Annie Burrows - Four Regency Rogues

‘I am glad of that.’

‘And you have been good to us too, Miss Cartwright. The milk and eggs have made all the difference these last weeks.’

‘Think nothing of it, Mrs Biggs. How is the baby?’

‘Thriving, I am thankful to say. And my Hannah is old enough to work now and has been taken on by his lordship to work in the kitchen at the Hall, and with Matty and Beth both working too, we are well content.’

* * *

Charlotte had stayed a little while to nurse the baby and talk to Tommy, using signs and lip reading, which he seemed to manage very well, before taking her leave to return home. She had walked past the church and was making her way along the lane by the village green when she saw the Earl standing beside his mount, which was drinking at the trough. She was about to carry on, when he picked up his reins and led the horse over to her. ‘Miss Cartwright.’

She stopped. Had he been lying in wait for her? She did not feel like another argument with him, but why else would he have addressed her? ‘My lord.’

He fell into step beside her as she walked on. ‘Not riding today?’

‘No. I have been too busy.’

‘With good works in the village?’ He knew that was the case. Everyone spoke highly of her, praising her for her compassion, her generosity and her down-to-earth character. ‘For all her money, she ain’t haughty, not a bit of it,’ they said. But did they really know her? Did they know she was as bad as her late father, that her fortune, on which she lived and which she used to bestow her largesse, was founded on slavery, not only in the Indies, but closer to home? The mills must make their profit; if it needed little children to do it, then she had no compunction about employing them. Perhaps she had had no hand in the blow her father had dealt his, but she seemed determined to keep the enmity alive.

‘Among other things.’ She paused. ‘Mrs Biggs tells me you have given her husband his job back.’

‘Yes. As you so rightly pointed out, I need him. The grounds are in a terrible state. They used to be admired for miles around. When I was a boy, my mother was always giving tours of the garden and sharing her knowledge with others of like mind. I doubt I can get it back to that condition, but with my mother’s help I will do my best.’

‘You mean to stay, then?’

‘Why would I not? Amerleigh is my home.’

‘Of course.’

‘But you would wish me otherwhere?’ Roland pressed lightly.

‘No, why should I? I only meant you might not wish to go to the trouble of restoring it.’

‘But I do wish it. It is a good solid house, the home of generations of my family and not easily abandoned.’

‘The late Earl abandoned it.’

‘He was ill, Miss Cartwright. The worry of it…’ He stopped; he did not want to pursue that argument. ‘I wanted to ask you, since you seem to know the family well, has anything been done to cure Tommy of his deafness?’

‘I do not think so. I think they are all resigned to the fact that he will never hear and he does marvellously well with a few signs and facial expressions.’

‘Yes, I saw that.’

‘He has an old ear trumpet someone gave him, but he does not use it. It is almost as big as he is and is too much trouble carrying around when he wants to play.’

‘But one day he will have to work.’

‘If he finds nothing else, I will employ him. Being deaf might be a positive advantage in a room full of clattering looms.’

‘Yes, and a more dangerous occupation for a child I cannot imagine.’

She had spoken without thinking, almost as if there was a little devil sitting on her shoulder goading her into making outrageous remarks, just to see what he would say, and she had been hoist on her own petard. ‘I do not like employing children, my lord, but if I did not, my business would sink without trace and that would mean the adults would be without work too, not only in the mill, but those who work the barges, the crew of the Fair Charlie , even the servants and outdoor workers at Mandeville. It is the lesser of two evils.’

‘So it may be, but children should be allowed to enjoy their childhood for as long as they can.’

‘I do not disagree with that, but needs must when the devil drives.’ Why, when she was in his company, did she make herself sound harder than she really was? Why compound the bad impression he already had of her? It was a question of pride, she supposed, pride and stubbornness.

‘Nevertheless, I should like to see what can be done for the boy. I have come across deafness among soldiers due to the noise of the battlefield and it is a considerable disadvantage to them. There was a medical officer with our regiment who interested himself in deafness, and he was teaching them to communicate with signs.’

‘Tommy already does that.’

‘Yes, but this is more formal. By using the same standard, deaf people can communicate with others…’

‘Who must also learn the same signs.’

‘Yes. But if Tommy’s mother and siblings were to learn it, they could translate what he is saying.’

‘A laudable, if ambitious, idea, my lord, but who is to provide the teaching?’

‘That I need to discover. Do you think Mr and Mrs Biggs would agree, if I should find someone prepared to do it?’ His expression was serious, but by no means malevolent; there was nothing of the objectionable man who had insisted Browhill was his. Beware! the imp on her shoulder warned her.

‘I am sure they would like to see him overcome his affliction, my lord, but Mr Biggs is a proud man and hates to be beholden to charity. I have to take my little contribution for their comfort when he is not at home or he would throw it in my face.’

‘I thought that as the family’s welfare interests you, you might use your influence to persuade them.’

On the surface his suggestion was a simple one, but underneath she detected undercurrents she did not know how to deal with. But how could she say no? How could she refuse anything to improve the lot of the villagers? It was the squire’s prerogative to do that, of course, but the old Earl had done nothing and after they had moved to the dower house, the Countess had hardly been out and about at all. Charlotte had taken it upon herself to distribute largesse and give employment, and she had taken the Biggs family to her heart. ‘You are asking for my help?’

‘Yes.’

‘But we are…’

‘Sworn enemies?’ It was said with a crooked smile.

‘No, but we are in litigation.’

‘Then let the lawyers get on with it. They will take an age and in the meantime there is work to be done.’

‘That is very philosophical of you, my lord.’

‘So?’

‘Naturally, I will do all I can to help. But it is not just Tommy Biggs—you are needed by everyone in the village who has been waiting on your coming, hoping their lives will improve.’

He knew that and did not like it being pointed out to him, but he had made up his mind not to quarrel with her. To have two influential people warring in a small village would not make for harmony. ‘I hope they will, Miss Cartwright. I am making a beginning.’

‘And if the task proves too much, will you disappear again, back to the war and your comrades?’

‘Ah,’ he said, laughing. ‘I knew you wished me other-where.’

She refused to be drawn by that. ‘I read in the latest despatches that Lord Wellington is outside Bordeaux and the allies in the north are marching on Paris. Does that mean the war will soon be over?’

He might have known she would keep abreast of the news by reading the papers. ‘Let us hope so.’

‘And then the army will come home. The soldiers will need to find work.’

‘Those that are not sent to America or other conflicts will be discharged and will certainly need gainful employment. I am thankful that I have something to come home to.’