Chapter 33
Frederick was let into John Tattersall’s parlour expecting to see faded furniture and cobwebs in the corners. Instead, he walked into an airy room with bright flowers in vases and brighter pillows scattered on the furniture in the room.
It vibrated with life. The longer he was waiting, the more he noticed. Unusual pieces of artwork and an interesting off-centre clock on the mantle, plant stands made of intricate metal designs. John entered the room before he had an opportunity to explore more.
“Your Grace,” he said, then bowed.
Frederick turned to see an older gentleman who looked like he could beat him in a match of arm wrestling.
“Sir John,” Frederick greeted.
“Have a seat. I’ve called for tea.”
“Thank you, Sir John.”
“You caught me between trips. I just got back from a wonderful safari in Africa. In a few weeks, I head to the continent, the eastern continent. I have heard I must see Prague. And so I will. Ah, the tea.”
Sir John acted as host, passed Frederick tea, and drew his attention to a rather eclectic plate of refreshments. Thinly rolled bread and some kind of filling. Avocado covered in some sort of green leaf then rolled in rice. Four other offerings Frederick never saw before. No doubt, foods he learned of from his travels.
They talked about Sir John’s penchant for travelling while Frederick wondered if he was wrong. Maybe Sir John knew exactly what happened at his stables.
Both Sir John and Frederick knew it was the time in the visit where Frederick told him why he was there.
“Sir John, please forgive me if I overstepped my bounds, and you are aware of the practice of horse-trading on the side that goes on at Tattersall’s. I thought to bring it to your attention on the chance that you were unaware of the practice.”
Sir John leaned in. “I’m not sure without learning more. Please, go on.”
Frederick repositioned himself in his chair. “Quite by accident, I learned that your auctioneer, Victor, was engaged in a practice where he and a plant in an auction group drove up the price of inferior horses.
“The plant used his ‘expertise’ to convince the auction group around the horse that it was a superior animal or at least an animal far above its actual worth.”
Frederick stopped to let his words sink in. Sir John was pale, and his teacup was frozen midway to his lips. Frederick waited, hoping to find the appropriate time to continue.
Sir John gave a short shake of his head and put his cup down. “Pardon me for asking, but did you see this practice, or have you only heard that it exists.”
“I saw it. My brother saw Victor and his plant, Barton, splitting the excess money.”
“Barton, you say? Barton St John?”
“Yes. Do you know him?”
“Oh, I know him. Many years back, he and I had words over a horse I sold him. I remember the horse well. A beautiful, strong gelding. I suspected he went home and treated the animal more like a dog than a horse.
“He brought the animal back to me, accusing me of selling him an inferior horse. As I said, we had words. I took the horse back because I didn’t want it to continue to be mistreated. But I refused to sell him another horse.”
Frederick continued, “When I saw what was happening, I asked the horse seller a friend knows to take a look. He said there were horses being sold that should be put out to pasture.
“Instead, they were being sold, would come up lame, and be put down. This horse seller, Donny Williams, was upset that horses were ultimately put down that should be out to pasture. I know you value the name and reputation of Tattersall’s. Donny values his integrity as an integral part of his business.”
Sir John’s face brightened. “Donny Williams? Is his father Danny Williams? A nice man. A man with a heart. Loved his horses.”
Frederick nodded. “He sounds like Donny. May I ask, Sir John? Does your travel keep you from Tattersall’s? I think Victor and Barton have been working together for some time.”
A low growl came up from Sir John’s throat. “I passed the reins of the business over to my grandson. He sends me money every month like clockwork, and he tells me everything is fine. It seems I have been remiss in meeting with the boy.”
Frederick changed his position in his chair again. “It is said he doesn’t come to the site because he doesn’t want to get his shoes dirty.”
Sir John shut his eyes. Frederick sat very still.
“I will leave you Sir John except to say my brother Hobart just left to meet with Donny Williams. He wants to persuade Donny to come down and take a look at the stables. Hobart is as much a horse lover as Donny. Both want to avoid putting down a horse that should be out to pasture.
“I hope you don’t object. We didn’t know how my conversation with you would go, and Hobart got ahead of himself.”
Frederick stood then so did Sir John. Sir John bowed then walked Frederick to the front door. “I can’t tell you how much your visit means to me. Thank you for coming.”
Sir John bowed again, and Frederick left.
*****
Percy was uncharacteristically grumpy. He paced while his trunks were being hoisted to the roof of the second carriage, the carriage his valet and two additional footmen were travelling in. They were supposed to leave at sun up. At this rate, they would leave at sundown, if they were lucky.
He had said goodbye to Louisa over dinner last evening. She cried. She didn’t want him to go. He sighed. He should just take Gordon Castle apart stone by stone.
After two and a half days and two stops at coaching inns, Percy made it to Gordon Castle. Or maybe he should call it Gordon rubble. It was worse than he thought. He shouldn’t have ignored the place.
Winters met him at the carriage. They went straight to Percy’s office to talk.
“Where’s the whisky, Winters?”
Winters opened the cabinet near the desk and took out a decanter and a glass. “Take out a glass for you. You’re probably going to need it.”
A servant he didn’t recognize brought tea and refreshments. When Percy raised an eyebrow, Winters said he needed to hire servants from the village for Percy’s stay. He had been living without them.
“We’ll take a tour. Before we do, what is your opinion, Winters? Should we dismantle this place and build something new from scratch?”
Winters leaned back in his chair. He had known Percy since he was a boy, so there was an informal rapport between the two that suited both of them well.
“If we’re talking money, it would cost you about the same to get this place to the way it should be as it would cost to build a new place. I’m attached to this place and don’t want to see it go. It could be as comfortable as something new once the renovations were done.
“I guess what I’m saying is the money isn’t going to decide for you. It will cost about the same. It comes down to this, Percy. Do you like the place or not?”
“Winters, what is the cost difference to maintain either place?”
“Once it’s back to the way we want it? None. It’s not a money issue.”
“Let’s go take a look.”
Percy and Winters went into every room and talked about what needed to be done. The butler found them and asked Percy when he wanted to eat. Percy looked at his watch, shocked that it was nine o’clock.
He told the butler to tell Cook he wanted to eat now. He told Winters that he wanted to continue to talk about renovations through dinner.
They agreed to meet the next morning to finish the tour and tackle what areas needed attention first.
Percy went to his room with a cognac and parchment. His old desk still had a quill and a sealed bottle of ink.
He missed her. Three days on the road and one day in the Castle, and all he could do was wonder what she would think of the place. This project was going to take every day, ten-hour days to make a dent in it.
Thank God Winters knew what he was doing. After he left for the wedding, he wouldn’t be back for at least six months. The honeymoon and the townhouse redecoration would take at least that long.
He couldn’t leave Louisa in the house with workers coming and going. Even if she stayed at Frederick’s, she couldn’t supervise them without a man around. Wallpaper hangers would be in the bedchambers. No, it would be at least six months.
Percy got Winters to hire workers. Many workers. Percy would supervise one project, and Winters would supervise another.
He hired a gardener and two assistants. He explained what he wanted then let them get to work. He checked the progress every day and was pleased with it.
Cook made a noontime meal for the workers. A buffet-style table was set up, and the workers sat wherever they wanted.
Percy knew that for some of them, it was their only meal of the day. He encouraged them to take leftovers home. He told Cook to make more food so the workers had more leftovers.
“Should we add workers, Winters?”
“I don’t think so. We need to keep a close eye on what they are doing, and that would be difficult with more of them.”
Percy nodded. “What’s your opinion of the progress?”
Winters thought for a moment. “The roofs, windows, and walls are better than they’ve been in years. The bedchambers are coming along well. There are beams that have been added to every bedchamber. They will be finished shortly, and I think you’ll be pleased with the result.
“I think we need to redo the kitchen. It’s antiquated, and the servants have to go around each other in a tight space.”
Percy shrugged. “Sounds like difficult work conditions. Do it.”
*****
Every night, Percy went to bed thinking the project he took on expanded every day. He missed Louisa and wrote to her every night. She knew as much about the renovation project as he did.
She wrote about the wedding plans and what decisions she made. Amelia was feeling much better, so they were able to enjoy making the plans together.
What every man he ever knew said was true. Wedding plans were earth-shatteringly dull, and if they could avoid hearing about them, they would. Thank God Louisa wanted to take on the project by herself.
Frederick wrote about Sir John Tattersall. After meeting with him, Frederick heard he made a visit to his grandson the next day. Sir John and his grandson spent two tedious days going through the Tattersall books.
Simple questions were asked that could not be answered. To Victor’s credit, he made sure income was high. Of course, he had an ulterior motive. There was no need to worry about a business that did so well. He was left alone.
Sir John asked his grandson how often he went to the auctions. That’s when the relationship between grandfather and grandson fell apart. Someone recommended by Sir John’s solicitor now handled Tattersall’s books.
Frederick also wrote about his investment problems. He didn’t trust his foreman. He thought he was stealing Frederick blind.
Materials delivered to the site kept getting lost. He was paying twice for most of his materials. And there was another mill going up down the street. Maybe with Frederick’s materials? Not good.
Which meant a less than successful investment. Now that Amelia was feeling somewhat better, he was considering a trip to Manchester. He was reluctant to go because of her illness and the wedding but wasn’t sure he could put it off much longer.
Even another letter came the same day.
Dear Percy,
I miss you. I get far too few visitors at the warehouse since you’ve been gone. Amelia is doing better, and I keep an eye on your betrothed. She’s throwing you quite the wedding. But I won’t spoil the surprises.
I went up to see Donny Williams when Frederick went to see Sir John. I convinced him to come down so he could point out which horses needed to be put out to pasture instead of sold and put down.
Turns out Sir John knew Donny’s father, Danny. They had a solid friendship at one point. That made Donny sit up and listen when the old man talked.
Did Frederick tell you the old man isn’t really an old man? Donny is watching over the horses temporarily, but Sir John wants it to be permanent. We shall see.
Barton and Sir John had a falling out a couple of years back, so Sir John showed no mercy. In addition to barring him from the property, his solicitor is demanding he return the money he earned illegally at Tattersall’s.
Sir John knows he’ll never get it back. Did you know someone leaked the information about Barton to the newspaper? Who would do such a thing?
Hobart
The ton heard the word ‘illegally’ and turned their collective backs on Barton. If he deceived horse buyers, whom else did he deceive and for what reason. No one in the ton liked to look foolish.
He was no longer welcome at ton events, and his membership at White’s was revoked. He had little choice but to go back to Hamilton Place.
As the Duke of Hamilton, he was expected to be in town while the House of Lords was in session, but he knew better than venture out beyond that. He couldn’t and wouldn’t show his face at any ton events while in town.
Louisa wrote that Kent and Gertie decided to get married right away. She swore there was no need to rush. They just wanted to be together. Only time would tell.
They got a special licence, asked Cecil and Emma and Louisa, then got married. There were eight guests.
On the carriage ride home, Cecil, Emma, and Louisa laughed and had fun talking about Kent and Gertie.
Cecil said Kent and Gertie couldn’t wait for them all to leave so they could be alone. He said Kent kept telling Cecil to leave. That was why they stayed so long, according to Cecil.
Louisa went on to say how much he would have enjoyed the wedding. Cecil laughed at Kent’s expense the whole day.
Percy put down the letter. A month into fixing Gordon Castle with another month to go. He wanted to go home now.