A Mutual Accord

Chapter 39

CHAPTER 39

O ne afternoon while they were out shopping, Elizabeth and Georgiana, who were accompanied by Mrs Annesley and William Bennet, came upon a young boy, Tom Tyler, who, according to the local ladies, was the eldest son of a squatter family that lived in the cottages near the castle that Elizabeth and Lydia were fond of visiting. The boy was always barefoot in the streets of the little seaside town, not begging for coins, but begging for small work of any kind. Elizabeth and Georgiana always kept an eye out for the lad, and whenever they saw him, paid him to carry a message to someone else from Bourne House, even if they had no message that needed carrying. Elizabeth often paid the boy before she sent him off to carry the notes, and when he arrived, the only thing the note would contain was a message asking Lady Catherine or whomever was at home to pay the boy again once he arrived. In this way, the boy would earn enough to purchase a hot pot to feed his family.

Hot pots were purchased on the street. The working class and the poor would descend upon the butcher each day, but the choicest cuts of meat were always saved for the upper and middle classes. If meat could not be obtained, then it was to be a hot pot for the family meal. The women of the lowest working class could not afford to remain at home once their oldest was old enough to watch the youngest. Some children as young as five or six stayed in their cottages each day watching infants while their parents worked. It was difficult for a mother to come home and cook a meal with little available for ingredients after her long day, so often a working family brought their pot into the village and had it filled by a street vendor. Families who could afford it, took their pot to town, and purchased a Lancashire hot pot made of mutton, potatoes, leeks, and assorted root vegetables. The poorest families, who could not afford it, took home a pot made of oysters, whatever offal had been available from the butchers that day, and a very small amount of potatoes or other vegetables. Those who could not afford even the meanest hot pot, were obliged to go down to the water, and devour whatever oysters could be pried off the underside of the docks when the tide was low.

On this day, young Tom Tyler had already earned enough for his family’s hot pot, and was carefully carrying it home through the street as the young ladies exited the lending library, accompanied by William Bennet, who was also known to the boy. “Afternoon, Miss Bennet, Miss Darcy, sir,” the boy nodded as he passed them.

“Good afternoon, Tom. Please come to Bourne House early tomorrow morning, I will have a letter that I shall wish to send to the post office,” Elizabeth said in answer to the boy. Georgiana had encouraged Torrens to use the boy for household errands instead of sending out the servants whenever possible since the truth of the trouble with Marigold had been discovered.

“Thankee miss, I be there by breakfast,” the boy promised. Suddenly, Lord Lennox came around a corner, and bowled the boy over in the street. Pandemonium ensued as the hot pot turned over, and both the boy and the man were on the ground, covered in the greasy contents of the pot.

“You little bastard!” Lord Lennox cuffed the boy over the ear as he dragged him to his feet. “Have you any notion how expensive this waistcoat was! This is French silk of the likes that cannot be found any more!”

“I’m sorry, yer lordship, you did not see me as you came about!” cried poor Tom.

“Sorry! How dare you blame this on me, you stupid little lobcock! I should call the constable, how would you like to rot in prison until you have compensated me for my garments!” shouted Lord Lennox, shaking the boy viciously.

“Lord Lennox, your language! There are ladies present!” William Bennet objected strenuously, but he was too slow to give any real remonstrance, for Georgiana Darcy was upon the nobleman with her parasol, beating him about the head and demanding that the man release the boy immediately.

Georgiana Darcy had been raised a true gentlewoman, and was nothing but gentle and generous with the poor. Her example had been set by her brother and father, and by the stories told to her by the housekeeper, tenants, and locals of aid that her mother had provided to others in her lifetime. Whenever possible, Georgiana gave those who needed it the most the opportunity to earn what they needed, allowing them to retain their dignity rather than accept charity. Having heard stories from the locals regarding the circumstances in which the Tylers lived, she was outraged by Lord Lennox’s behaviour.

“Lord Lennox, how dare you behave thus, towards a young boy who did nothing wrong! We were standing here conversing with Tom the entire time, and it was you who knocked him over! I demand !” she pounded him with her parasol with each emphasis. “That you apologise ! At once !”

Elizabeth and William pulled their young friend away before Lord Lennox lost his temper entirely. “ And you will compensate Tom for the loss of his family’s dinner, too!” the young girl shrieked.

“I shall do no such thing. You should take care, Miss Darcy, who you assault in the street. Your brother may be as rich as Croesus, but that will not save you when you have attacked a peer,” Lord Lennox said disdainfully. “With one wave of my hand I can have you all locked up by the magistrate.”

“I highly doubt you will find success locking up the niece of the foreign secretary. Not nearly as much as I might find simply by arranging for the bailiffs from town to find you and your friend,” Elizabeth said evenly, not flinching an inch as the young earl turned his baleful gaze upon her. “That is why you are hiding here, is it not? To escape your debts?”

“How dare you,” the earl drew up in indignation.

“Lord Lennox, perhaps you should only return to Bourne House by invitation of Lady Catherine,” Mrs Annesley interrupted. “It is not our place to bar you from the home of our host, but after the events of this afternoon, I cannot imagine that she would welcome your company amongst the young ladies in her care again. Perhaps for everyone involved, we should end this indecorous display at once.”

“I believe that Miss Darcy’s demand that you compensate Tom for his dinner to be appropriate, Lord Lennox,” said William in a quavering voice.

“I would sooner spend my money on horse manure,” replied Lennox disdainfully.

“Only if you had any money to spend, which I highly disbelieve. Let us not importune Lord Lennox further. I doubt he can afford to replace the hot pot,” said Georgiana snidely as she turned away.

“If you were a man, I would call you out!” said Lord Lennox in anger.

“Lord Lennox! Miss Darcy is not even out in society! To speak towards her in such a manner is ungentlemanly in the extreme!” objected Mrs Annesley.

“If you like, I could write to my cousin in the regulars, Colonel Fitzwilliam. I am certain he would be all too happy to stand for me after your foul behaviour, Lord Lennox,” retorted Georgiana. Terrified by the mention of Matlock’s second son, who was a legendary shot, and skilled with a sword beyond all reckoning, Lennox gave them a final hateful look, and hurried away.

“Miss Darcy, you should never create such a scene in public!” chastised Mrs Annesley. “It is well that there is not much society in Eastbourne, but your brother will be distressed indeed by your boldness.”

“My brother would have beaten Lord Lennox in the street himself if he had witnessed such behaviour towards a poor boy who had done nothing to deserve it,” said Georgiana. “I wish I was a man, then I could have done it.”

Poor Tom was sitting on the ground, shaking. Elizabeth knelt next to him. “All will be well Tom.”

“You don’t understan’ miss,” hiccupped the boy. “My ma, she had a baby yesterday. She be terrible unwell, she says her body is too ill to make milk. I was to spend the money on goat’s milk for the baby, but Mrs Blott, my ma’s friend, she said my ma can’t make milk ‘cause she don’t eat. I bought the pot so ma might get strong, and make milk fer the babe, an’ now I got no pot an’ no milk.”

“William,” Elizabeth said, turning to her cousin.

“I will go and obtain some goat’s milk immediately, Cousin Elizabeth,” her cousin said quickly. He turned to Tom. “Where is your home, that I might meet you all there, Tom?”

“Stepney Lane, sir,” Tom named the location of the squatters village nearby. William went on his mission to find a goat, while the ladies accompanied Tom back to the vendor.

Elizabeth had seen the contents of the pot that had spilled all over Tom and Lord Lennox, and was appalled at how disgusting the greasy concoction looked and smelled. She was not even entirely certain that it was wholesome. Though Tom made to return to the same vendor, Elizabeth guided them all to another further down the street, which served Lancashire Pots. The contents of this man’s stew looked far more nourishing and healthful than the oyster pot.

“Please fill this pot, and I would like to pay you in advance, so young Mr Tyler can return every day for the rest of the month,” Georgiana said to the vendor kindly.

“Oh miss, that be too much!” protested Tom.

“I am certain it is no less than my brother would have done in Lord Lennox’s position, and I will not be said to have done less,” Georgiana insisted. “We will accompany you home, and see what can be done to assist your mother.”

The ladies kindly allowed Tom into their carriage, and were soon at Stepney Lane. These were not proper cottages. These were of rickety, lean to construction, erected from stolen lumber, most of which was so old that it was rotting. The Tyler shack was only one room. There were three filthy beds on the dirt floor, two of which were filled with children, upon the other laid Bella Tyler and her newborn babe. The only other furniture was a crude, handmade table, and two chairs.

Mrs Tyler was weak, feverish, and near death. The babe was so weak and dehydrated that it could barely squeak. Elizabeth sent a footman running for the comte and Lady Catherine. The young ladies set to serving the children with the little crockery and cutlery they could find.

William arrived before Lady Catherine did. With him, he carried two bottles of goat's milk, twelve boiled eggs, a loaf of bread, and a glass baby feeder, obtained at Johnson’s General Store. Georgiana was feeding the baby when her aunt arrived.

“I heard of your adventure from the footman, niece. I am proud of you for your courage. Lennox will never set foot in my drawing room again,” said Lady Catherine, looking about herself at the small room they were in. She shook her head at the conditions they observed. “Seven children, all but one under ten,” she tutted.

The comte examined the woman, and administered an elixir, while Elizabeth and the other ladies did their best to clean what they could in the little lean to. “The elixir should finish off her fever in the night. She will wake tomorrow, though she will be weak. She must eat every day if she is to regain her strength, and make enough milk to feed the babe,” he told the women.

“I paid the street vendor to have a hot pot for the family every day for a month,” Georgiana said.

“And Mrs Forrester has said that if Tom will come every morning to milk her goat and cow, collect her eggs, and carry some wood, there will be a bottle or two of goat's milk every day for the baby, and a few eggs for the little ones,” William added. He had paid Mrs Forrester a little something to make it worth such a sacrifice of her dairy when she did not need the help, and Miss Pole had promised to give a few eggs a day for the cause as well. The people of the little village liked Tom Tyler, though his parents were not well thought of at all.

The party took their leave, and Tom promised to ensure that the babe was fed, and that his mother would be looked after by himself and his sister, a nine year old girl named Mary.

In the carriage, the party was quiet at first as they contemplated all that they had seen. Eventually Lady Catherine said, “It is so difficult to walk out of that shack and not give all the aid that I would wish to that woman, but it would all be for naught. They are undeserving, and they would act like it.”

“Aunt, I am surprised at you!” gasped Georgiana, scandalised.

“I do not mean that they are undeserving due to their position or rank, Niece, I mean that they are undeserving due to their refusal to help themselves, or even allow others to help them,” Lady Catherine explained. “Lady Amesbury has spoken of the family to me after noticing that the young man was running errands for our house. His father will not take steady work, though it has been offered by many in the area. He will not work with the fishermen, he will not take work on the docks, or on the farms. He prefers poaching and petty crime, and he is so proud that he forces his family into starvation because he will not allow them to take charity. Nor will he allow his wife or the boy to work enough to sustain them in any decent manner when he is present, which I am told is thankfully not often.

“It is Mr Tyler’s responsibility to provide for his family,” continued Lady Catherine. “And just because he has no interest in doing so, does not mean he is willing to watch anyone else do it. Job Tyler comes and goes at will, only stays with his family a few days or weeks at a time, perhaps only every few months or so. He turns up as soon as his wife has recovered from childbirth, only to fill her belly again and leave. When any of the local ladies give the family crockery or blankets, or clothes, he takes them away and disposes of them. They are not allowed to accept anything resembling charity. When the boy does too well with whatever work he can find, the father’s pride becomes wounded, and he beats the boy, and breaks or destroys whatever he has earned. The man maintains that they are his family; his wife and children belong to him, and it is his right to starve them if he chuses. There is no law to prevent it, and his wife will not leave him. Every manner of assistance has been offered to Mrs Tyler, and she turns away from it all. This is what makes Tom Tyler’s parents undeserving, Niece.”

“It is a terrible shame. Poor Tom,” Elizabeth said.

“Poor Tom, indeed,” Georgiana said thoughtfully as she looked out of the window of the carriage at the passing scenery. My brother would know how to help Tom Tyler. I must speak with him about it as soon as he returns.

The family enjoyed a treat after dinner. Encouraged by Miss Bingley, who had been listening with delight to Mary’s lesson all afternoon, Mary performed for them on the piano. It was not Mozart, nor was it a complicated piece. The tune she played was for one of intermediate skill, but Mary played it beautifully, the music rising and falling with feeling and emotion.

Jane and Elizabeth were weeping when Mary finished the piece, not due to the beauty of the playing, but in happiness for their sister, who was glowing with joy as she played. When she had finished, everyone was on their feet clapping and congratulating her. Her betrothed smiled and congratulated her as well, but his smile did not reach his eyes; Mary did not notice.