Lord Hawthorn snorted. “Go to London, at this time of year, for a business meeting?Pshah. The man obviously has no understanding of the weather or how everyone spends their Christmases…in the country with their families.”
“In all fairness, nobody anticipated this kind of storm,” Holly pointed out. “They are more usually expected in January.”
“A valid point, my dear,” Sir Duncan smiled. “But be that as it may, Mr Blackstone arrived on my doorstep last week, full ofbonhomie, and bringing vast amounts of paperwork with him.”
“How frightening.” Lady Hazel made a face.
“Indeed it was,” agreed Sir Duncan. “But I offered him a room, fed him, and listened to everything he had to say.” He grimaced. “Knowing what I know now about the man, I should have sent him off with a flea in his ear, or better still, never have invited him in the first place. But I confess, I was curious.”
“It was about canals, wasn’t it?” Richard couldn’t help himself.
“Yes, Mr Hawkesbury, you are correct. Our Mr Blackstone is convinced—or at least he tried to convince me—that the river’sposition now, at this time, has taken it out of the Myrtle Manor property, which makes it publicly accessible, and therefore available for conversion into a canal.”
Lord Hawthorn stood and poured a little more brandy into Sir Duncan’s glass. “And since Forest Grange ends before the river, it is publicly accessible without question. The Trease property is not involved at all. Which explains why he never needed to talk to us.”
“True.” Sir Duncan sipped and nodded his thanks. “So all Blackstone wanted was for me to sign over my rights to the section of river passing through Rosewood, and he would have a clear path to a new, and lucrative, canal.”
“But the waterfall…” Holly exclaimed. “How can you have a canal where there’s a waterfall? No matter the size of it, it’s still there…”
“Locks, I would imagine,” Richard reasoned. “They’d require quite a bit of construction, but would allow barges full use of the waterway. For a charge, of course.”
“That is quite a stretch of the river.” Lady Hazel was frowning. “And by my reckoning, it would open up a trade route that would quickly fill with barges from not only the agricultural areas to our west but also the mining and manufacturing companies that are rising up quite quickly.” She looked at her husband. “I cannot say I like that idea at all, Hawthorn.”
“I’m damned sure Harry Chalmers wouldn’t, either,” he replied. “Where is the dratted lad? Do you know, Holly? Have you seen him lately, or spoken to anyone who has?”
She shook her head. “He’s been away for quite some time, Papa. He wasn’t here when Cherry met Garrett, and that seems like ages ago.”
“Harry answers to no one but himself,” observed Lady Hazel. “He’s a challenging neighbour in that regard, but he lives his life as he pleases.”
“Well,” Lord Hawthorn sighed. “At least now we know what Blackstone is after. But at this point, we must discuss your part in this, Mr Hawkesbury.”
Richard nodded. “I can confirm everything Sir Duncan has said as to the relationship of Rosewood Park to the River Ban. We received his request to initiate a review of the properties, and did so. Those were the documents I was carrying in my bag.”
“The ones that you were nearly killed for…” Holly touched his arm.
He nodded. “Yes.”
“Well then, lad, I think it’s time you revealed their contents.”
Richard sighed and turned to Sir Duncan. “I can tell you now, without hesitation, that those documents proved thatno part of the River Banis public property, regardless of its current course.”
A ripple of surprise seemed to shimmer through the room.
“How can that be?” Lady Hazel leaned forward.
“The surveyor was extremely accurate, and laid out the new course of the river on the maps most carefully. But…” Richard paused dramatically. “That had no bearing whatsoever on the actual property boundaries.”
“I’m confused,” muttered Holly.
“It sounds muddled, I know,” he looked at her with a smile. “But trust me. We reviewed every single document pertaining to this area. And there was no question at all. The borders of Rosewood Park and Myrtle Manor have not changed since they were legally established at the beginning.”
“Even though the river moved?” Lord Hawthorn stared at Richard.
“Yes, my Lord. Even though the river moved. You see, the border was created along a certain boundary, and at that time it ran along the bank of the river. I have to suppose it was convenient for those early surveyors.” He paused for breath. “I’m not sure if any of you have heard aboutmetesandbounds?”
Silence greeted his question.
“I think it goes back to the sixteen-hundreds or so, but to keep it simple,metesrefer to the distances between landmarks, andboundsare the landmarks themselves.”
