Chapter Eight #2
Lady Farrah sent him a sceptical look. ‘Papa came here when he was in the country alone?’ she asked, turning her attention back to her aunt.
‘And when the rest of you were here. He went about his daily business and my sister never asked where he had been.’ Lady Bartholomew smiled.
‘He spoke of you and your sister constantly and was immensely proud of you both.’ She paused.
‘Especially so in your case. He said you could be depended upon to keep a level head in a crisis.’
‘Really?’ Lady Farrah quirked a brow but refrained from making any further comment, causing Reuben to suppose that she had received little or no affection from either parent.
‘The fact of the matter, Lady Bartholomew,’ Reuben said, ‘is that Dalton left London immediately after Lady Sophia’s presentation, telling his family that he was needed at Dalton House.’
‘We were not due to come down for another six weeks,’ Lady Farrah added, taking up the story, ‘but … Well, it became necessary to leave sooner than expected.’ She allowed herself the suggestion of a smile. ‘Sophia was not best pleased.’
‘I see.’
Reuben expected that she very likely did. ‘Have you seen Dalton these past few months?’ he asked. ‘We came in the hope that you would be able to shed some light on his whereabouts. As you can imagine, his disappearance is causing the family considerable distress.’
‘To say nothing of inconvenience,’ Lady Farrah added, lacing her fingers together in her lap and biting her lower lip, as though to prevent herself from speaking her mind.
‘He did come here very briefly about three months ago,’ Lady Bartholomew conceded.
‘I beg your pardon?’ Lady Farrah sat forward, bestowing her full attention upon her aunt. ‘No, that cannot be right. Perhaps my uncle’s illness has addled your memory. It would be surprising if it had not. Anyway, Papa has not been seen at the house, so how …’
Farrah looked very distressed, and it required all of Reuben’s willpower not to pull her into his arms and comfort her in the manner that sprang spontaneously to his mind.
Ye gods, what was the matter with him? He really ought not to have involved himself in her affairs, he belatedly realised, but he was in too deep now to withdraw.
Besides, he had a burning desire to know what the devil Dalton thought he was playing at by increasing his tenants’ rents so sharply and risking anarchy.
Lady Bartholomew smiled at her niece. ‘I wrote to him, advising him to come down and see his friend whilst my dearest husband was still able to recognise him. He stayed with us for two nights and then took himself off.’
‘Where to?’ Lady Farrah and Reuben asked simultaneously.
‘Presumably you are happy for me to discuss your family’s business in front of the duke, my dear.’
‘I would not be here and would not have had the pleasure of meeting you at last if it were not for his grace, so please…’ She spread her hands.
‘There seems little point in attempting to save face in front of either of you.’ She turned to look directly at her aunt.
‘I am sure you are aware that the estate is appallingly run down, in which case it will not have been difficult for you to deduce that we were obliged to leave London for reasons of financial expediency.’
‘Your father told me about the estate himself. Not that he needed to. The evidence is there for all to see, even from a distance when driving by. He and my husband had business interests in common, and so there was little about Dalton’s affairs that they did not discuss, sometimes in front of me.’
Lady Farrah allowed her gaze to roam around the sumptuous room. ‘Clearly not equal business interests,’ she said, an edge to her voice.
‘That I could not say – and before you ask, I have absolutely no idea what it is that they involved themselves in. They neither of them discussed the particulars in my hearing, and my husband would not have told me even if I had asked. All I do know from the odd remark that Mark let slip is that your father became over-ambitious. Mark is a firm believer in not putting all of one’s eggs into one basket. ’
‘You believe that an investment turned sour?’ Reuben said.
‘It seems like the most plausible explanation.’
‘Do you know where he went?’ Lady Farrah asked. ‘And why he did not at the very least check on matters at Dalton House before he took himself off?’
‘As to the latter, he maintained there was too much to do and that time was of the essence insofar as his investments were concerned. He confidently expected to be in residence on his estate before you and your mother came down, and you would have remained ignorant of his absence.’
Lady Farrah shook her head. ‘Very likely Mama would have. In fact, we have been here for two days, and she has not once remarked upon the state of the place or the lack of servants. But then Mama is very good at turning a blind eye to anything that displeases her. Other than my conduct,’ Lady Farrah added sotto vote.
‘Papa knows I would have seen the neglect and asked about it if he was not here in advance to cover the worst of it up. That is why I am so worried. I did not notice anything untoward when I was here last year, so the decline must have been sudden. Very sudden. Six weeks is hardly long enough for Papa to return and effect change, which makes me think that something terrible must have prevented him from coming back.’
‘Don’t entertain such gloomy thoughts, my dear. I am sure there is a reasonable explanation. He will turn up right as rain, hopefully with full pockets, and things will return to normal at Dalton House.’
‘Hardly that. He has fences to mend both literally and metaphorically, since he has doubled the tenants’ rents and they are rightly outraged.’
‘He has what?’ Lady Bartholomew shook her head. ‘No, that cannot be right. Someone has misinformed you, my dear. His tenants and their families before them have been on the estate for years and he has always treated them fairly.’
‘There’s no mistake, Aunt. They told me themselves. I quizzed Papa’s steward on the matter, and he confirmed it.’
‘Oh dear! Well then, let us hope your father soon returns and can put the matter right. I am absolutely sure that he will show up, and soon. I am sure too that his steward must have taken matters into his own hands – which isn’t to be wondered at, given that he has so much leeway.
Mark advised your papa to spend more time down here, looking after matters himself.
Regardless of the amount of time servants have been in one’s employ, it stands to reason that they will succumb to temptation if they are given a free rein for too long. ’
Lady Farrah nodded. ‘That is what I think too. I am absolutely convinced that Freeman is helping himself from the estate’s coffers.
I am very worried, Aunt, I cannot deny it,’ she added, her brow creasing to reflect her concern.
‘Very worried indeed.’ She stared down at her hands.
‘I cannot persuade myself that Papa’s business, no matter how urgent, could have kept him away for so long.
’ Her gaze swivelled between them, her eyes wide with concern.
‘For that reason, I am becoming increasingly convinced that he must have met with an accident.’ She paused. ‘A fatal one.’
‘Don’t distress yourself with such gloomy thoughts.’ Lady Bartholomew shared a worried look with Reuben. ‘If that were the case then he would have been identified, and word would have reached you.’
‘Bodies can lie unclaimed indefinitely if they have been robbed of identifying possessions.’
‘Possibly, but not those of gentlemen.’
‘Gentlemen stripped of clothing and valuables quickly become ordinary men.’
‘Wherever he has gone, someone would know who he is, and the alarm would have been raised.’ Lady Bartholomew spoke with reassuring certainty. ‘I am absolutely sure that you are worrying unnecessarily. Even so, we must do all we can to find your father and put your mind at rest.’
‘You must do nothing, Aunt. I am delighted to have met you, and I appreciate your spending any time at all with me, given the sad circumstances. However, your place is at your husband’s side.’ She stood up, obliging Reuben to do the same. ‘We have already kept you away from him for far too long.’
‘I have never looked at my husband’s business papers,’ Lady Bartholomew replied.
‘He has a secretary to take care of all that, but I will ask him which investments your papa joined forces with him on. I do recall though that there was some talk of Liverpool a couple of years back. They were both quite excited at the prospect.’ She closed her eyes as she searched her memory.
‘Come to think of it, they both spent a week or so in that city and came back exhilarated, and so perhaps that is where he can be found.’
‘It’s a starting point,’ Reuben said diplomatically, knowing just how large and sprawling Liverpool actually was.
‘I can hardly go to Liverpool in search of Papa.’ Lady Farrah tapped her foot impatiently, her exasperated expression mirroring Reuben’s thoughts on the matter. ‘Have some sense!’
Lady Bartholomew chuckled, presumably because her niece had just taken a duke to task, and none too politely at that.
‘Leave it with me, my dear. I shall not forget our conversation and will find out more as soon as I can.’
‘Aunt, no!’
‘Yes.’ She enveloped Lady Farrah in another hug. ‘I have waited too long for this moment, and the timing as it transpires could not have been better. It gives me something to think about, something other than …’ She glanced towards the ceiling and her words trailed off.
‘Well then.’ Lady Farrah emerged from her aunt’s grasp.
‘I don’t wish to encourage rebellion in you ?’
‘It’s a little late for that,’ Lady Farrah said, chuckling.
‘What I mean to say is, please write to me. I will not reply to Dalton House. Your mother will recognise my hand, and I don’t want to create difficulties …’
‘Send your letters to me, madam,’ Reuben said. ‘I will be happy to pass them on.’
Lady Bartholomew subjected his person to a prolonged scrutiny. ‘I have no doubt that you will be,’ she said as she rang the bell.
Her butler appeared to conduct them to the door. Aunt and niece embraced for a final time and seemed reluctant to let one another go. When they eventually did so, Reuben assisted Lady Farrah into his carriage, whipped his team up and drove off down the gravel driveway at a brisk trot.