Brothers at Arms (49 page)

While his eyes grew accustomed to the light, he sensed, more than saw a sad little figure cloaked in the black clothes of mourning, huddled over a few glowing embers in the grate. He did not know how to explain his presence, so instead of simply uttering words of sympathy, he claimed to come as Mr Coke’s representative to offer pecuniary assistance.

For a moment, Tess seemed ready to decline the charity, but her mother was mortified, so she had no choice but accept.

“Whatever will the gentleman think of you, Tess, wanting to refuse a gift from Mr Coke? I beg your pardon, sir. I hope you won’t tell the squire of this.”

Joshua reassured them, knowing the fewer people who knew of his visit the better. He left the house, well pleased with his action; little realising news of his contribution would travel fast, and directly back to its alleged source.

Summoned to Mr Coke’s study, Joshua imagined it must relate to a message from Linmore, but to his chagrin found himself having to answer for his actions.

“It seems I am in your debt, young man.” Mr Coke looked perplexed at being in such a situation. “I met with Widow Dereham today, and she thanked me for the generous offering you saw fit to give to her mother and herself on my behalf. I was at a loss to know how such a thing slipped my memory. Perhaps you can tell me how much I owe you.”

“Five guineas, sir,” Joshua said, his face burning with embarrassment. “It was all I had with me at the time.”

“Yes, that was sufficient to help them for a month or two, but I think I could arrange for a more practical solution by providing the younger woman with some work. I believe she was employed at Holkham in the past, so it should not present a difficulty.” Mr Coke was obviously familiar with the case in hand.

“But she is with child, sir,” Joshua said, and then stopped under his benefactor’s incredulous gaze.

“So it would appear, but hardly surprising, considering she is only recently a widow. However, as the delivery is not imminent I think something could be done until that time.” The all-seeing grey eyes swept away pretence. “I wonder what precipitated your act of generosity. It is rare for young men to be so perceptive in these situations.”

Joshua struggled to explain. “On my arrival, Mrs Dereham rendered me a service… with some laundry.”

A puzzled expression crossed Mr Coke’s face. “Laundry?” he said. “I thought we had very good facilities at Holkham. It seems there must be a deficiency in the service for you to take your washing elsewhere. If you could tell me in what way we have failed your high standards, Mr Norbery, it will be remedied.”

“I’m sorry, sir. I did not intend to cause offence.”

“No,” Mr Coke said in a crisp tone. “I accept that, but I think, young man, you would be advised to make better use of the remaining time you have at Holkham, and leave me to deal with providing financial assistance to people on my estate. Bear in mind that, one day, you will have responsibility for your own estate, but at Holkham the responsibility is mine.”

The interview terminated with a nod, but before Joshua could escape the penetrating gaze, he heard the final words.

“There is one last thing I have to say, Joshua. In the absence of your father, I will tell you that I do not expect you to visit Mrs Dereham again, and neither will she expect your call. Is that quite clear?”

In the absence of your father…

The words pounded in Joshua’s head, until it ached. He was mortified that he had caused embarrassment to his host, making claims to be something he was not. Worse still, he had let his father down – again.

The Sunday morning weather matched his mood. Dark clouds gathered overhead, threatening to shed their load. Irrespective of that, he felt the need to go to church. The night hours brought little relief, so a walk across the park might turn his gloomy thoughts in another direction.

Joshua buttoned his greatcoat with the shoulder capes, pulled on his wide-brimmed hat and set off at a brisk pace, striding past the end of the walled garden and up the long slope towards the church at the top of the hill. The distance was less than a mile but it felt considerably more battling against an inshore wind that seemed determined to test his resolve not to slacken his pace. He reached the gates to the churchyard about twenty minutes later, and was forced to take a breath ready to ascend the even steeper path that wound its way up to the church door.

When he entered, worshippers filled most of the front pews in the centre row where he usually sat, so he slipped into an unoccupied seat opposite the door. He bowed his head trying to follow the service, but so wrapped in his thoughts was he that he missed many of the acknowledgements.

While others were singing hymns, he looked around the church and wondered how many people stood there acknowledging their mistakes and praying for guidance, or maybe for a miracle to happen.

When the sermon began, he intended to absorb the text, but other things took precedence. The sun came out as he walked down the slope to the stables, and the view across the lake to the Hall was a worthy memory to take home.

Contrary to his expectations, there was no reserve when he sat down to dine with the agent’s family. It was quite the reverse. Mrs Blakeney had roasted the most succulent leg of mutton he had ever tasted. It was his favourite meal, but he could not enjoy it, knowing it might be the last time he sat there.

Soon after, he made the excuse that he wanted to write a letter to his aunt, and returned to his room.
Dear Aunt Jane, I wish I could talk with you…

There the letter ended. He sat looking at the sheet of paper, knowing he was wasting his time, looking for excuses that did not exist. How crass to think his liaison with Tess entitled him to impose his notions of beneficence on two grieving widows. He meant well, but worse he could not say. It was no excuse for his deplorable lack of good manners in disturbing their privacy.

Then he realised there would be no time to write if Mr Coke sent him home. If it happened, he would never have another chance to see the local scenery he had come to know and love.

Within minutes, Joshua was riding his horse across the parkland towards the sea. He sat gazing at the expanse of beach with a line of water in the distance, wondering how far he could ride before the tide turned.

Then he was off, galloping into the wind from the west, feeling the sea breeze clear the cobwebs from his mind. Mile after mile he rode, past the salt marshes with their migrating birds, and out as far as the headland. He sat there, looking out to sea, letting his mind ebb and flow with the turning tide.

He thought back to his first sight of the House Rules, and about how Jack and Harry ridiculed the notion that Mr Coke wrote them. If they had felt the whiplash of Mr Coke’s words in the study, they would not have doubted his involvement. Joshua had read the words, but not appreciated the implications. Now he did, and would do anything to have a second chance to prove his worth.

Eventually, the fidgeting horse drew his attention to the advancing tide, so he set the animal galloping back the way he came. By the time he reached the marshes, the tide was running too fast to continue on the beach, so he headed along the coastal path, and from there, took his horse through the woods towards Holkham. Tomorrow, he would begin again.

To his amazement, Mr Blakeney made no mention of his lapse, but his workload increased almost three-fold. If this was his miracle, he accepted it as such and was grateful.

When his future at Holkham was in doubt, Joshua sorted through his belongings and found a dirty smock-frock hidden under his bed. After the confrontation with a grumpy laundry worker, he had tucked it away and forgot its existence. Now the problem needed to be resolved.

He broached the subject of laundry with Mr Blakeney, and received an incisive response. “Mary-Anne doesn’t complain about anything, so I would advise you to see her. Tell her I sent you.”

Who was Mary-Anne, and how was he supposed to identify her? All the laundrywomen looked the same in their mobcaps and aprons, and since his meeting with Mr Coke, he avoided talking to women in case it was misconstrued.

Eventually, he made his way to the laundry door and spoke to the first person he saw. “Are you Mary-Anne?”

The woman shook her head, and then called inside the building. A few minutes later, a tall woman of comfortable proportions appeared at the door and looked around. On seeing Joshua, she bobbed her knees respectfully, and said,

“I am Mary-Anne, sir. I beg your pardon for keeping you waiting. How can I help you?” Her slow voice had a strangely familiar sound.

In a lowered tone, Joshua explained his problem and said Mr Blakeney suggested she might be able to help. He made a point of saying he did not want to cause any bother, and would pay for any extra work it incurred.

He was fascinated when Mary-Anne laughed. Her whole face lit up, eyes creased with merriment, and a grin spread across her face.

“Lor’ bless me, sir. A bit of sheep dirt never hurt anyone. Mind you, there are some folk who moan about anything, but I’m not one of them, nor was my sister when she worked here.”

“Your sister…?”

“Of course,” she said. “I was forgetting you would not know Tess, my little sister, because she left here before your time. Mind you, she still does a bit of work here on the odd occasion. That was due to Mr Coke’s kindness, after her husband died in the fishing boat accident. I expect you heard about it. My father and two brothers were lost as well as Ned Dereham and his brother.”

A dark cloud passed over Mary-Anne’s sunny smile.

Joshua murmured condolences, and let the woman go back to her work. The news that Tess might be working in the laundry stunned him. How was he to avoid meeting her? He started to walk away, but the woman called him back.

“I don’t like to ask, sir, but as you want this work doing special-like, would you mind if I got Tess to do it for you, so she can earn a bit of extra money?”

He waited as Mary-Anne sidled closer.

“I save bundles of washing for her, because Mr Coke said she wasn’t to come here too often until she’s had the baby, and I’m afraid she might miss out on things.”

Joshua readily agreed, stumbling over the words in his haste.

“Yes, of course, but I insist you take the money now.”

A few meagre pence exchanged hands, and the woman returned to her work. Joshua smiled ruefully at his woeful lack of knowledge about the cost of everyday things, and remembered the last time he paid for washing to be done.

In mid-September, Holkham celebrated the bounty of harvest with a thanksgiving service and a supper for the workers on the estate. Joshua added a prayer of thanks for his continuing stay at Holkham and for Tess’s absence from the church. No doubt, she would have been there if she still lived near the beach, rather than three miles away sharing her mother’s home.

Two days later, he had news of impending change. It was the Tuesday after the harvest supper, when the agent called him to the estate office, and waved him to a chair.

“We have new students arriving tomorrow, Mr Norbery,” he said. “I’d like you to show them round.”

“Will they be staying in the Hall, as I did?” he asked.

“There’s no need to spoil them, when there are beds in the stable block.”

Joshua had settled into a routine, working and living on his own. Now he would have to interact with other people again. He wondered what they would be like. Jack and Harry had been settled when he appeared, and made him welcome.

“Will that be all, sir?” Joshua said, preparing to rise.

The agent raised his brows in surprise. “Are you not interested to know more about them, Mr Norbery?”

He sat down again. “I thought you would tell me when they arrive, sir.”

“No, I thought an advance warning was appropriate. At sixteen, they are two years younger than you are, and less mature. I look to you to give them support, and ensure they do not go astray. I trust I do not need to elaborate.”

This was Mr Blakeney’s only reference to Joshua’s lapse.

“No, sir,” he said, flushing to the roots of his hair.

“They will, of course, receive the same advice that you were given. Nothing happens on the estate that I do not know, and I was well aware of the previous students’ predilection for frequenting alehouses.”

No doubt, he knew about the wenching as well.

“Mr Coke has assured Sir John and Lady Gransden, as well as Colonel and Mrs Inglethorpe, that their sons will not be led into temptation at Holkham. There will be no gambling on horses, drunkenness, or debauchery.”

How the deuce was Joshua going to prevent them if they were that way inclined? What he needed was a Sergeant Percival to help him.

“So I am to be their nursemaid, sir?” It slipped out without thinking.

The agent gave him a hard look. “No, Mr Coke hoped you would be more of a mentor.”

“Mr Coke said that…?”

“Yes, Mr Norbery,” said the agent, with a wry smile. “He specifically asked it of you – but not to the detriment of your work.”

When Joshua entered the agent’s office the following afternoon, he stopped short at the sight of Mr Blakeney’s bemused expression. Forewarned though he was, he did not expect to see new students, clad in the most flamboyant attire. Over-starched shirt-points, coats with exaggerated shoulder pads, teamed with pale lemon pantaloons and highly polished Hessian boots. Only with difficulty did he stop himself laughing.

On introduction, he learned that Michael Gransden had travelled with his valet and groom from Kings Lynn, and James Inglethorpe brought a servant from Bury St Edmunds. Although short in stature, Michael’s loud manner demanded attention. Being quiet, he assumed James would follow.

“Mr Norbery will show you the accommodation.”

When the agent said that, Joshua knew his peace at Holkham was over.

Opening the office door, he saw three gigs parked outside; each one with an inordinate amount of luggage. When the grooms looked for instructions, he mounted his horse and said, “Follow me around the lake to the stable block.”