Chapter Six #4
She allowed sleep to claim her but was up again with the dawn.
She washed in cold water and dressed without ringing for their overworked maid, taking more care than usual with her toilette.
She intended to confront Mr Freeman, and had never previously felt any need to make an impression upon him.
But things had changed, and Farrah’s task required tact and diplomacy.
Freeman probably still thought of her as the gangly young girl whom he had put up on her first pony.
Farrah needed to create a very different image if she was to glean anything useful from their meeting.
He would, she presumed, underestimate her.
Indeed, she depended upon him so doing. It was the only way that she was likely to discover anything useful about the changes that were taking place on the estate.
With her precious letter safely tucked away in her reticule, Farrah donned a cloche hat that matched her blue cloak and then the cloak itself before leaving her room and setting off at a brisk pace for Freeman’s cottage.
The frost crackled beneath her booted feet, and the crisp morning air burned her lungs as she breathed it in deeply.
A fox scurried from the hedgerow and disappeared across a field.
The sky was clear, and it appeared as though they would finally have a respite from the rain.
She reached Freeman’s cottage, wielded the knocker and this time the door was opened by the man himself.
‘Lady Farrah!’ He blinked, taken completely unawares. ‘This is a pleasant surprise.’
‘Not so surprising, surely? You must have known that we are in residence.’
‘Indeed, and I was never happier to see you again.’ He opened the door wider and ushered her inside.
A wall of warmth hit her as she entered the steward’s sitting room.
‘I intended to call at the house today and pay my respects, but it seems you have anticipated me.’ His smile showed signs of strain when Farrah didn’t feel the need to say anything in reply.
There again, it could have been her imagination playing tricks on her.
‘You always were an early riser, and I can see that situation has not altered.’
Farrah removed her cloak and lowered herself into a chair beside the fire, holding out her hands to the warmth.
Freeman offered her coffee, and when she accepted he excused himself and disappeared into the scullery, presumably to make it himself.
Farrah took the opportunity to examine the room while he was gone, taking in the elegant decoration and decent paintings adorning the walls.
The property of a prosperous gentleman rather than a steward, was her first impression.
Could the additional rent be responsible for the improvement in Freeman’s living conditions, she wondered, still reluctant to think that her old friend could be that disloyal.
‘Here we are.’ Freeman returned to the room, bearing a laden tray. ‘One assumes that Lady Sophia took London by storm,’ he said, watching Farrah closely as she stirred her coffee.
‘Something of that nature.’
‘She was spoiled for choice when it came to offers, I dare say.’
Farrah sipped at her coffee and then put the cup aside. ‘Mr Freeman,’ she said, ‘can you tell me when you last saw my father, please?’
‘Not since you all left here to go up to London, but we correspond regularly, and I keep him fully informed of the situation here.’
‘How regularly?’
‘Whenever the need arises.’ Freeman looked a little disturbed to be so closely questioned, and Farrah reminded herself not to alert him to her suspicions.
‘He trusts me to run the estate in his absence, as well you know.’ He held up a hand when Farrah opened her mouth to make a remark.
‘Oh, I know what you are going to say, which is why I intended to call upon Lady Dalton this morning and explain the situation.’
‘Have the goodness to explain it to me. You know my mother has no head for business. Besides, she is taken up with Sophia’s affairs.
’ She flashed an innocent smile. ‘I shall not understand anything, but I couldn’t help noticing that the estate seemed …
well, a little untidy when we arrived,’ she said, attempting to look clueless.
‘A combination of factors have combined to produce the sorry situation you have stumbled upon.’
‘A situation which presumably Papa knows about.’
‘I assumed you would remain for the entirety of Lady Sophia’s season,’ Freeman said in a quietly defensive tone, ignoring her remark. ‘I had hoped to turn matters around without your becoming any the wiser.’
Farrah failed to see how that would have been possible.
‘Go on,’ she said, her neutral expression giving nothing away about her thoughts, or so she hoped.
‘You have always attended to your duties most diligently. Papa says as much. He has complete faith in your abilities and so I am sure the factors you mentioned are outside of your control.’
‘The harvest was a poor one, but …’ He paused to regard her and something he saw in her expression clearly made him decide upon transparency.
‘Crucially, your father has taken all the profits, to the extent that the farm accounts are in the red and the upkeep of the land is nigh on impossible with the small number of keepers I am able to employ.’ Freeman ran a hand through his hair.
‘I would not mention anything to you but for the fact that you are here. My urgent letters to your father have recently gone unanswered, you see.’
‘Really?’ Farrah did not need to pretend surprise. ‘No letters from you have arrived for him in London.’
‘I was instructed to communicate with his lawyer.’
‘Hmm.’ The insufferable man had not told Farrah of any letters when she had consulted him before leaving London – but then again, he may have been acting on Papa’s orders and deliberately keeping her out of things.
‘Then I should like to see the books myself. I don’t suppose I will understand them, but obviously you are now aware that Papa has taken himself off somewhere and none of us know where to find him.
That being the case, I am reduced to looking for clues as to his whereabouts in the estate books. ’
‘Lady Farrah, I really must protest!’ Freeman threw up his hands. ‘They will not tell you anything, you have my word on it.’
‘Even so, I would like to see them.’ She smiled at him. ‘It will make me feel as though I am doing something about finding him, strange as that might sound. You must realise just how worried I am about Papa, so please indulge me.’
Farrah knew that she didn’t have to plead and could instead insist, but as things stood, she needed to keep Freeman on her side. For as long as he thought of her as a helpless female without two brain cells to rub together, he would indulge her.
Freeman ground his jaw. ‘Very well. I will make arrangements for them to be sent to the house.’
‘Thank you. Please do so today.’ She paused, well aware that he would have learned of her visit to the tenants, so she waited to see if he would raise the matter himself.
When he did not, she struggled to remain patient.
‘If you have not heard from Papa, why have the tenants been priced out of their own homes through rent rises?’ she asked, attempting to emulate Sophia’s ability to frown and at the same time appear helpless.
‘And why have their grazing rights been curtailed?’
‘Your father trusts me to keep the estate profitable, which is an almost impossible assignment given that he removes any profits as soon as they are made. We were going under, Lady Farrah.’ He spread his hands.
‘I had to do something and in fairness, the rents have remained at the same low level for far too long.’
‘It must have been a difficult decision for you to make.’ Farrah forced the concession past the lump in her throat. ‘What of the grazing?’
‘The tenants had spread their livestock onto estate land, beyond the agreed boundaries, and had been doing so for years. I did not object when times were good, but as things stand, we need the best grazing for our own cattle.’
‘That explains things. I knew there would be a good reason.’ Farrah stood and Freeman followed suit, looking relieved that the inquisition had come to an end.
‘In that case, I shall not detain you further and will leave you to your duties. I look forward to receiving the books later today, unless it would be more convenient for me to consult them in the estate office.’
‘I would not hear of it.’ Freeman was all smiles as he helped her back into her cloak, followed her to the door and opened it for her. ‘Good day to you, Lady Farrah.’
‘Good day, Mr Freeman.’
She walked away at a brisk pace without looking back, although she could sense Freeman’s gaze boring into her back until she took a path to the left and there was no longer anything left for him to see.
His explanation had been highly unsatisfactory and threw up more questions than it answered. Even so, if Papa really had been robbing the estate of its working capital, she had some sympathy for Freeman’s situation and felt vindicated for having faith in him.
If … and it was a very big if.