Brothers at Arms (7 page)

“Don’t worry, Tom. If there is anything Matthew likes more than low company, it is elevated – the higher up the social scale the better.” Jane’s dry tone expressed her feelings about her nephew. “With your agreement, I will write to my sister Clarissa in London, to invite the Cardington family to make a detour here when they return home. The timing is ideal, because the parliamentary session will soon be over. I have a feeling it will take little more to achieve an invitation for Matthew to go to Rushmore. If Kate can go as well, that is all to the good. A month, spent in the company of his cousin, Atcherly, would help eliminate the influence of the low life with whom he presently consorts.”

“Bless you, Jane. Of course you may invite them.”

“This is expediency,” she said. “My concern is that Matthew will use the tassel incident as an excuse to punish Joshua. He was beside himself with rage.”

“Yes, I know, but Sophie could not have chosen a more effective way to discomfit him. One minute he was bullying Joshua, the next a blubbering child. It won’t be easy for you to be here with Kate if he goes to university.”

“Don’t worry about that,” she said. “We must deal with the short term first. I doubt Matthew will cause problems at Rushmore. He’s too much in awe of Lord Cardington, but just in case, I will suggest Martha takes one of her sons as support with Kate’s care.”

Tom nodded agreement. “Sidney, the eldest, has the right temperament, William Rufus, his brother, must stay here with the boys. When I am next in London, I will make enquiries about support at university, and a bear-leader for Matthew’s tour.” He yawned, and stretched out his long legs.

“D’you know, Jane,” he said, “I’m looking forward to the next few weeks. I want to take the lads out driving, and renew my acquaintance with the estate. It is long overdue.”

When Joshua awoke the next morning, he could not wait to tell Charlie his plans for the day. A quick knock and he was through the door of the adjoining bedchamber. He stopped, perplexed as two tousled heads rose from the pillows.

“Oh, sorry,” he said, backing out in confusion, wondering why Sophie was sleeping in Charlie’s bed when she had a room of her own.

“It’s all right, Josh,” said Charlie. “You can come in. Sophie doesn’t mind.”

Cautiously, he peered round the door, and sure enough, she was sitting up in bed, rubbing her sleepy eyes. He could not imagine entering his sister’s bedroom for any reason. That sort of thing just was not done.

He stood, uncertain what to do until Charlie said, by way of explanation,

“Sophie didn’t want to be alone. We shared a room back in Ireland to save on the linen.”

Anxious to avoid looking at Sophie in her nightclothes, Joshua turned instead to the framed sketch of a dragoon officer in regimental dress, which stood on the bedside table by Charlie’s bed.

“Who’s this?” he asked.

“It’s our pa.” Charlie’s voice filled with pride. “He was a real hero, and that’s why I want to be a soldier.”

“So do I,” said Joshua. “My father’s brother was an officer in the East India Company Regiment. When he died, Lucy and Julia came to live here.”

“Then we will be soldiers together,” said Charlie, with a grin.

It was Joshua’s dream come true. All he ever wanted was to be a soldier, and to have a friend.

“What about Sophie?”

Charlie was in no doubt about the answer. “She’ll come with us and follow the drum.”

That was not quite what Joshua had in mind.

Breakfast seemed to take forever. Joshua finished his repast easily enough, but the selection of food filling the heated trays in the dining room proved too tempting for Charlie to resist.

“Can we choose whatever we like?” he said, awestruck.

Receiving a nod of agreement from the attendant footman, he set to with a will, lifting one lid after another to inspect the contents.

When her brother finished making his choice, Sophie followed behind and pointed to a couple of slices of bacon, a spoonful each of grilled tomatoes and mushrooms, braised kidneys, with coddled eggs – on one plate – because that was how she wanted it.

At her second visit to the sideboard, she passed over the poached kippers, in favour of a rare slice of sirloin, which Hayton the footman did his utmost to dissuade her from eating.

To no avail, because Sophie was determined to prove little girls did like red meat, with a thick crust of bread to mop up the succulent juices. She made no sound, other than to emit appreciative grunts of approval whilst licking her fingers.

Charlie was ecstatic. “I can see Sophie is going to enjoy herself here, Josh. When we were in Dublin, Aunt Barleycorn would not let us have more than one slice of toast, and a smear of butter. Uncle Lucius was the only one allowed to have honey.”

When they had eaten their fill, Joshua planned to set out on a tour of Linmore Hall. In assuming his cousins would look after Sophie, he wanted to show Charlie all the secret places they could hide, but his plan had to be adapted, because Sophie wanted to come with them.

Then he realised they must keep her safe, particularly after she had bested Matthew Norbery the previous day.

As far as Joshua was concerned, the timing of the house tour was crucial, and he wanted to walk through the downstairs rooms with impunity, knowing his brother never left his bedchamber until after midday.

They started weaving in through one door of the salon, and out through the hidden doors used by servants, then on to other rooms in sequence. It was important for Charlie to know of such things, because Joshua used them to escape from his brother’s vengeful ways. Passing through the rooms, they encountered maidservants attending to their cleaning duties. Several smiled a greeting, but no one said anything amiss.

By the time Joshua crept up the mellow oak staircase to the first floor landing, the ormolu clock on the reception hall mantelshelf was chiming half-past eleven. At the top, he peeped around the corner of the balustrade.

Things had not gone entirely to plan, because of Charlie’s fascination with detail. Joshua did not know all the answers to his questions. He had to think a lot, which meant the tour took longer than anticipated, and there were still many rooms to see.

He waited a moment, tilting his head to listen for any sounds that might indicate his brother was in the vicinity. The thought made his mouth feel dry.

“What are you doing?” Charlie asked.

Joshua hesitated, and then said in a quiet voice. “Just making sure there’s nobody about.”

“D’you mean him?” Charlie asked in the same, low tone.

He nodded and moved on again, thankful his friend understood. At the end of a long corridor, he stopped short and pointed at a solid oak door.

“My mother lives through there,” he said.

“Are we allowed to see her?” Charlie wanted to know.

Joshua shivered. “No, you wouldn’t want to. I only go when I’m summoned.” He did not want to explain the reasons.

Charlie nodded. “Uncle Tom said Aunt Norbery was an invalid. What’s the matter with her?”

It was difficult for Joshua to explain. “She hasn’t been well since I was born, and blames me.” There seemed nothing else to say.

“Can we go outside now?” Charlie said.

They hurried along a long corridor towards the nursery wing, down the back stairs and out through the door to the courtyard.

Joshua ran outside, took a gasp of air and let it go with a sense of relief. Then he had an idea. “Do you want to see where the kitchens are? They might find us something to eat.”

It was less than two hours since they finished breakfast, but viewing the house was a hungry business. He skipped down the stairs to the stillroom on the lower floor, and found a woman, clad in black bombazine, sitting at a desk. On seeing them, she turned immediately to speak.

“Are these your new friends, Master Joshua?”

“Yes, Mrs Delbury,” he said. “This is Charlie Cobarne, and his sister, Sophie.”

The housekeeper looked from one to the other, and said in a precise voice, “I’m pleased to meet you both, and hope you will be comfortable at Linmore. I trust you will let me know if you have any problems.”

Charlie nodded, but his attention was on an earthenware jar, reposing on a shelf. Then he turned his dark eyes and sunny smile on her.

“Do you happen to have any biscuits?” he asked.

“Of course I do, Master Charlie,” the housekeeper said with an indulgent smile. “These are special ones I keep for Master Joshua.” She lifted the lid and let them take two each of the fruity pastries made to a Shropshire recipe.

Joshua was so pleased that he could show Charlie someone liked him. His main problem was pleasing his mother, and he had long realised nothing he said or did would make any difference.

That night when Joshua went to bed, he could not find his nightshirt. He looked everywhere he thought it might be, but eventually, he asked one of the servants for a clean one.

The next day, his socks had gone, so he found another pair and thought no more about it. Then he noticed his scarf was missing, which was odd, because he had seen it the previous evening, hanging on the hook behind his bedroom door.

Thinking Charlie might have seen it, Joshua went through the adjoining door, and realised someone had moved Sophie’s bed into her brother’s room. She was sitting on the eiderdown, clad in his missing nightshirt, with a scarf around her neck and socks as mittens.

Charlie looked embarrassed. “I’m sorry, Josh. Can she have them for tonight? I will make sure she returns them in the morning.”

Joshua burst out laughing. He had never seen anything so funny in his life. Then he realised Sophie took it as a sign of approval.

The following evening, he found two fruit-laden biscuits on the clothes chest by his bed, and guessed who had placed them there. Now he would have to pretend to the housekeeper he was to blame for raiding the stores.

Charlie came through the door, with similar biscuits in his hand.

“Did Sophie leave some for you as well? I’ve told her that she’s not to go near the stillroom again.”

Every day Joshua showed them something new. He went from the lower level of the nursery wing of the Hall, to the classroom on the top floor where he did his lessons. There was nobody there, because his father decreed studies should cease while Charlie and Sophie settled into their new home.

Assuming the girls would want to be friends, Joshua asked Lucy and Julia to join them when they took a walk in the gardens, but Sophie scowled at them and remained resolutely by her brother’s side. Undeterred, he tried again, but each day was the same, until he realised that Sophie was not like other girls.

They were always neat and tidy, but despite having a bath and her hair washed, she persisted in wearing the black clothes in which she had travelled from Ireland – and the same scuffed boots. The only difference being her black hair was now in a thick braid that reached halfway down her back. That was all she would allow the maid to do to it.

For the first week they contrived to keep out of Matthew’s way by taking long walks across the parkland; but as time went on, Joshua knew the chances of that continuing grew slimmer. He knew something would have to be done, but could not imagine what it might be. Then things came to a head
.

It was halfway through the second week, as they slipped through the stable yard, that Joshua heard Matthew’s bragging voice. He stopped, not wanting to be caught in the open, yet knew they should go on.

“I want a decent horse today, Shelwick. Not one of the dozy hacks you gave me last time my friends came. I’ll take Thunderer, so you’d better have it saddled ready for when my friends come in half an hour.”

There was a burst of laughter from the stable lads, before Shelwick spoke.

“That you won’t, young sir. He is the master’s horse, and it would take more ability than you have in the saddle to ride him.”

“Do as I say, or my mother will dismiss you,” Matthew Norbery screamed.

“No,” said the head groom. “I won’t do that, for if you fell off and broke your neck, she’d blame me for that. You will take whichever horse I think you are capable of riding. It’s Squire Norbery’s orders.”

“When I’m Squire Norbery,” he boasted, “you’ll sing a different tune – and my brat of a brother as well, if he’s still here by then.”

“By that time, I’ll be too old to care what happens to you.”

Listening horrified outside the stable door, Joshua heard the familiar sound of clicking heels, and tried to slip out of sight, but was too late. As the door opened, he came face to face with his brother. Matthew Norbery gobbled with rage, and Charlie leapt into action.

“Come on, Josh, time to make ourselves scarce.” He grabbed Joshua’s arm as they hurtled through the stone archway into the park, with Sophie in tow.

Joshua dashed out across the park towards his favourite oak tree. He hesitated only a minute, debating whether it would hide them, but realised there was not enough leaf cover, and now wasn’t the time to give lessons in climbing trees. He thought about the island on the lake, but could not be sure the boat was on the near side.

Deciding against it, he set off again, knowing that if they could reach Aunt Jane’s cottage, they would be safe. Jessie was sure to be there, and she would find them some food. Returning home was a problem they would deal with later.

Whatever he did, Joshua knew there would be risks. It was too late to wish he had kept walking through the stable yard, but he knew that Matthew would want to humiliate him in front of his friends. It was what he always did, and would use this as a way of frightening Sophie.

“Where do we go now, Josh?”

“I’m trying to decide on somewhere he won’t find us,” he said.

“Don’t be silly, Josh; he won’t come after us.”

Oh yes he will – and bring his friends.

“Well, if he does,” said Charlie, hunting around for a stout stick to use as a weapon. “We’ll be ready for him, won’t we, Sophie?”

She nodded agreement, and picked up another stick. Joshua found another one, but it broke the first time he slapped it against his boot, leaving him to carry two halves.