‘The duke is right,’ said Grimston, pointing his fork at Speckle. ‘Listen to Herbert, boy, all this talk about female principles is madness. They’ll be the death knell for our livelihoods. Real men act.’
‘Perhaps later Mr Grimston could give us an insight into his work on barnacle geese?’ said Martha dryly. ‘Or unicorns?’ Thea looked daggers at Martha, who looked almost apologetic, but the ladies of the party chuckled. They had all heard about Grimston’s failed scientific endeavours. Grimston looked grave and George leapt to his defence.
‘I am delighted to hear that Lady Foxmore has plans to spend more time at her own home at Denbury in the coming months,’ he said. Thea’s heart dropped. ‘Especially with ourcurrent staffing concerns. The burden on those remaining is considerable.’
‘You’re right to get a handle on it, Your Grace,’ said Grimston, jabbing his fork towards George and sending a square of venison onto the tablecloth. ‘Didn’t I hear your household has a female gardener and a male governess now? All the wrong way round. The kind of thing that happens when you give women free rein. They will have men cleaning and women running the farms before you know it.’
Herbert smirked. ‘I always knew there was something wrong with that Fenwick. You want to watch that boy of yours with him, Your Grace.’
Across the table Crumpacker upset a salver of plum sauce as he rose to his feet. ‘Mr Fenwick is a stand-up member of society.’
Mr Herbert looked Crumpacker up and down as he smirked. ‘I am sure you are enjoying him standing up, Crumpy.’ Grimston and Knatchbull sniggered. Crumpacker looked fit to burst, but Speckle’s hand around his wrist encouraged him back into his seat.
‘All sorts happening in this house, isn’t there,’ said Grimston.
George placed down his fork on his plate a little too hard. Thea dared a glance up and noticed the vein in his temple and the sweat beading on his brow. ‘I will be taking the employment of another governess into my own hands in the coming week,’ he said, clearly attempting to regain a little respect. ‘My wife struggles to retain staff.’
A red haze swan in front of Thea’s eyes. How dare he. She was used to him allowing others to abuse her, but laying the blame at her door, especially after what happened with Annie. She knew he was drunk, he was slurring, but she had had enough. She would not allow herself to be denigrated any more. She opened her mouth to respond, but a voice came first from her left.
‘From what I hear the women in this house are the only ones holding it together. If you would keep the necessary article in your breeches, you wouldn’t be in this mess.’
For a second Thea had feared it was Martha and that she would be banished immediately, but then she realised it was the Dowager Duchess of Hartford. George’s mother. The scene seemed to pause as nobody moved. Glasses stopped halfway to mouths, cutlery paused mid-cut. Only the Dowager Duchess took a morsel of artichoke and calmly chewed as she eyeballed her son.
‘I will do as I please on my estate,’ he said quietly. Thea recognised the undertone of menace, designed to subdue, but his mother was unperturbed.
‘The one your father built,’ she said calmly, ‘and that your wife, who I terribly underestimated,’ she raised her glass toward Thea who could only nod at her in astonishment, ‘now ably runs with the assistance of a formidable range of ladies while you idle your time away with guns and women. To have to sit through this absolute spectacle of masculine bluster when you are all very aware that you could not exist without the women in your lives.’ She pointed a fork at each one of the men in turn, before stopping to her left. ‘Apart from you, Doctor Speckle,’ she said. ‘I think you might be fine.’
George stared at his mother, then turned directly to Thea. ‘And what of your view, Your Grace?’ He licked his lips. ‘Would I be nothing without you as my mother suggests? I would certainly have more money and an attic without junk.’
She considered it for a second, the tension between them palpable. Inside, her feelings warred with one another – the simmering but repressed determination, the fear of a husband intent on domination. It had taken her so long to learn how to live as a wife, but at a price. It felt like she would be wrong notto use this opportunity, and that to do so would diminish the person she knew she was.
‘I suppose you would have less tea for Miss Bellegarde,’ she said gently. ‘I think you have been quite aware of my abilities and tendencies from the start. I would request that you neither abuse nor betray that.’
‘Too modest!’ The Dowager Duchess slapped her hand on the table. ‘The estate would fall apart without her, my son, and you know it.’
George nodded and placed his hands on the table. Thea could see them shaking with rage as he addressed the table. ‘I shall assume you will all be satisfied to be entertained by my able wife for the remainder of the evening,’ he said, his voice strained. ‘Given that I am quite superfluous.’ His chair toppled backwards as he stood, and he stalked out of the room.
Chapter 32
‘Not quite to plan,’ said Thea, sighing as she and Martha returned to her room.
‘The rest of them we can deal with,’ said Martha, removing the chatelaine from her waist. ‘Knatchbull’s animosity to Speckle, even Herbert and Grimston’s snide comments – but George is going to be difficult. The drink and laudanum make him increasingly unpredictable. I’m not wholly convinced by the tea being his sole reason for the buttering up to Knatchbull, especially not if he did get James to write those letters and then have him killed? There must be something else at play?’
‘Either way he’s embarrassed now,’ said Thea, removing the first pins from her hair. ‘And we have an immediate problem to deal with. Tonight couldn’t have gone worse for him and you know he will pursue it. And without you here…’ They looked at one another, knowing that Martha’s time at Hawkdean was limited if he wanted her away.
‘I won’t leave you,’ said Martha.
Thea’s heart seemed to swell despite her anxiety. Martha’s commitment never failed to build her confidence. ‘You may have no choice,’ she said quietly.
‘No,’ said Martha. ‘I am not leaving you with him.’
Tears of fear and hopelessness pricked in Thea’s eyes, but she fought them back. ‘Do you plan to kidnap me, Lady Foxmore?’ she asked, slipping her arms around Martha’s waist. ‘I could do with being rescued by a dashing highwaywoman and Harriet said you were quite the thing when you stormed the carriage she was in.’
Martha cupped Thea’s face in her hand. ‘I did that to protect Harriet from herself, but this is different,’ she said. ‘A man can do what he likes to his wife, and you have no recourse.’
‘I know that,’ said Thea. ‘And I will have to think of something, but–’
She was cut off when the door burst open. The two of them sprung apart.
