Chapter 28
Alexander heard the raised voices and the aggressive hectoring tone of privileged English gentlemen as he approached the Painted Chamber.
The change of clothes obtained for him fitted almost perfectly.
Where the garments did not quite accommodate his powerful frame, the discrepancy was covered by his coat, which did fit.
Sebastian was already in the Chamber, intent on dragging the debate on as long as possible to delay a vote.
Ambrose would be opposing him vigorously.
Alexander, as the champion of the Bill, would be pivotal in swaying those Peers who were undecided.
He reached the door and opened it. His mind was a mess of conflicting emotions.
What does Ambrose want with Lillian? It is no business of mine except that she is sister to Violet. They are sisters, no matter what Violet maintains. The closeness is obvious.
Alexander’s concern was that Ambrose was using the girl to strike at him. And if so, it would impact his own relationship with Violet.
If Ambrose is using Lillian, then it is me who gave him the opportunity. And Violet cannot fail to see that her sister would not have been exposed to harm but for her own involvement with me. What a tangled mess.
As he waited for the Speaker of the House to acknowledge him, he looked around.
The Chamber was full. The Tory seats were packed and men stood where chairs were not available.
They bayed and waved their order papers at Sebastian, who stood and spoke in a slow, plodding manner, refusing points of order and glancing at the clock at the far end of the room.
Alexander moved to take his seat next to Sebastian, who acknowledged him with a flick of his eyes.
Alexander raised his hand and called out.
“Point of order!”
“I concede the floor to His Grace, the Duke of Lorchester,” Sebastian said, seeming relieved.
Alexander turned to face the Tories. Ambrose stood at their front, face gloating. Alexander tried to recall all the lessons he had studied and received over the course of the last week. He hoped he would be able to make Violet proud.
“My Lords,” he began. “I thank you for your attention. I especially thank the Honorable Peers opposite. It is gratifying indeed that so many of them care so deeply for the plight of the most vulnerable of our society.”
He spoke with clear diction, forming each word using the unfamiliar and alien accent of the English gentry. The Scots in him was brutally suppressed. His voice rang out across the chamber, mellifluous and commanding. Some of the Tories quietened, earning a surprised look from Ambrose.
“I have heard the concerns raised. That this Bill will leave many honest, hard-working businessmen out of pocket. That the economy of our great country will suffer if these children are not able to be coerced into work.”
He paused, eyes roaming the opposition seats. He caught the eye of each gentleman that Sebastian had identified as being floating in their vote, drawing them into his speech. Each one looked away after a moment, looking uncomfortable.
“My question is this…what right do those honest, hard-working businessmen have to their profits from the breath of innocent children. That is what we are discussing. Every child forced to climb a soot-caked chimney breathes in death. Each breath shortens their life. These children could grow into apprentices to work in our mines, our iron works, our shipyards, and our bustling, prosperous ports. When we exploit them in difficult and dangerous work, we deny those parts of our economy a workforce.”
“Point of order!” Ambrose called out.
Alexander conceded with a smile. He could see the growing discomfiture on Ambrose’s face.
He knew that he was facing a very different opponent to the man who had stormed out of the Chamber three weeks earlier.
Alexander was speaking with eloquence and grace.
Men were nodding as they listened to him. Even men sitting among the Tories.
My hair may be long and my beard unfashionably trimmed. But, they are seeing me as a fellow Englishman now. And without their prejudice, they are hearing the argument. Not the accent.
“The fact is that someone must do this work and children are ideally suited. An adult could not enter such a restricted space. Are we to demand that every household in the country undergo expensive rebuilding to widen their chimneys? Or perhaps that sweeping them out should become illegal. We’ve had one Great Fire of London already.
Perhaps our Scotch friend would like to see another? ”
Ambrose got a rousing roar of approval for his words but Alexander noticed a handful of shaking heads. Men who were listening to his argument and then Ambrose’s personal attack. Men who, for all they feared the kind of revolution that Alexander proposed, could not stomach a bully.
“Men are capable of sweeping chimneys,” Alexander said patiently.
“With brushes specially made and worked by a man at the bottom and another at the top. Two men who will cost the households of England more than a single boy. But who is capable of doing a better job? Where would this country be if more of its boys died of consumption or black lung and another Napoleon arises in Europe.”
That had been Violet’s suggestion during a conversation about his argument.
She had wondered aloud how England could field soldiers if its boys were dying in chimneys.
Alexander had not liked the suggestion that boys should be spared the chimney to die as cannon fodder.
But, a murmur went through the Tory ranks at that.
By Heaven, bring up the specter of Napoleon and they begin looking over their shoulders!
“Point of order!” Ambrose said again, his voice taking on a shriller note.
“Denied,” Alexander said, calmly and quietly.
He stared at Ambrose until the other man sat. Then he took hold of the lapel of his coat, putting one foot before the other, his weight on the back foot. Another lesson, the stance of the orator. Head lifted, he began speaking once more, projecting his voice to the back of the room.
“My Lords. We are three decades into this nineteenth century of our Lord. We are the paragon of the world. The Empire that all envy. A civilization, the like of which has never been seen before. Not in the entirety of human history. And across the Atlantic, Americans sneer at us for such backward, barbaric practices as we are discussing. Across the Channel, the French look down upon us. I do not wish to be looked down upon from the height of a French nose!”
He had been raising his voice towards the end, making his points with the force of physical blows.
“I am proud of my country but I could be prouder. This Great Britain could be greater. Even greater. But only if we have the courage to acknowledge our failings and correct them. Americans say that their country is the land of the free. I say that England is the land of the free!”
There were roars of approval from both sides of the chamber now. Ambrose glowered, whispering furiously with his closest allies. Alexander held up a hand for silence. It descended like a fall of fresh snow. Alexander lowered his voice, looking down as though ashamed.
“I say that it should be. Vote with me and let it be so.”
He sat, and the room erupted. The Whigs were on their feet, stamping and clapping. Independent Lords and Bishops who had chosen to sit among the Tories, were also on their feet, clapping with more decorum but nodding their approval. Sebastian rose.
“I move that a vote to take place to approve this Bill as it is and send it back to the Commons to be passed into law.”
“Seconded,” Alexander said.
“The motion has been put forward. Those in favor?” The Speaker called.
A chorus of Ayes was met with a more subdued chorus of Nays.
“Motion is carried. Division!” The Speaker cried out, signaling that a vote would now take place.
Alexander felt drained. Sebastian clapped him on the shoulder, saying something to him that he didn’t hear.
All around him, Lords and Bishops were rising from their seats to walk through the division lobby.
It was a corridor close to the Painted Chamber, open to the sky after the fire but still serving the purpose of voting.
The Peers would walk through one of two corridors according to their vote and they would be counted as they went through.
I wonder if Violet could hear my speech.
Alexander rose, shaking hands with Sebastian who had the gleam of victory in his eyes.
“I would swear you were born and raised in Windsor itself, old boy,” he crowed.
Alexander tried to put thoughts of Violet from his mind. He had more important things to be thinking about. But it was no use. She rose up in his mind and all he cared about was making her proud.
God, help me. I’m under her spell, well and truly.
Ambrose crossed the floor to stand before him.
“Magnificent oratory, Lorchester. Lady Violet has done an excellent job,” he said.
“The cause speaks for itself, Godstone,” Alexander replied, coldly.
“Helps to have the aid of such a beautiful woman though. Inspires, does it not?” Ambrose said with a leering smile.
Alexander hesitated in his reply, eyes narrowing as Ambrose leaned close.
“Take care that in your victory, there are not unexpected consequences for those around you,” Ambrose said before turning and walking away.