Chapter Twenty-Two
“You’ll pardon me for arriving late, my lord.”
“Think nothing of it, Mr. Scully.”
“I’ve just arrived back from Bidham, and thought you’d like the information fresh, as it were,” the man said. “There’s definitely something going on there, my lord.”
Toby sat in the chair behind his desk, and the private detective he’d hired, Mr. Scully, across from him. The man was large, with a solid body that few would want to take on in a fight, he was sure, and his size came in handy in his occupation.
“What did you uncover, Mr. Scully?”
Toby sat back in his chair as the man spoke. This had been his father’s office, and his before him, and there were touches of them everywhere, but he’d also added his own. Like the enormous world globe he rotated on the corner of his desk when he was thinking.
“They’re a tight-lipped lot, those villagers, but I spent time in the Gill, and spoke to a few of them. Mr. Jasper told me that the village was no longer as it had been. That dark days lay over Bidham, and he feared would for many years to come.”
“But he did not elaborate on what those dark days entailed?”
Mr. Scully shook his head. “Miss Maddon, who takes in sewing, said she feared for the people in her village, and then looked ready to cry. About broke my heart, especially considering she’d given me tea and sugar biscuits.”
“I’ve eaten those biscuits,” Toby said before he could stop himself. Something else he was doing these days. Saying what was actually inside his head. “They’re delicious.”
“That they are,” Mr. Scully said. “When I pressed her, she wouldn’t speak again, so I left.”
“And what of the others you questioned?”
“It was like that with everyone I tried to get information out of. I tell you, my lord, it was as if someone were standing over the village threatening these people if they spoke out of turn.”
No one threatened his people, Toby thought. And yet because you have not cared enough about them, you’ve left them exposed. The thought left a sour taste inside his mouth.
“Did you see anyone suspicious?”
“Four men. All walked away as I approached, but they were watching me, my lord. I’d wanted to chat with the Ackers family after the death of their daughter, but they weren’t in the village, or so I was told.”
He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose a child. Florence had been in his life for such a short time, but she was now part of it… part of him. To lose her would destroy him.
“Thank you, Mr. Scully. I am grateful. If you hear anything further, please let me know. I have given you two more names I wish you to investigate, and the location of the warehouse they were seen delivering barrels to.”
After the man had gone, Toby wrote everything he remembered about what was happening in Bidham. The list was growing.
The clack of nails on the floor outside his door was followed by Barnaby pushing it open the and wandering in, tail wagging.
“Hello, what have you got in your mouth this time?”
Removing the maid’s slipper, he lowered it to his desk and looked at the dog. “Do not steal anymore footwear, Barnaby. Are we clear on that?” The dog sat and held out his paw as if to shake on the deal. Toby didn’t buy it. He’d steal another shoe by midnight.
Leaving his office, Toby went to visit Florence with the dog, and read her yet another story.
“That was a big yawn,” he said after he’d finished. She gave him a sleepy smile, and then sitting upright, wrapped her arms around his neck. The shock held him rigid for seconds, and then he settled his arms around her, holding her close.
“Thank you for my hug,” he said into her hair.
“Thank you for being my friend.” She then kissed his cheek and lay back down in her bed.
Emotion nearly choked him as he regained his feet. Bending he kissed her softly, and then pulled up the covers.
“Sleep well, Florence, and thank you for being my friend too.”
He left the nursery smiling and went to his room to change for tonight’s event. His manservant was there, waiting for him.
Tonight was the Talbot ball, where he would see Liberty, as it was her family hosting the event. The smile fell from his lips. He’d kissed his childhood friend, and now wished vehemently he hadn’t, because he couldn’t stop thinking about it or her.
“If you could raise your chin, my lord.”
He did as his manservant, Joseph, ordered, and the man tied his neckcloth.
He’d been with Toby for many years, and he realized he knew very little about him.
Which says what about you? Your own misery and demons have solely preoccupied you to the point of ignoring everything and everyone else in your life.
Toby knew members of society rarely interacted with their staff unless it was in the usual course of things. Bring tea please, or no, the black jacket. Thank you. But he wondered then about his staff. Were they happy? For some reason, that bothered him right then.
“Have you ever been in love, Joseph?” He wasn’t sure why those particular words had been the ones to come out of his mouth, or who was more shocked by them.
Toby for saying them, or his manservant for hearing them.
But he rallied. The man wasn’t someone to fall about the place in shock, like Agatha, one of Anthony’s aunts.
The woman was forever shrieking if she saw a mouse or spider.
Toby had rescued her a few times himself by removing a threatening insect.
The man hesitated. “Speak freely, Joseph.”
“Well, my lord, I am to marry Miss Pratt.”
Toby’s eyes shot to him. Of the same height as him, he was a military man, with shoulders that were always straight, and shoes polished to a shine.
He was far neater than Toby, a fact Joseph bemoaned as he was responsible for how his master looked.
The problem was, Toby disliked neckties, waistcoats, and suit jackets.
He was most comfortable in shirtsleeves and usually wandered about his town house dressed that way. This did not please his manservant.
“Miss Pratt, my maid?” He brought her to mind. Short, with a shy smile, but that was all he came up with.
“Yes, my lord.”
“How is it I did not know that my manservant is marrying my maid? Further to that is how did I not know you and she were… close,” he added when nothing else came to mind.
“Chadders likes to keep belowstairs things there, my lord, so as not to interfere in your life.”
Because I am a selfish bastard. It was a night for revelations of a personal nature it seemed.
“I’m happy for you both,” Toby said. “When is the wedding?” Did he have married quarters here in his townhouse?
“Two months, my lord.”
“And you will live here?”
“We will.”
“Excellent.” He would have a word with Chadders about the forthcoming nuptials.
There was never anything more confronting than realizing you were a spoiled man who had lived his life upstairs, while those below just got on with it, and seeing to his every need. Especially as they’d all been so accepting of Florence and Barnaby.
“Joseph.”
“Yes, my lord.” He was picking up the waistcoat he’d draped over a chair.
“Is all well belowstairs?”
“Well, my lord?” He held it out.
“Happy. Are my staff happy and well?”
“Chadders had gout in his foot last week, so putting on his shoe wasn’t easy,” Joseph said as if they talked like this all the time, which they most definitely did not. Their conversations were usually brief and on the color of his waistcoat.
He’d kept himself distant for too long before Florence arrived and ignored things he should not have. That was about to change.
“But Mrs. Snow the housekeeper is excellent at healing, and he’s feeling better,” Joseph added.
Toby tried to remember if he’d seen his butler hobbling and couldn’t.
“Of course, Jane has gone now.”
Toby looked at Joseph. Saw the worry in his eyes.
“Jane being?”
“She worked in the kitchens, my lord. Mrs. Luke, your housekeeper, dismissed her.”
He may be oblivious to a lot of what went on around him, but he knew when something was off. Joseph was not happy about Jane’s dismissal.
“And why does this bother you so much?” Toby said, sliding his arms into the black evening jacket.
“Because she didn’t steal from the staff, like Mrs. Luke said she did. Now Stephen is threatening to leave.”
And this is why he didn’t involve himself in the running of his household. It was complex and had many moving parts.
“And why is Stephen upset that Jane has been dismissed?”
“Because he’s her brother.”
“I have a brother and sister working on my staff?” His manservant nodded solemnly.
“Why did Mrs. Luke say that Jane stole if she didn’t?”
Joseph’s lips drew into a line.
“We’ve come this far. Tell me the rest,” Toby said, bending to pull on his highly polished evening shoes.
“It’s a delicate matter, my lord, and I have no wish to cause more trouble.”
“What you tell me will stay between us,” Toby said, wishing he’d never asked. Being a self-obsessed individual had its benefits, he reminded himself.
“Mrs. Luke said that Barnaby was a hairy beast, and something should be done about him, and that Miss Florence is causing a great deal of work. Jane told her that wasn’t true, and it was wrong of Mrs. Luke to speak that way.”
Toby only just refrained from pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Do the staff have a problem with my ward and her dog?”
“Not all, we love them,” Joseph said, and Toby knew the words were genuine.
“Does the staff want Jane back?”
“Yes, my lord, she’s a lovely girl.”
“And what of Mrs. Luke?” Joseph looked down at his feet, which he never did. He always made eye contact. “Joseph?”
“She likes things her way. If you cross her, then life can be very difficult.”
“I understand that the dog and child have created more work. Do I need more staff?”
He shook his head slowly. “Mrs. Luke is not good with change.”
“If you were me, what would you do about this?” Toby asked.
“But I’m not you, my lord, if you’ll pardon me for being so forthright.”
“I understand that, but if you were, what would you do?” Toby said patiently.
“I’d reinstate Jane and talk to Mrs. Luke about her ways.”
“Ways?”
“Her manner. She’s too brisk and opinionated.”
“Shouldn’t my butler have something to say on this matter?”
Joseph looked pained.
“Let’s have it,” Toby said, waving his hand. “We’ve gone this far.”
“He’s too soft. It’s Mrs. Luke who really runs everything.”
He hadn’t known that either. Toby thought Chadders was tough when required.
“Please inform Mrs. Luke I wish to speak with her in my office tomorrow morning. Then tell Stephen to have his sister Jane return to work the day after. Now, I am going to a ball, which right now seems a lot less complicated.”
“Thank you, my lord.” Joseph bowed.
“In the future, I would like to be notified of all the goings on. Can I rely on you to ensure that happens, Joseph?”
The man smiled… actually smiled. Toby couldn’t remember the last time he’d seen that expression on his manservant’s face.
“I will, my lord, and thank you.”
“Right then. Good evening, Joseph. I’m sure there is a warm cup of tea and some of that superb vanilla cake in your immediate future. Whereas, I will eat small crab patties and pretend to like the people I am talking with.”
“Surely some of them you like?”
He smiled as his friends slid into his head. Evie too, but there was also now Liberty. “Some, yes.”
Joseph hesitated as he reached the door. “The household staff really do love Miss Florence and Barnaby, my lord. Never fear, that is not the case. They will be as loyal to them as they are to you.”
“Thank you, Joseph.”
Toby always checked on Florence one last time before he left the house, and Barnaby opened an eye as he entered the room. He slept beside her on the bed, something Miss Haigh did not like, but Toby allowed because, with the trauma this little girl had suffered, he wanted her to feel safe.
Smiling down at the sight of her lying on her side, hands under her chin, Toby felt it again, that fierce surge of emotion that he was coming to define as love. Patting the dog’s head he left, quietly closing the door behind him.
Walking along the halls of his townhouse seconds later, Toby poked about inside his chest and thought that he felt lighter. For so long, he’d carried a heavy weight there. Blackwood had nearly destroyed him.
“But it didn’t,” he muttered. He’d let it define him, and that was a sobering thought.
“Good evening, Chadders.” Toby greeted his butler when he reached the front entrance. “How is the gout this evening?”
He enjoyed the look of surprised pleasure on his butler’s face, and thought again, what a selfish bastard he’d allowed himself to become.
“It is a great deal better, Lord Corbyn. Thank you for asking.”
“Excellent, and now, like I just told Joseph, take your tea and ensure there is a wedge of vanilla cake with it.”
Toby walked out his front door sure that his butler’s jaw had just dropped open, and felt like whistling. He didn’t, but it was there.
A loud meow had him looking down. The biggest gray cat he’d ever seen sat there staring up at him.
“What are you doing here?” Toby asked, dropping to a crouch. He’d always loved animals because they never wanted more than a pat and food from you. But they, too, were something he’d shut out of his life until Barnaby had turned up with Florence. “Are you the neighbor’s cat?”
Did the Waltons have a cat?
The animal had matted fur and was missing half an ear. Toby didn’t think the Waltons, who were first class snobs, would have a cat like this one.
“My lord, is something wrong?”
Looking over his shoulder, he saw his butler standing on the front steps.
“Take this cat to the kitchens and feed it, Chadders.” Toby picked up the animal, and it purred loudly as he handed it to his butler. “I’m sure it will leave as soon as it has eaten,” he placated his servant.
The butler took the cat in stunned silence and retreated inside without another word. Toby looked at the sky and wondered if it was a full moon, as his actions in the last hour were different from those he’d undertaken inside his townhouse in the last ten years.
Reaching his carriage, he nodded to his driver and then looked at the young footman holding open the door.
“Are you Stephen?”
The man nodded. “Yes, my lord.”
“Jane’s brother?”
The young man nodded again.
“Well, she is being reinstated, but I’ll ask you to keep that to yourself until I have spoken with Mrs. Luke,” Toby said, wondering if he were making things worse or better in his household. He hoped for the latter. Would he have to dismiss Mrs. Luke? The thought actually made his head hurt.
Stephen smiled. “Thank you, my lord, and I will say nothing, but Jane will be pleased.”
“You’re welcome.”
Toby got inside his carriage then before he made any more rash decisions that involved his staff and animals, and told himself for the rest of the night he would once again be the cold, formidable Lord Corbyn, and then he thought of Liberty and sighed.