Andrew Taylor - The American Boy

"Convey my card to Mr Frant," Noak said, unbuttoning his coat and feeling in an inner pocket. "Stay a moment. I shall write a word on the back."

The butler did not even try to dissuade him. The little man had a natural authority which any schoolmaster would have envied. He found a pencil in his waistcoat and scribbled briefly on the back of the card. The Negro waited, his hat in his hands. The umbrella dripped on the floor. Frederick craned his neck, trying to see what Noak was writing. I edged nearer Mrs Kerridge to get a better view of proceedings. She glanced up at me and rubbed the wart on the side of her chin.

Noak handed the card to Loomis. "I'm obliged to you." He passed his hat to Frederick.

Loomis tapped on the book-room door and went inside. No one spoke in the hall. Noak turned his back towards Frederick and raised his arms, so the footman could help him out of his coat. The Negro was as still as a post, his eyes now fixed on a spot behind Mrs Kerridge's head.

The book-room door reopened, and to my surprise Mr Frant himself emerged, his face illuminated with a smile of welcome. The Negro's head swivelled towards Mr Frant, and the expression on his face had an element of calculation which reminded me of the way farmers at market look when assessing a calf or a mare. At the time it did not strike me as significant – but how could it have done? Only later did I realise what was really happening in the hall of the house in Russell-square.

"My dear sir," Frant said, advancing towards Noak with his hand outstretched. "This is indeed an honour. And I had not expected you so soon, though I left word with my clerk in case we were fortunate. You travelled post from Liverpool, I collect?"

"Yes, sir. We arrived a little after noon."

"But I forget my manners." Frant released Noak's hand and turned towards Mrs Frant, who was now standing in the doorway behind him. "My dear, allow me to present Mr Noak of Boston, in the United States. You have often heard me speak of him – he is acquainted with the Allans and many of our other American friends. And this, sir, is Mrs Frant."

She coloured becomingly and curtsied. "How do you do, sir. You must be exhausted after your long journey."

"And here is my son," Frant continued before Noak could reply. "Come, Charles, make your bow to Mr Noak."

You must allow the gentry this, if nothing else: they know how to close ranks in front of strangers. You would never have guessed from their behaviour that the Frants were not the happiest of families. Mrs Frant smoothed her son's hair and smiled first at her guest and then at her husband. I fancied that the only symptom of her underlying agitation was her breathing: it seemed to me that her bosom rose and fell more rapidly than was natural.

"Charles is about to return to his school," Mr Frant said. "Pray excuse him."

Noak inclined his head. "I should not like to be the cause of interrupting a young man's education."

He glanced briefly and incuriously in my direction; Frant had not considered me worth introducing. Mrs Frant smiled dazzlingly at Mr Noak, took the boy by his shoulders and steered him towards Mrs Kerridge.

"Charlie and Mr Shield will leave now," Mrs Frant murmured. "Make sure they take something to eat with them." She added in a sudden rush, still in a whisper, "But they must leave at once, Kerridge, the hour is already late. We have detained Mr Shield from his duties for too long."

Mrs Kerridge curtsied.

Mrs Frant turned to me. "I confide my son to your charge, sir. I regret we have inconvenienced you."

I bowed, sensing that my own colour was rising. What you must realise is that she was beautiful, and her beauty had the power to invest the simplest words with charm. In her company I was like a man in the desert who stumbles on a pool of clear water fringed with palms. You will understand nothing of what follows unless you understand that.

"How did you come here?" she asked me.

"In a hired chaise, madam. It is outside."

"Tell them to have it brought round to the area door. It – it will be quicker than using the hall door."

Quicker, and more discreet. She hugged her son. Her husband and Mr Noak were chatting about the inconvenience of travelling post, at the mercy of other people's worn-out horses. I stared at the angle between her neck and shoulder and wondered how soft the skin would be, and what it would smell of.

She pushed Charles gently away from her. "Go with Mr Shield, Charlie. And write to me often."

"But Mama-"

"Go, dearest. Go quickly now."

"This way, Master Charles." Mrs Kerridge placed an arm over the boy's thin shoulders and urged him away from the front of the hall. Looking back at me, she added, "If you would be so kind as to come this way, sir."

She smiled at Mr Noak's man, still standing, still watching with grave interest.

"I am Mrs Kerridge, sir."

"Salutation Harmwell, ma'am. At your service."

"Come and dry out in the servants' hall. Perhaps we can offer you a little refreshment while you wait?"

He paused for a moment, as if contemplating the meaning of her question; then he bowed his assent, and for an instant his gravity dissolved into what was almost a smile.

I wondered how well Harmwell spoke English. He was undoubtedly a fine figure of a man, though, in any language. Aye, and Mrs Kerridge thought so too; I could tell that from the way she stumbled on the stairs and clung to his arm and thanked him so prettily for his support. It struck me for the first time that, though by no stretch of the imagination was she a handsome woman, she had a fine, mature figure and a pleasing smile when she chose to use it.

In the basement, the cook emerged and lured young Frant into her kitchen to select the contents of our hamper for the drive back to school. I waited in the shadows by the staircase, ignored and feeling somewhat of a fool. Mrs Kerridge showed Mr Harmwell into the servants' hall. A moment later she returned, demanding a decanter of Madeira and a plate of biscuits. Unaware of my presence, she raised a finger to detain Frederick, who was about to fetch the chaise.

"What did that scrawny little fellow write on his card?" she muttered. "Did you see?"

He glanced from side to side, then spoke in a low voice to match hers. "Can't have been more than two or three words. I could only read one of them. Carswall."

" Mr Carswall?"

Frederick shrugged. "Who else?" He gave a snort of amusement. "Unless it was Miss Flora."

"Don't be pert," Mrs Kerridge said. "Well, well. You'd better fetch that hackney."

As the footman was leaving, I shifted my weight from one foot to another. My boot creaked. Mrs Kerridge looked quickly in my direction, and then away. I kept my face bland. Perhaps she wondered whether I had marked the oddity of it. If Mr Frant had been eagerly awaiting the arrival of Mr Noak, why had not Mr Noak simply sent in his card? And why had the name of Carswall acted as his Open Sesame?

The page came clumping down the stairs with indecorous speed.

"Don't run, Juvenal," snapped Mrs Kerridge. "It ain't genteel."

"The mistress told Mr Loomis to have the carriage brought round," the boy gasped. "Mr Wavenhoe's, that is, she come in that. She's a-going back to Albemarle-street."

Frederick grinned. "I wouldn't want to linger here if it was my uncle a-dying, and him as rich as half a dozen nabobs."

"That's more than enough from you," Mrs Kerridge said. "It's not your place to go prattling about your betters. If you want to keep your situation, you'd better mind that tongue of yours." She turned to me, no doubt to alert the others to my presence. "Mr Shield, sir, I'm sorry to keep you waiting down here. Ah, here's Master Charles."

The lad came out of the kitchen holding a basket covered with a cloth. Frederick called out that our chaise was at the door. A moment later, the boy and I were driving back to Stoke Newington. I unstrapped the hamper and Charlie Frant wept quietly into the napkin that had been wrapped round the warm rolls.