Chapter 6 #2
He frowned. “Then there was a fire at our Sussex estate when Lady Mortlake and I were in London. Burned it to the ground. It had been such a hot, fast fire, many died, including my father. I couldn’t face rebuilding the manor immediately, so we came here.
It was the original property granted by the king in the 1600s.
I decided, as the new earl, it was time that I came to honor this property while I decided what to do about Sussex. ”
Sir James nodded. “And that is when you met your daughters.”
“Frankly, that wasn’t a consideration. The two girls would have been grown by then, around nineteen years old. As far as I knew, they could have been married or had positions somewhere. So we came here. And I quickly discovered my girls were living here.”
Cecilia’s attention perked at hearing him call his daughters “my girls.”
“They had stayed longer at the finishing school upon graduation to take on teacher positions there for a year. But by the time we came to Mertonhaugh, they’d decided they wanted to go out on their own, so they’d returned home to the Jones as they were searching for positions.”
“Would you have come here if you’d known they were here?” Cecilia asked, sliding a glance in Lady Mortlake’s direction.
“I’d like to think so. I was delighted to meet them. Both of us were,” he said, turning toward his wife.
She nodded.
“They were beautiful young ladies, and in my eagerness to get to know them, I confessed to them that I am their father. They had not known they were not the vicar’s natural children, and they did not take the news well. They became angry with their mother for not letting them know the truth.”
“Why should she have?” asked Sir James.
“Precisely,” declared Lady Mortlake. It was the first thing she’d said since the discussion began. “It was obvious to all that Mr. Jones loved them. He always felt as if they were his own daughters.”
“They’d seen evidence at the school of how the girls, who were known to be illegitimate children, were treated,” Mortlake continued.
“And they were horrified that they fell into that same category. And from what I understand, they might have been guilty of teasing some of those girls in a way that was not Christian,” he finished slowly.
“Ah,” said Cecilia. “Their own guilt fueled their anger at their mother.”
“So we believe,” said Lady Mortlake. “They made the rash decision that they were going to find positions far away and never return. Miranda was quite distraught. I told her Mortlake would help them find positions, and that way, we could ensure they were safe. She was relieved.”
“And I did,” said Mortlake. “Faith is a governess for the Duke of Monteith in Devon.”
“Monteith!” Cecilia exclaimed while Sir James laughed.
“By your surprise, am I to assume you know him?” Mortlake asked, looking from one to the other.
Now Cecilia laughed. “I have not yet had the opportunity to meet him; however, it is only a matter of time.”
Sir James looked at Mortlake. “Monteith is my cousin. I purchased Summerworth Park from him.”
“Ah!” said Mortlake. “He was here at the time, looking over the property and what repairs needed to be done before it was sold. We invited him to dinner, and that is when we learned he was looking for a governess for his daughter, Chelsea.”
“I recommended Faith Jones, as I knew she wanted to be a governess,” said Lady Mortlake.
Cecilia nodded. “Well done.”
“Forgive my curiosity, how did you come to own Summerworth?” the earl asked Sir James.
“He wrote me telling me of his plans to sell Summerworth. I asked him to sell it to me before he tried to sell it out of the family. I could also give him a better price, and I did not need to have repairs made. That would have drained his pocketbook even more.”
“What of the other Miss Jones?” Cecilia asked. “Hope, I think?”
“I heard from some friends that Lady Falsworth was seeking a companion,” Lady Mortlake said.
“Lady Falsworth?” Sir James said. “I wouldn’t have judged her to be of an age to have wanted a companion.”
“From my understanding, she liked to travel and didn’t want to do so by herself.
Hope had one time said to us, quite wistfully, that she would like to travel.
It did not take much to pair her with Lady Falsworth,” Lady Mortlake said with a quiet laugh.
“They’ve been gone quite a bit, not into Europe, but traveling around Scotland and England, for Lady Falsworth is quite a history fanatic, particularly about anything from the Roman invasion. ”
“Lady Falsworth intends to write a book of her travels and observations. My daughter has also become her amanuensis,” said Mortlake.
“It sounds like you have paid attention to the activities of your daughters,” Sir James observed.
“Yes, I have. As we assisted them in securing positions, I wanted to make sure that they would at least have good lives. I would be happier if they could each meet some young man and marry. However, that is not for me to guide them. They must make their own way,” said Mortlake.
His wife nodded. “Unfortunately, as all this became known, many people lost respect for Mrs. Jones, which quite distressed me. She was a woman worthy of respect. I quite liked her. She treated everybody well. She tended the ill and the indigent, making care packages and medicines and the like. She was quite dutiful in her rounds as a vicar’s wife. Like she was made for that role!”
“I always thought so,” said Cecilia.
“As she was also a talented herbalist, it is said Georgia Inglewood went to her to get rid of the baby she carried. I don’t know if anybody knew who the father was, but evidently, it was somebody that the Inglewoods would not have been happy to accept as their son-in-law. Mrs. Jones refused.”
“So we have heard.”
“They had quite a row. It was heard by several in the village. It is said that Miss Inglewood was heard throwing crockery at Mrs. Jones. Three days later, when Georgia died, it was the gossips that said Mrs. Jones played a role in her death.”
“Gossip is the lifeblood of Mertonhaugh,” drawled Cecilia darkly.
“Didn’t they declare her death to be due to iliac passion?” Sir James asked.
Lord Mortlake nodded. “Yes, that is what they recorded. However, it was a closed inquest. Not many people were there, and particularly, the doctor was not there. It has been rumored since that Miss Inglewood might have actually committed suicide.”
“Well,” Lady Mortlake fairly tittered, “that was something that Inglewood would not want to get out at all, because that would mean his daughter would be buried unshriven and not be in the church’s consecrated graveyard.”
It is obvious that Lady Mortlake does not like Squire Inglewood, Cecilia mused.
“But more are of the mind that Mrs. Jones relented and gave her a potion to rid her of the baby. An abortifacient that did not work, but instead caused her death,” Mortlake added.
“I see,” said Cecilia. “Do you feel that Mrs. Jones would have done that?”
“Absolutely not,” stated Mortlake. “Clementina, what are your thoughts?”
“No, I do not believe so, either. She was a very good woman. I’d become quite fond of her in the time since we’ve been here.”
“Father,” began Viscount Kendell, pushing open the drawing room doors. “Oh, beg your pardon, I didn’t realize you were entertaining,” he said, turning to leave.
“Don’t go. Please come in and join us,” Mortlake called out to his son. “You might be able to assist us. Do you know anyone who might have wanted to kill Mrs. Jones?”
“Probably anyone who thought she’d procured pennyroyal for Miss Inglewood.”
“What do you mean?”
“From my understanding, it’s an herb women use to get rid of unwanted pregnancies.”
“Good gracious, how did you come to know such things to even talk about it?” his mother asked.
He laughed. “I’m not a little boy any longer, Mother; such things are well known in my circle of friends.”
“That’s disgusting,” his mother protested.
“Do not be na?ve, Mother. You know Father got Mrs. Jones enceinte when he was at university.”
“Yes, but he did not encourage her to rid her body of the babes. I wasn’t aware you knew.”
Her son laughed. “Father told me a long time ago. And if he hadn’t, I would have heard it from many others in town; it isn’t exactly a secret, particularly since you and father moved here after the fire to our house in Sussex while I was at university.
I’ve always regretted being away at school and not being able to meet my sisters before they took positions elsewhere.
It would have been nice to get to know them after growing up as an only child. ”
“I agree,” said the Earl. “Unfortunately, they were quite angry to learn that the Vicar was not their father and felt their mother betrayed them by not telling them. They left the area due to that anger and I don’t believe they have been reconciled.”
“The vicar said he doesn’t know how to communicate with them to tell them of their mother’s death,” Sir James said.
“I do,” said the Earl. “I have already undertaken to inform them. Hope is not far away, as Lady Falsworth is currently in London; however, Faith is farther away, in Devon.”
“Father, what if I take a letter to Faith? I can get there faster than by post.”
“I don’t think that is the best way for you to meet,” the earl said dryly.
“But—”
“Captain Horsley is in port at Folkestone with the yacht. I contacted him this morning. He might well be away by now, depending on the tides. I am sending him to make a personal delivery. Traveling by water will be quicker than going by horse. He can bring her back the same way, should she wish to come.”
“What about Miss Hope Jones?”
“I have sent Jimmy Puller with a letter and our traveling chaise to fetch her, if she chooses to come.”
“You keep saying: if she chooses,” Sir James observed. “Why wouldn’t they come at word of their mother’s death?”
“They were unhappy that they did not know they were not the vicar’s daughters, and I admit I rather crassly announced it when I met them in town.
They had had no idea, and I bumbled into that lack of knowledge.
They had been looking for positions for some time, but not aggressively.
When they learned the truth and the gossips in the village had it on the tips of their tongues, they decided they must leave. ”
“Why have their locations been secret?”
“It is what they wanted. I don’t know why. It has been three years since they left. Hopefully, they will have forgiven their mother in some way.”
“I hope so,” Cecilia said softly.
“If you don’t mind, I should like to change the subject of our conversation to something perhaps less melancholy,” Sir James said.
“I welcome it,” said Mortlake.
“Tell me about your brewery. I’ve noted that your brewmaster is young for that position.”
“Haydon Vernon?” Mortlake laughed. “Don’t let his youth fool you.
He has been involved in beer brewing since he could walk!
His father was our former brewmaster and well-known among brewers for his talent.
Many tried to hire him away from me, but he wouldn’t go as his family was from the area.
Haydon learned from him, and now he is being courted just as his father was.
We have been so successful with Haydon as the brewmaster that I am looking to expand the brewery.
I’ve hired the architect who designed the Raleigh Brewery to do designs for us. ”
“Your plans might dovetail well with my plans,” said Sir James. “I am planning to build an oast house.”
Mortlake laughed. “Competition for mine?”
“I’d like to consider mine as complementing yours. I do not want to see a repeat of last year with our cool summer when harvests quickly became musty if they could not be processed quickly.”
Mortlake frowned and reluctantly nodded.
“That was a bad time. My apologies if you lost much. And I can see that with my expanded brewery, I shall need more dried barley and hops. I suppose I must welcome your oast house—until I can see my way clear to expanding that facility as well,” he said with a side smirk.
“Excuse me, my lord,” said the Mortlake butler from the doorway. “Dinner is served.”
“Excellent!” Mortlake said. He rose from his seat and motioned the others to follow him to the dining room.