“Very well, dear,” his father said peaceably. “You might see Alice, too, while you are there. My poor sister is having adreadful time — not only has her husband been killed, but now she discovers that he was a fraud all these years.”
They found the earl in a towering rage, fulminating against young women in general and Bea Franklyn in particular.
“To throw him over, just because he will not be an earl! It is a great deal too bad of her. He is the same man, after all, and a fine, upstanding specimen of his sex, as well. Any woman would be glad to have him, I am sure, but not Bea Franklyn, oh no! She thinks herself too grand for him now, just because her stepmother is a duke’s daughter, but her father was nobody before he inherited all that money — a mere attorney, and not a very good one, by all accounts.”
“Now, now, Charles, I am sure Franklyn was a perfectly competent attorney,” Bertram’s father said, laughingly. “I am very sorry for Walter if his attachment was a strong one, but he will find someone else, you may be sure.”
“That is all very well, but he should have been married long since. Twenty-nine, George! Almost thirty! I was married with four children in the nursery at that age. We knew our duty in those days.”
“Three.”
“What?”
“Three children in the nursery. At thirty, you only had Walter, Eustace and Josie, but not Izzy.”
“Oh… pft. You know what I mean. Now he has to start all over again.”
“But imagine if he had been already married, with a whole string of children deprived of their inheritance, too. He is a personable young man, and will not have the slightest difficulty finding a wife, just as soon as he sets his mind to it. But what is he to do with himself, Charles? Eustace has his independence and Kent has always needed to make his way in the world, but Walter has never had to think about a career.”
“Nor does he now,” the earl said sharply. “He is my eldest son, and I shall not cast him adrift.”
“I can help there,” Father said. “If Bertram is to inherit Corland, then he has no need of Westwick. I should be happy to leave it to Walter, when the time comes.”
“Westwick? Leave Westwick to Walter? My dear brother, it is not to be thought of.”
“It is only equitable, Charles. Since Walter has been deprived of his rightful inheritance by Bertram and me, it is fitting that we should surrender our inheritance to him.”
“No, no, no! Westwick is Jane’s, and only came to you by marriage. It should be kept within her family. You have two other sons, after all. Let Lucas have Westwick. No, I shall take care of Walter, as a father should. I will make Langley Villa over to him and a sum of money… enough for him to support a wife, if he has a mind to. In time, perhaps. I am not sure quite how I am placed just at present. I shall have to ask Clarke. Ha! In all the upheaval, I forgot to tell him to come today.”
“We shall see him sometime,” Father said easily. “But you cannot be short of money, Charles, not with an income of eight thousand a year.”
“No, I am sure… Although after Father died, things were left… No, I cannot be short of money, but Clarke is so stuffy, sometimes. When Nicholson ran things for Father, he had only to ask, and Nicholson would say,‘Of course, my friend. Let me take care of it.’And he did, whereas Clarke just sucks his teeth, you know how he does, and says,‘Perhaps next quarter, my lord, if the weather is favourable for the harvest.’And every time he shows me the figures, I am worth a little bit more than the last time, so I suppose his way is best. But he makes me feel guilty, sometimes, for asking for my own money.”
“This needs looking into, Charles. You cannot allow your land steward to oppress you.”
“You are right, brother.” The earl heaved a sigh. “I suppose I ought to take more interest myself. Very well, since three heads will be better than one, we shall all pore diligently over the accounts, and attempt to make some sense of them.”
4: A Proposal Of Marriage
Bea was practising rather laboriously on the pianoforte, for Mama insisted on an hour a day to improve her skills, when her father came into the music room.
“Papa!” Bea cried, spinning round on the stool and clapping her hands excitedly. “Have you come to listen to me play?”
“Beatrice, a lady does not break off in the midst of a performance,” her stepmother said in her well-modulated voice. “She brings the piece gracefully to a conclusion.”
“I believe this is a matter worthy of interruption, just this once,” he said. “A proposal is surely important enough to warrant it, would you not agree, Lady Esther?”
“Is it Bertram?” Bea said, suddenly dizzy with happiness. So soon! She had not expected—
“It is not Mr Bertram Atherton, no. It is MrEustaceAtherton.”
Bea groaned in dismay, and Lady Esther said sharply, “Not again!”
“You would censure him for returning a third time,” Papa said, “but for myself, I find such devotion pleasing. It speaks to a sincere attachment.”
“His only attachment is to my forty thousand pounds, Papa,” Bea said.
“There is nothing wrong with a man seeking to better his position. It is not as if he were penniless himself, for he has a very pretty estate at Welwood, and an income of fourteen hundred a year.”
