Chapter 32
When James received a hurried note from Ruth Clarkin that she and her mistress were to depart for the east, he had begun to pack immediately. Without even sending word forward to Hector and Lawrence that he would be staying, he set off as soon as he was ready.
Ruth had begged him not to give up on her sister for otherwise all the pain and hardship would have been for nothing. She gently suggested that he ought to make his way to Hanover Hall and wait to hear from her.
So, his accomplice, however much she had suffered, was still willing to work with him. What a very fine young woman Ruth Clarkin was.
But James had an important call to make on the way and he instructed his driver to stop in town at the office of Charles Holt, Attorney at Law.
When he jumped down from the carriage and approached the front door, he sincerely hoped he would find the dreadful little weasel was in residence. Holt was the last piece of unfinished business, barring Charlotte herself, and he was determined to set things to rights before making his way to Hanover Hall.
On the day James had spoken to Ruth and decided that he would, finally, tell Charlotte everything, he had immediately made his way to the office of Mr. Jacob Summerton, the attorney who had been so helpful to him in his quest to be closer to Charlotte again.
Telling the man he intended to retain him as the attorney to the Duchy, he asked him to draw up an immediate and very specific document. Summerton did so without delay, clearly delighted to be so endorsed by the Duke of Sandford.
When he knocked at the office door, a middle-aged woman with a sour expression opened it and ushered James in. When he announced himself as the Duke of Sandford, the old crow looked for all the world as if she could not care less. Still, she no doubt suffered enough if she was Holt’s housekeeper. She had likely already had her fair share of being ordered about by Holt as if he was the master of a grand establishment himself.
She left him in an overly opulent office, clearly, the old Duke had paid Holt well, and returned moments later with the attorney, whom she announced rather grandly as if the man had just wandered down an ornate staircase to be presented at a ball.
Charles still wore the look of self-satisfaction he had worn ever since realizing he had the upper hand in the master-servant relationship. Well, that was all about to come to an end.
The very moment the housekeeper had departed, James rose from his seat and lurched across the room, grasping Holt by the throat just as he had done three years before.
Before Charles Holt could make a sound, James had forced him back across his own desk and held him down with ease.
“So, you think I have forgotten my promise to make your life a misery, do you?” James hissed angrily, feeling every rough emotion he had felt the last time the two of them had come to blows.
“What? Your Grace, please.” Holt squeaked, and James was gratified by his fear.
“When I release you, I have a paper for you to sign.” James went on with menace.
“Then I shall read it over, Your Grace and…..”
“No, you will just sign it, or I shall choke the life out of you here and now.” James said and released him.
He threw Holt into a chair and slapped the paper hard down on the desk, glaring at the terrified attorney the whole time.
“You cannot make me sign this.” Charles said as he scanned the document.
“And yet you will sign it.”
The paper contract was a brief promise never to speak of the events Charles Holt had learned whilst acting upon the instructions of the last Duke. Any breach of the contract would result in Charles Holt forfeiting a larger sum of money than he had ever possessed in his life, not to mention the possibility of criminal charges.
“I shall cry out.” Charles said hopelessly.
“Not if you cannot breathe you shall not.” James pressed the feather quill into the attorney’s hand and forced him to dip it into the inkwell and sign his name.
“This is not legally binding. This is coercion.”
“And who on earth is going to believe you over me? The old Duke is dead, and the new Duke will stick at nothing if you cross him. Do you understand? And it goes without saying that your services are no longer required by the Duchy of Sandford.”
Charles Holt merely nodded and raised a hand to the reddened skin of his throat.
Content with his little piece of business, James rose to his full height, smiled, and walked out of Charles Holt’s office, safe in the knowledge that the man was too much of a coward to go up against him in the future. He had underestimated James and it had been his undoing.
Hector had, as always, been very pleased to see him and not at all perturbed by his sudden appearance. Perceiving, as he always did, that all was not well, Hector had very quickly rooted as much of the truth out of James as he could possibly be given.
And, as always, Hector’s insistence that James get on with things and not simply sit and wait had propelled him into motion once more. Just two days after arriving at Hanover Hall, James set off on one of Hector’s horses across the fields, covering the short distance to Thurlow Manor in no time at all.
It was with some trepidation that he approached the front of the house and he smiled nervously as he asked the housekeeper to let Lord Cunningham know that he had come specifically to see him.
He waited for only a few nervous moments in the hallway before Lord Cunningham himself was striding towards him with a smile on his face and his hand outstretched.
James could hardly believe the reception, having fully expected that Lord Cunningham, angry at James for his upending of his life, would have thrown him out without so much as an audience. But he was seeming to welcome James back into his home as if there had not been three years passed since their last meeting.
“How very nice to see you, Your Grace.” The Baron said without real ceremony, despite the fact that he had addressed James correctly.
It was nice to see that the Baron remained unchanged, whatever had passed beneath the roof of his house in the last days.
“And it is a pleasure to see you, Lord Cunningham. In truth, I did not think that you would admit me.”
“Oh, that is just silly, my dear fellow. Come along, we shall sit in the drawing room for a while. I have asked the housekeeper to arrange for a tea tray.” Lord Cunningham laid in arm over the younger man’s shoulder and led him through the corridor to the drawing room.
“Have a seat.” He said the minute the two of them were alone and the door closed behind them.
“Thank you, Lord Cunningham,” James said and knew that he could not wait for the man himself to broach the subject, he would have to be the one to begin. “I have come here to see you today to apologize for all the upset that I have undoubtedly caused you and your family.”
“You are apologizing for things that are outside of your control, young man.” Lord Cunningham said with a smile. “After all, it was not you who fathered a child out of wedlock, was it?”
“But you can hardly think that it was my business to tell it to Charlotte and Ruth.” James was a little dumbfounded after a sleepless night expecting the worst.
“No, it was my business to tell them, but I did not do that, did I? I knew that it was all bound to come out one day and yet I did nothing to soften the blow. I kept my head in the sand, as it were, and hoped for the best.”
“I would never have told them without good reason.” James wanted desperately to explain himself.
“And I can already guess at your reasons, Your Grace.” Lord Cunningham smiled. “With your father gone, you thought that you might be able to find an easy route back into my daughter’s heart. But then you know her almost as well as I do, so you must have realized that she would never have made it easy for you. It is in her nature to analyze, to make decisions, and to stand by them. If I am truthful, you would never have been able to find your way back into her heart without telling her why you left in the first place. And I do not think you would have taken that decision lightly, and so I cannot blame you for it.”
“And yet I had expected that you would.”
“It would be the easy way out, would it not? To take all my anger and disappointment in myself and place it on the shoulders of another who does not deserve it. But in the end, that would have got me nowhere, would it?” The old Baron leaned his head against the high-back of his armchair and sighed. “And if I am to continue to be honest, I am bound to say that the situation, now that it has come to a head, has finally provided me with a great sense of relief. It is as if I had been squeezed for many years, my entire body in the grip of a vice, and now somebody has undone it set me free and I am, in the end, extraordinarily grateful to you.”
“I must be honest and say that I did not see that outcome, Sir.”
“And yet it is the outcome nonetheless, so all that there is left to do is for us to move forward, do you not think?”
“Yes, I do.”
“So instead of worrying about me and my relationship with my daughters, perhaps you ought now to turn your attention to your own relationship with my dear Charlotte. You must not forget that all of this is for a reason and you cannot give up now, can you?” The Baron smiled at him in a knowing way and James realized for the first time in his life what it would have been like to have had a true father.
“I shall do my very best.”
“Then perhaps it is time for me to wander off, as you will remember it is my custom, and leave you to drink this tea, if it ever arrives, with the lady herself. What do you say?” The Baron rose to his feet.
“I should like that very much, Sir.”
When Charlotte’s father told her that James was waiting for her in the drawing room, she hardly knew how she would react when she saw him. The last days had been the worst of her life and yet, at the same time, they were strangely the best.
When she saw her father with Ruth, how at peace he was now to finally be able to act as a true father, Charlotte felt a curious excitement. She knew, of course, that the relationship could never be declared publicly, but at least they would know it amongst themselves now and it was as if they had turned a corner into a better life.
She opened the door of the drawing room and stepped in, quickly closing it behind her. She remained where she was for a moment, looking across the room at James and the untouched tea tray which sat on the low table in front of him.
“Are you waiting for me to pour that?” Charlotte said in a haughty tone.
“Well, I did not like to start without you,” James said and smiled at her. “It would seem rather rude, given that I am only a guest not a very welcome one at that.”
“Now what makes you think you are not welcome?” For some reason, Charlotte could feel her mouth turning up into a smile, quite unbidden, and the old feelings of excitement returning to her.
“I suppose because I have made such a mess of things these last three years, have I not?”
“My goodness, I have never seen such a mess,” Charlotte said and began to enjoy herself in the old way, teasing him just a little. “But I daresay you blundered along with the very best of intentions.”
“I did. I really did blunder, my dear woman.” He nodded vigorously and his green eyes twinkle just as they always did when he was amused.
How very handsome he was with his neatly clipped dark hair and wonderful smile. Charlotte could feel her resolve turning to nothing.
“I do wish you had told me back then, James.” She said, being serious for just a moment. “Just me, I mean. I know now that you could not have gone against your father’s wishes without hurting my father, and I will always be grateful to you for that. Not to mention the fact that I will always be disquieted by the way I treated you afterward.” She shuddered and winced. “But I do wish you had told me, for it would have spared me the pain of the last three years. I would have missed you dreadfully, but I would have known that you loved me.”
“At the time, I did not want to hurt the wonderful relationship you have with your father. Never having had such a thing myself, I could see immediately that it was a thing worth protecting, whatever the cost.”
“And it is still wonderful, James. We have certainly had our moments these last few days, but we are closer than ever now.”
“If only I could have foreseen that at the time.”
“I suppose that is something that none of us could have managed.” She said and shrugged. “But at least you have put things right now before I made a fool of myself by marrying that dreadful Marcus Hillington.”
“So, you really were going to marry him then, if he agreed to it?”
“What do you mean if he agreed to it?” Charlotte said and finally continued through the room to stand in front of him. “Of course, he would have agreed to it.”
“I am afraid you cannot sure of that, my dear Charlotte. You see, I made something of a study of that man and am bound to tell you, however painful it might be, that he appeared to have absolutely no regard for you whatsoever.” James’ broad grin was enough to melt her heart.
“I think we should never mention Marcus Hillington again.” Charlotte said and laughed.
What a truly wonderful feeling it was to laugh again, how very much better life felt already. She could hardly think that she had laughed at all since the night of Lord Morley’s ball.
“Perhaps you should have it written into our marriage vows, my dear.” He reached out to pull her into his arms. “For I fear that if you do not, I shall find myself unable to keep quiet about it.”
“You are sure that I will marry you then?”
“As sure as I will ever be.” He said and gently tilted her chin so that their eyes met. “But you should know that I cannot bear to be without you now. I love you so much, Charlotte. These last three years have been as purgatory to me.”
“And I love you too, James. However angry I grew, I could not stop loving you.”
“Well, hurry up and let me kiss you, my dear, before your father blunders back in here.” He said and quickly covered her lips with his own.