Chapter Twenty-Five
“You mean, I get nothing back? Nothing at all?” The Earl of Doncaster’s normally protuberant eyes started from their sockets to an even greater degree, and beads of sweat appeared on his brow.
“Yes, my lord. I’m sorry. I’ve had protracted discussions with Lloyds, but it is very clear that Harris, no doubt acting for the best, did not take out insurance beginning with the actual date of leaving Jamaica.
The paperwork he forwarded to Lloyds gives a date a month later.
This is customary practice, apparently, aimed, of course, at reducing the cost of insurance. ”
“But, goddam it, the paperwork shows he intended for the ship and cargo to be insured.”
“That is so, sir, but unfortunately not for the time when the vessel went down.”
“Can’t they stretch a point?”
“I’m afraid insurance companies are not in the habit of stretching a point.”
“So I’m stuck with having to pay back the loan, plus interest?”
“That was the agreement, my lord. I’m sure you remember signing the contract in this very office. The total including interest is ￡31,500. But you’ll be glad to know you aren’t responsible for the Bushnell loan because I, er, well, I put in a clause about loss through Act of God.”
The Earl shifted uncomfortably in his chair and glowered at his man of business, who, as usual, looked rosy and cheerful.
“I don’t know about Act of God, but old Bushnell knew what he was getting into.
That’s his affair, not mine. And tell me what you’ve got to be so happy about, Parsons!
You know what a state I’m in. For God’s sake, that’s why I borrowed the blunt in the first place.
You should have stopped me. That’s what I pay you for. ”
Mr. Parsons didn’t bother to point out that, in fact, his client hadn’t paid him for the last two years, and he had done his best to dissuade him from a venture he had considered foolhardy from the start.
“I’m afraid, my lord,” he said, “you will have to seriously retrench. It will mean selling your unentailed property and the London house, and reducing your stable. We may also have to let out Doncaster Park House. Even then, we will not be able to raise enough capital to repay the whole debt.”
“What!” The Earl had been leaning back in his chair with the front legs off the floor, but now he crashed down. “What? Sell my property? My horses? Rent out my home? Never!”
“But, my lord, I don’t see what else you can do. There is some family jewelry and plate, I believe, but it will not raise anything like the sum you need.”
The Earl didn’t like to admit he’d sold the plate some years previously, to pay a gambling debt, and he wasn’t about to ask his wife to disgorge the jewels. He fastened onto something else.
“How much has Andrew got? He never spends a penny, far as I can see, so he must have a tidy pile.”
For once, the rosy cheeks of his man of business blanched.
“My lord, you cannot mean it! Your brother’s portion belongs to him. You have no right to touch it. Indeed, I absolutely refuse to do so without his express and written permission.”
“Then get it! You know where he is, don’t you?”
“Mr. Andrew did favor me with a letter a few weeks ago. If he has not moved, I can find him.”
“Then do so, and quickly. He’s always going on about the land. Now’s the time for him to save it.”
“He has nothing like the sum you owe, my lord. You will still have to retrench as I described.”
“Let’s talk about that once we know how much he gives me.”
The Earl of Doncaster rose to his feet. “I blame you for this, Parsons,” he said. “If you hadn’t always been so damned conservative about everything I proposed, I wouldn’t have needed to get into the shipping business. I’m a farmer, goddam it, what do I know about the sea?”
Mr. Parsons forbore to mention that the shipping business was just the last in a series of disastrous investments the Earl had made, precisely because he was only a farmer and not a good one, at that.
He was an easy prey to those promoting gold mines or fake government bonds in South America, in fact, anything promising a quick return.
He was profligate and extravagant, and had never been able to live on the income produced by the property he was now so keen to protect.