Silence of Scandal (5 page)

Alexander waved his glass and dismissed his friend’s remark.

“I have never had cause to call you a fool before, please don’t give me reason to call you one now. You may as well have your fill of my company while you still can. I might be chucked into debtor’s prison in the very near future. Stay for as long as you can. I’m off on the morrow but you are most welcome to remain for as long as I can keep this place.”

Giles laughed at his friend.

“Fool. Did you think I would let you fall into ruin by yourself? We have ridden together for the last five years; I’m not going to leave your side at the first difficult hurdle. I’ll come with you and help you discover what has brought Ormond to this low. My nag may not be as finely bred as yours but his hooves are sure and his heart is strong. We will ride together at first light.”

Alexander felt his insides warm for the first time since setting foot on shore.

“Thank you my friend. I am honoured to call you such. Now go upstairs and get yourself settled for the night. We can drink the rest of this bottle after I have warned the staff of the imminent possibilities. I will take my father’s room tonight and you can make yourself comfortable in Phillip’s. I’m pretty sure that they will both have been regularly aired.”

Giles stood and laughed.

“After the bunks we have lain in all these years I’m not sure a feather bed will suit my hardened bones but I will do my duty and attempt to make myself as comfortable as possible.”

The sarcasm was not lost on Alexander and he let out a low laugh as his friend left the room. And then he stood and sighed wearily as Bottomley, his wife, Simon and the maid all shuffled into the room.

This was not going to be easy.

Chapter Two

Confessions

The horses snorted, steam wafting from their nostrils as they climbed the last hill before reaching their final destination.

Saddle sore and weary from their five day ride, Alexander and Giles paused as they crested the hill and looked down onto Ormond.

“At least the place looks the same.” Alexander breathed out in relief. He had been expecting dereliction and decay but the castle looked exactly as always; majestic and proud in the evening light.

Giles stared in wonder at the huge edifice as the sunshine cast shadows beyond the crenulated walls.

“When you said it was a castle I assumed that you meant in the modern style. For some reason I always thought you were jesting about the moat and drawbridge,” his awed tone told of genuine surprise.

Alexander grinned at his friend and then urged his horse forwards. Only a few minutes and he would be home for the first time in five years. He could barely hold his himself back from digging his spurs into Midnight and galloping across the bridge.

His eyes took in everything as they trotted closer. Many of the original features were only decorative now. The outer wall had crumbled in places, the large gaps in the stonework leaving the castle practically undefended but for centuries they no longer feared an attack from the Celts. The moat still held water in the winter and even though the drawbridge now led onto brick carriageway over the moat, its original purpose was plain to see.

Alexander breathed in the air of his childhood. It was clean and crisp, fragranced of heather and good health. He smiled as Giles drew abreast.

“You wait until you see the hidden tunnel. It goes out under the moat from a secret room in the west tower. It was meant to be a passage to freedom should the Lord of the castle ever need it but due to my family’s penchant for brandy and my brother’s lust for youthful adventure it has been used far more regularly than t’was first intended. I was furious when father told us it was too dangerous to use. Phillip and I wasted so much time by going to the beach via the track.”

Giles threw back his head and laughed into the cool air, scattering the crows that roosted in the nearby forest.

Alexander looked to the east of the castle and noted the Dower house at the edge of the grounds. He could see a bright splash of colour in one of the windows and smiled as he remembered his mother’s love of flowers. He wondered if she still left them at Lily Smith’s tiny memorial on the headland where the barn had once stood. He shook off the ghastly memory and turned in his saddle.

“I think I will go to my mother first. I must find out the worst before I can bear to visit a home that may not be mine for much longer. Come, we can settle the horses at the Dower house and then take a walk up to the castle later. There will be light for an hour or more yet.” He turned Midnight towards the coastline and set off at a quick trot along the gravelled drive.

It was only as they neared the house that they saw evidence of any neglect. Weeds bared their nodding heads through the stones on the road and unfilled muddied ruts at the edge of the drive caused Alexander to frown. He pursed his lips at the sight of a field of blackened, rotting corn and several uprooted trees as they passed through the copse around the estate.

Giles’s eyes narrowed as he saw what appeared to be the carcass of a dead sheep lying in the next field but he didn’t alert his friend whose own eyes had begun to glaze over.

They arrived at the gate of the Dower house but there was no rush of a stable hand or of a footman. They dismounted in silence and Alexander led them to the stable at the rear of the house.

A tall young man, his shirt flapping and a sweat beading across his brow, strode out to greet them.

“My apologies, gentlemen. I was attending the Dowager’s pair and didn’t hear you approach. How may I help you?” He gave a short bow before he reached out to take the horses and then stepped back in surprise. “Alexander? My God, it is you!” The man’s shocked tones did nothing to clear Alexander’s heavy heart.

Geoffrey’s father was the steward at Ormond and his son had run household errands. Both part of the staff Geoffrey was treated more as a youthful friend by Alexander. He had been fifteen when Alexander had left for war, a boy on the threshold of manhood. Now he was a strapping twenty year old. His chin sported a day’s growth of beard and his shoulders bulged with the muscles of hard work. He grabbed the man’s hand and shook it firmly.

“Geoffrey! I am glad to see you here. Let me introduce my great friend Giles Denvers. He has been with me through thick and thin over the last five years.” Giles and Geoffrey acknowledged each other with friendly nods and then Alexander continued. “But what on earth are you doing tending the horses? Where’s Jennings and where is your father? At Ormond? I need to speak to him urgently.”

Geoffrey’s shoulders slumped.

“Jennings is rather too frail to be handling the horses now. He had a nasty fall last year. Broke his leg and left him unable to do much more than wax the saddlery. Your father wouldn’t hear of him leaving and your mother has been kind enough to let him stay on even now. My father died three years ago, Alex,” he hesitated and then added. “Though I think I should be calling you by your title now, Your Grace.” He stepped back and gave another deeper bow.

Alexander frowned deeply at this unexpected news but then he realized what Geoffrey was doing and groaned in sorrow and frustration.

“Please don’t Geoff. I want everything to be as near normal as possible. We’ve known each other far too long. Formality in polite company only if you please, and that doesn’t include Giles I might add. I am sorry to hear about your father, he was a good man and I know that my father regarded him highly. I would hear the details from you later but I need to see mother instantly. Would you be able to join us at Ormond later? I expect to be with mother and Lady Anne for an hour at most.

Geoffrey nodded and then looked at the sweating horses.

“Of course Alex but Lady Anne is not here. She’s out for a ride in the grounds exercising her mare.” He looked over the two horses that stood patiently by their owners. “I’ll be tending to these two immediately. They look as though they are ready for a rest.” He took the reins from Alexander and looked expectantly at Giles.

Giles slapped the dust from his coat with one hand but held onto his horse with the other. He returned Geoffrey’s gaze.

“It has been a long ride and the horses need their rest. I will help you while Alex greets his mother.”

Geoffrey looked slightly surprised at this offer but then nodded as Alexander agreed.

“Good idea Giles. My mother will not want to make any confessions with an audience, I am perfectly sure. I’ll be a quick as possible.”

It was a shocked and quiet Alexander, Duke of Ormond who returned to the stables less than an hour later. The interview with his mother had been more of a trial than he had ever guessed. It was fortunate that Lady Anne was out riding and had not been within the house to hear the wails and cries of the distraught woman.

The surprise of the arrival of her second son had her rushing to her feet only for her to swoon into his arms the very next second.

He lay her on the chaise, kissed her soft cheek fondly, and fanned her flushed face while he looked about the room. His mother’s deep black mourning gown contrasted with the pots of bright yellow from her rose garden that decorated the windows and the hearth. Her eyelids fluttered open a few moments later and stared up at him as her lips trembled and tears fell from her eyes. She reached up a gentle hand and touched his scarred face. She sighed gently as her eyes assured her that it was not a mortal wound and then she dropped her fingers to his hand and clasped it with a strength borne of distress.

“Oh, Alexander, I am so glad that you are home. If you could have been here but three weeks ago. You would have advised them against attempting the rescue I know but neither Anne nor I could stop them. They insisted on going to the ship’s aid. The storm was the worst in years but I couldn’t persuade them. If Anne hadn’t been deserted with me I know not what I would have done,” her story came out on breathy gasps.

Alexander frowned down at his wilting mother after glancing around the sparsely furnished room. Apart from the chaise whose upholstery had clearly seen better days, there was only one other chair in the room. A meagre fire glowed in the hearth and only two candlesticks sat upon the mantle. Even his mother’s attempt at cheer with the bright flowers the room would be a dreary place to sit after dark.

“But that cannot be the beginning of the story, mother. I can see that the estate is not at its best. I have been gone for five long years; I need to be brought up to date on everything. I had a meeting with father’s solicitor in London last week. The position appears to be dire. You must tell me all that you can.”

His mother composed herself a little. Her hand trembled and he realized how frail and thin hers felt beneath his palm.

“You were only twenty two when you went to war. We couldn’t tell you the worst of it then and even now I am not sure entirely how it has happened. Phillip did everything he could to save us; even marrying a woman he didn’t love in the hopes that her dowry would keep Ormond on its feet but it was a worthless dream. Anne has faded along with her dowry and the estate. Phillip should never have agreed to the arrangement. It was unfair to bring her to her knees too. We are lucky that her parents are willing to see her home again but at the moment she refuses to leave me. She is a good woman, Alexander. She must not be brought down by any of this.”

Alexander tried not to groan in frustration. He was still unaware of the cause of all the difficulties but still he waited patiently.

“From the beginning mother, please. I understand that there were problems before I left that my father had hidden from me but the reason for this sudden downfall is not the failure of a couple of years of crops. I see that Geoffrey is stable hand when he should be steward. He has the brains for it, so why didn’t he take over as soon as his father died?”

His mother sat up on the chaise and sipped at the watered brandy he passed.

“Your father would never tell me all. He tried to protect me from the worst but there were relentless costs beginning soon after Phillip went away to school. I told your father that boarding school would be a drain but after that accident he insisted that Phillip needed to go. When he left school I thought things would become easier but they didn’t. If anything they became worse. When your father refused to tell me I asked Phillip but he had made a vow to your father not to mention the circumstances. He had already tried everything he could think of to lessen the burden. The only thing your father refused to do was to sell the family jewels. He secreted them away, telling me that whoever was doing this would never get their filthy hands on them but now even I don’t know where they are. If someone else gets their hands on Ormond they will be lost to the family forever and we will be utterly ruined. Phillip even tried his hand at cards to cover the increasing debts. You remember what an excellent mathematician he was. He said he had devised a way to recall all the previously laid cards and he felt sure…”

Alexander had given up listening to his mother’s ramblings at this point. The thought of his father hiding the family jewel casket was bad enough. To think that just one of the diamond encrusted Ormond necklaces might have saved his father and brother caused his heart to clench in pain. Why had his father refused to part with any of them? It was a question he would have to ask at a future time, his mind was still reeling at the thought of Phillip inventing a gaming system. The idea was so preposterous that he almost rolled his eyes in despair. No wonder there had been so many notes passed in his name. Sweat broke out on his brow even though the room was cool.

“I must go to Ormond, mother. I need to evaluate the situation for myself. Did you conduct a proper search for the jewels or did you leave and close the house completely?” His tone was worried enough to stop the Duchess’s tale.

She looked up tearfully at her son and dabbed her damp eyes.

“I searched as much as I could for the jewels but the castle is huge, Alexander. I was too embarrassed to ask anyone to help me though I know that Anne guessed what I was looking for. She found me sneaking into different rooms in the house. I told her that I was looking for furnishings to sell but I don’t think I pulled the wool over her eyes for long.” She paused and blew her nose before continuing. “Grady, Sarah and Beth are still there. It is the only home they have known. I have explained that I cannot pay their wages but as long as we keep them fed they refuse to leave. They are keeping the castle clean and aired. I couldn’t bear to remain there after the tragedy and Anne refused to leave me until we could send for you. I brought cook here with me of course and the rest of the permanent staff. We had cut the numbers over the years anyway what with the lack of entertaining done. It was most distressing to see…” she stopped as Alexander lifted his hand to halt another round of misery.

“We will discuss everything further tomorrow.” He dropped another gentle kiss on her brow. “In the meantime I have a friend waiting outside with Geoffrey. I intend seeing Ormond tonight so I will leave you now and return in the morning. I will also need an audience with Lady Anne. I know that I never met my brother’s wife before but the situation cannot continue as it is. I need full information and she may know things that she and Phillip discussed without your knowledge.” He ignored the look of disbelief on his mother’s face as he patted her hand. He turned, rang the bell for the maid and after settling his mother with tea and cake he left the building to return to the stables.