After his day in the grounds, the man was garrulous in the extreme, which worsened as he consumed a number of pints of cider with his dinner. He eschewed wine, saying that he only drank it when in public and he did not consider dining alone with the earl was public. Xavier was not sure whether to be annoyed by his condescension in treating him as an equal, or amused by it. The technical details, as he explained the minutae of his day’s work bored Xavier so he found it hard not to be tempted to pour himself another glass of wine to relieve the tedium of Cagnet’s monologues. The longer Celestina was away, the greater the temptation was to drink and drown his sorrows.
When Cagnet had taken himself off to bed, he visited his carving room where he had pinned up his copy of their marriage agreement and before settling down to making another carving, he would read through what he had promised, signed and sealed. He was determined not to falter nor would he be the one to break their contract. He would give Celestina no excuse to have their marriage declared void. He had dug out an large old oaken chair with a clumsy thick back and arms and had decided to see if he could ornament the chair making it less suited to a peasant’s cottage or staff quarters. So he had carved his shield into the centre back and then decorated the arms and back with wild roses and ivy. He was nearly finished with the back and quite pleased with the effect. Now he would carve the arms and match them as mirror images for left and right exactly. Then he would consider how he could to improve the lumpy shape of the front legs.
The Purchased Peer Page 15