Chapter Fifteen
Bane
The first order of business was to call on the landlord to see if Bane could rent the currently empty rooms on the next floor down.
The Pentworths needed a place to stay, for they had been more or less driven out of Sheffield.
Colin had done all too successful a job of running down his brothers.
So much so that, when Silas Pentworth spoke up on their behalf, he was accused of being a cheat and a liar, and his landlord asked him and his wife to leave their rented accommodation.
After some people broke into the Pentworths’ workshop and wrecked the prototype, they decided that they had better get out of town.
“We couldn’t think of anywhere else to go,” Anne Pentworth said, with the calmness of exhaustion.
“Why would your own brother hate you so much that he destroys us to hurt you, Mr. Sanderson?”
Bane shook his head. “I have given up trying to understand it, Mrs. Pentworth. I am so sorry you have been caught up in our family’s troubles.”
He left Drake to make the Pentworths a cup of tea—much needed, Mrs. Pentworth said—and hurried downstairs to see the landlord. Accommodation arranged, he sent the boy who was usually loitering on the corner to the nearest Ordinary to buy dinner for four and returned upstairs.
Mrs. Pentworth greeted his news of a safe haven and of dinner on the way by bursting into tears, and then apologized from the haven of her husband’s arms. “I am not usually prone to crying, Mr. Sanderson and Mr. Sanderson. It has been a trying time.”
“Call us Drake and Bane,” Drake suggested. “With two Mr. Sandersons, it becomes awkward. Do not fret, Mrs. Pentworth. You have a place to stay, and we shall find you somewhere to work. I suppose you will be able to reproduce the prototype?”
“No need,” said Pentworth. “If you are still willing to fund us, we can go straight to producing the full machines. We have all the designs and calculations. Anne carried them in pockets sewn into her skirts in case we were robbed, but fortunately we had no trouble on the way here.”
“Mrs. Pentworth,” said Bane, “you are a marvel.”
“Call me Anne,” said that lady, with a watery smile. “And this is Silas.”
The brothers saw the couple fed and settled into their new apartment.
“We need a council of war, Drake,” Bane told his brother. “Bad enough when Colin attacks us, but when that information is used to hurt the Pentworths and our ladies? It is intolerable.”
“You’re right,” Drake agreed. “How can we stop him?”
“Sue him for slander, like Phillip suggested. And investigate him. Heaven knows, we can probably find out plenty we can use to shut his mouth.”
Drake frowned as he thought about that. “If we’re going to hire an investigator, perhaps we should get him to look into Curston and Marple, too. I know Wintergreen has done so, but we might need the information to protect our own backs.”
It was a good point. Bane nodded. “I wonder if Drew Winderfield knows of any investigators? Or one of the other members of the investment group? Fullerton might be able to tell us how to go about filing a suit against Colin for slander.”
“Possibly libel, too, if we could get hold of his letters to Marple,” Drake agreed.
“Unlikely. We can hardly ask his sisters to search his correspondence,” Bane objected. Though perhaps their cousins could ask the Marple sisters. Bane rejected the thought. He did not want his Livy involved in what could prove to be an unpleasant business.
“We’ll also have to look for a workshop where the Pentworths can build their hydraulic presses,” he said. “Again, the investment group might be able to help. We’ll have to ask.”
“How much room do they need?” Drake asked.
“I’ve been thinking we should buy a property of our own here in London.
We’re closer to the action here. We’re hearing about things sooner, and more of them, so we’re making more money.
If we purchased our own house in an area where the prices are going up, it would take a chunk of our capital, but it would be a good investment.
And it would have room for the Pentworths and perhaps outbuildings they could use for their work. ”
“It is a reasonable thought,” Bane agreed.
“Let us find out what our ladies think about it. They might have an opinion about where they would prefer to live. Meanwhile, I’ve taken the rooms downstairs for a month.
The Pentworths can make themselves comfortable.
Tomorrow, I’ll get them to give me a list of what they need in a workplace. ”
“We cannot do much more tonight,” Drake commented. “Let’s make an early night of it. We have an investors’ meeting tomorrow, and we’ll be able to make some progress there. I hope.”
Depending on how far Colin’s bile has spread. Bane kept his concerns to himself. If Drake hadn’t had the same thought, then let him wait until tomorrow to worry about it. But what were the chances that none of the investors in the group had heard the lies about him and Drake?
*
Cilla
To Cilla, it was obvious that the scene at the park was the main topic of conversation of the evening, for people kept staring at her and Livy, and falling silent when the Wintergreens approached near enough to hear what was being said.
Livy and Papa showed no signs of discomfort. Aunt Ginny slightly redeemed herself in Cilla’s eyes by a full assault on the judgmental—bustling up to those who looked most censorious to introduce, “My dear brother Wintergreen and his daughters, Miss Wintergreen and Miss Lucilla Wintergreen.”
Papa had promised that no one would dare to give them the cut direct, and he was right. But no one lingered to speak with them, either, until a young lady and her husband approached to seek an introduction.
Aunt Ginny greeted them with delight. “Lord and Lady Wharton! How pleasant to see you here! May I make known to you my nieces and their father? Miss Wintergreen, Miss Lucilla Wintergreen, and my brother, Wintergreen. And you remember my daughters, of course. Miss Marple, Miss Ruby Marple, and Miss Beryl Marple. Horace, girls, Lord and Lady Wharton are neighbors of ours.”
Lord Wharton bowed over their hands, and when he reached Livy, he and his wife had somehow managed to form a group with just Cilla and Livy, while Aunt Ginny and the cousins fell into conversation with another of Aunt Ginny’s friends and her daughters.
Papa was a few steps away, watching benignly.
The young lord commented, “I see what my friend Bane meant about you, Miss Wintergreen. He described you as a goddess.” He tossed a laughing glance at his wife, and added, “I am, of course, a worshipper at a different altar, but I understand his point.”
He moved on to greet Cilla. “My friend Drake talked about you, too, Miss Lucilla.”
“I imagine he did not describe me as a goddess,” said Cilla.
“As a dainty maiden made of gossamer and iron,” Lord Wharton replied.
Oh my. Gossamer and iron. Cilla was going to have to ask Drake precisely what he meant, but she liked the sound of it.
“Wharton, you are embarrassing our new friends,” Lady Wharton scolded.
“Miss Wintergreen, Miss Lucilla, do not listen to Wharton. Drake and Bane said only complimentary things about you, of course. Indeed, I was so eager to meet you that when I saw Lady Marple had five young ladies with her, I told Wharton that I needed an introduction, and I needed one now!”
She smiled as Lord and Lady Thornstead joined the group. “Jenna, may I present my new friends?”
“I am ahead of you, Pauline,” Lady Thornstead said. “I had the pleasure of meeting Miss Wintergreen and Miss Lucilla yesterday evening. And, also, their sponsor and her daughters, of course.” She looked directly at Papa and smiled. “I have not met you, sir, but I assume you are Mr. Wintergreen?”
“Lady Thornstead, this is my Papa, Mr. Wintergreen,” Cilla said. “Papa, Lord and Lady Thornstead are friends of the Sanderson brothers. The good ones, I mean.” She flushed as she realized that she had just said the other brother was a bad one. But it was true! She would not apologize for it.
“Gossamer and iron,” Lord Wharton commented in a whisper intended just for her, but Lady Wharton rapped him on the arm with her fan.
Was that a clue to what Drake meant? That she looked delicate but was stronger than others might expect?
“You two sisters must come to my ladies’ tea tomorrow,” Lady Wharton said.
“I call it a ‘tea’ so no one knows we are bluestockings. Not that anyone would dare to call us that when Jenna is a member, for she is a future duchess. We talk about books and politics and scientific discoveries and useful good works and all sorts of other interesting things, and no one is allowed to do needlework. From what the ‘good’ Sanderson brothers say,” her eyes laughed as she used Cilla’s term, “it will suit you wonderfully well.”
Cilla and Livy both thanked her, and that was all they had time for. The hostess called for everyone to take their seats, for the first musician was ready to start. But when the music stopped for supper, they had time to secure an address and a start time.
What had started out to be an unpleasant evening had turned into a delightful opportunity.
*
Livy
“Cilla,” Livy said, as the carriage trundled through the streets of London from Pa’s townhouse to Lady Wharton’s, “I think we should tell the ladies we meet this afternoon about Misrule Night, and why we did it.”
Her sister stared at her and then nodded. On their walk with the Sanderson brothers this morning, they had heard about the destruction of the Pentworth’s machine, and what Bane and Drake planned to do to counter their brother and his allies.
“I agree, Livy. Perhaps the ladies will not approve, but we have to try.” Cilla gave the decisive nod Livy knew well. Gentle and sweet as her sister was, she was immovable once she had made up her mind.