The Bargain Bride Page 3

  Aleda was fully aware that Lord Fulbourne’s eyes were very complimentary as were those of the other White’s gentlemen who followed him.

  She directed them the way to the Banqueting Hall and was not surprised to find, when she went there later that they were sitting in the front seats as if by right.

  The tradesmen sat as far to the back as possible.

  She and the Earl had now collected every chair in the house, thinking it would be better for those harassing him to sit rather than be standing.

  There were still many other carriages coming up the drive and, when finally there were no more, Aleda saw that there were at least fifty people waiting for them in the Banqueting Hall.

  “There will be no more,” she said to the Earl.

  “I hope you are right,” he replied. “I have no idea who half of them are.”

  “I think that some of them are just sightseers,” Aleda said soothingly. “There are always tattle-tongues who want to be in on the act.”

  “What you should really say is ‘in at the kill’!” her brother said gloomily.

  She slipped her arm through his.

  “Keep your chin up,” she urged him, “I cannot bear to see you grovelling.”

  “I am damned if I will do that to anyone,” he said violently.

  She knew she had succeeded in putting him on his mettle and they then walked quite jauntily down the passage and into the Banqueting Hall.

  As they reached it she became strangely aware that there was somebody behind them. She thought that another carriage must have arrived somewhat belatedly.

  Yet she also thought that it would be a mistake to wait any longer and she then walked into the Banqueting Hall ahead of her brother.

  They stood still under the Minstrels’ Gallery and there was a small table in front of them on which, quite unnecessarily, Aleda had put a few papers.

  She thought it looked more business-like and, in some way she did not like to think about, protected David from those in front of him.

  When she looked around, she thought, with the exception of his three friends in the front row, the tradesmen looked surly and disrespectful.

  She knew instantly that they had all combined as a gang to attack her brother.

  She was sure that they would not wish to return to London empty-handed and to all intents and purposes defeated.

  ‘Please – God – help us,’ she prayed and thought that she was only a lone voice crying in the wilderness.

  With commendable self-assurance, the Earl stood in front of the table while Aleda sat down beside him.

  “I would like,” he began, “to have welcomed you to my home, instead of which I feel I must apologise that you have felt obliged to come here to alert me to my responsibilities of which I am well aware.

  “Now you have seen the house and the state it is in, your eyes will tell you very much better than I can that there is very little to sell and I can only hope that some gentleman here will buy the whole estate so that you can divide the money between you.”

  There was a murmur at this among the tradesmen listening to him.

  As David looked so handsome and spoke really clearly and sincerely, Aleda could only hope that they were impressed.

  “What I am going to do now,” the Earl went on, “is to first inform you of what I do possess in the way of buildings, acreage and, of course, the house itself.”

  He brought a piece of paper out from his pocket that he had prepared with considerable difficulty, hoping to make what he did possess sound more attractive than it actually was.

  His one thousand acres could hardly be described as being in ‘good heart’ considering it had not been farmed for several years.

  The farms themselves were in a pitiable state and all but two of them were empty.

  There was no livestock and the cottages in the village would have fallen down if the inhabitants themselves had not somehow contrived to keep some sort of roof over their heads.

  He described the house as being a Tudor building of great interest from an architectural point of view.

  He did not add that the top floor was uninhabitable and the ceilings in a number of the State Bedrooms had fallen in.

  In fact, when he had written down nearly twenty items that he knew, if he was to be honest, he could not say that even one of them was in good condition.

  In fact every inch of the Blakeney Estate needed money to make it even habitable.

  “That concludes the list of my possessions,” the Earl then finished, “and you are, of course, at liberty to inspect and verify everything I have mentioned.”

  There was silence in the room for a moment.

  Then one of the tradesmen rose to his feet to ask,

  “What’s your Lordship got in London? Where do you stay when you’re up there spendin’ your money like water?”

  He spoke rudely and suspiciously, but the Earl answered him politely,

  “If you are implying that I have a house or flat, I can assure you that I do not pay for anywhere that I have slept. I have in fact always stayed with my friends.”

  “And I’d suppose your friends provide you with food, wine and women!”

  There was then a roar of laughter at this, which Aleda felt unhappily was like the baying of hungry wolves.

  “That is correct,” the Earl answered quickly.

  As if he wished to avoid any more such remarks, he said,

  “Well, let us get down to business. Is there anyone here who will make an offer for Blake Hall and the thousand acres of land that surround it?”

  There was silence and Aleda saw Lord Fulbourne and his friends look at each other.

  She was certain that none of them would wish to possess another house when they already had ancestral mansions of their own or would come into one on their father’s death.

  “Surely someone can make an offer?” the Earl questioned, breaking the ominous silence.

  Another man rose a little further back in the room.

  “If you asks me,” he said in a nasty tone of voice, “you be wastin’ our time! A rubbish ’eap like this won’t settle your debts and the sooner we can takes you in front of the Magistrates, the sooner you can cool your ’eels in the Fleet!”

  The way he spoke was so unpleasant that only by a huge effort at self-control did Aleda prevent herself from giving a cry of horror.

  Her brother, however, faced the man and she was proud of him.

  “What would you possibly gain by that?” he asked in a slow drawling voice. “What my sister has suggested to me and I have agreed, is that we should both of us find work of some sort, then anything we earn will be given to the person you choose, to give to those who are owed the most.”

  Two or three men sprang to their feet.

  “Work?” one of them shouted. “What d’yer think the likes of you could do, sweep a crossing?”

  Other men were also jeering and making lewd suggestions that, fortunately, because their words tumbled over each other, Aleda did not understand.

  Lord Fulbourne looked at the gentlemen next to him and Aleda sensed that they were wondering if they should intervene.

  Then, as further insults were being flung around the room, Lord Fulbourne rose and then suggested,

  “Surely, Blakeney, there is something in the house that you could sell?”

  Aleda was aware that he was implying that he would buy anything within reason.

  Then, above the noise the men were making, another man’s voice rang out,

  “Show us somethin’ worth fifteen thousand pounds, which is what you owes us!”

  Aleda clasped her hands together as her knuckles then went white.

  Next every man in the hall seemed to be shouting abuse at the Earl.

  It was just impossible to distinguish one word from another except to know that they became more and more offensive.

  The Earl could only stand there looking at them and now there was a sarcastic smile on his lips as if he despised
them for the way they were behaving.

  Then from the very back of the Hall, a man walked slowly to where he was standing.

  Even when he was right beside him, the Earl was not aware of his presence. It was Lord Fulbourne who saw him first and turned and said to the man beside him,

  “That is Winton! What is he doing here?”

  Aleda also looked at him in surprise.

  He had not shaken hands with her or David and she thought that he must have arrived late so that they had not noticed him come into the Banqueting Hall.

  Now, as he stood beside her brother, she realised that he was good-looking, broad-shouldered and taller than David or his three friends.

  He stood for a moment just looking at the screeching crowd.

  Then he held up his hand and, because there was an air of authority about him, surprisingly the voices died away and there was silence.

  “I have something to suggest, gentlemen,” he said in a deep voice that seemed for the moment to have a mesmerising quality about it, “and I want you to listen to me.”

  “I have a proposition to put to his Lordship, which I believe will be to his advantage and to yours. But because he has no idea of what it is, I would wish to speak to him alone.”

  He paused before he continued,

  “I would suggest that while we are away talking, you avail yourselves of the refreshments that I have brought with me in my carriage. My groom has orders to give them to anybody who asks for a glass of wine.”

  As he spoke, he drew a large gold watch from his waistcoat pocket, glanced down at it and said,

  “I suggest you yourselves enjoy my hospitality for the next quarter-of-an-hour, then return here to learn whether or not my suggestion to the Earl of Blakeney has been accepted.”

  As he finished speaking, he turned to Aleda saying,

  “Perhaps your Ladyship would lead the way to where I can talk to both you and your brother?”

  Aleda rose to her feet.

  She was aware that everyone in the Banqueting Hall was beginning to chatter to each other in a very different tone to the one that they had previously used.

  Without speaking, she rose and hurried to the door so that they could leave first and was aware as she did so that she was followed by the stranger and her brother.

  She walked ahead of them into the hall.

  She thought perhaps that, when the tradesmen went outside to claim the drinks they had been promised, some of those who were curious might look into the drawing room.

  She therefore went on down the passage to the library.

  It was a large and at one time a very beautiful room. But just as everywhere else in the house, the diamond-paned windows were cracked or broken.

  The velvet curtains were faded and the lining was in shreds.

  All the good furniture had been sold and the books too that covered the shelves had been sorted through for anything that was worth selling.

  They had fetched very little and, although Aleda had prayed that there could be a first folio of William Shakespeare or even an early printing of Chaucer hidden among them, she had been disappointed.

  There were, however, two armchairs, the leather of which was torn, a fire stool that had a leg broken and a tapestry cover that was in shreds.

  She led the way into the room, wondering frantically as she did so what this newcomer would suggest.

  Although he was good-looking, she thought that his clothes were not nearly as smart as David’s, so in which case he was not likely to be rich.

  His cravat, however, was well-tied but as she glanced down at his boots, she was aware that they were not the fashionable Hessians.

  She thought they were well-worn and she was sure therefore that their wearer could not afford better.

  ‘He is just raising our hopes,’ she told herself.

  She felt angry as she knew that he was optimistically hoping that he had been saved at the last minute.

  Because she knew that it was expected, she seated herself in one of the armchairs.

  The stranger indicated with a gesture of his hand that David should take the other chair.

  Then he stood in front of the fireplace that was still filled with the ashes of a log fire that had burnt there last winter.

  He looked first at the Earl and then at Aleda.

  She thought that there was a faint twinkle in his eyes as he gazed at the colourful feathers and flowers in her bonnet and she considered it impertinent.

  “I think first,” he began after a long silence, “that I should introduce myself. My name is ‘Doran Winton’.”

  Aleda glanced briefly at her brother’s face and saw no sign of recognition in it.

  Mr. Winton then continued,

  “I came here today because I happened to be in the Morning Room at White’s when you announced to all and sundry that this meeting was to take place.”

  “You are a member of White’s?” the Earl asked in surprise. “I have never seen you there.”

  “I have recently returned from abroad,” Mr. Winton replied, “and I am, although you may think it rather strange, extremely sympathetic.”

  The Earl did not reply, but looked resentful, as if he disliked this kind of sympathy from a stranger.

  “I have therefore,” Mr. Winton now went on, “thought of a solution to your problem.”

  “The only possible solution,” the Earl said, “is that someone should buy the house and the estate from me.”

  Aleda felt a sinking feeling in her heart as her brother spoke.

  She was sure that Mr. Winton had no intention of doing so and that his intervention was only prolonging the agony.

  “I have not yet had the chance of discussing your position,” Mr. Winton said as if the Earl had not spoken, “but I heard one of your creditors mention the sum of fifteen thousand pounds.”

  “I should think that is about right,” the Earl answered.

  He spoke just as if the words were dragged from him.

  Aleda knew that he thought this conversation was a waste of time and that Winton, whoever he might be, was only making a nuisance of himself.

  “Fifteen thousand pounds!” he repeated reflectively, “and yet I imagine, if it was in good order and the house restored, that it would be worth much more than that.”

  “Of course it would,” the Earl said angrily, “but you can see for yourself what has happened in the years since I was away in France serving with the Duke of Wellington’s Army. And while my father struggled hard to keep his head above water, he found it impossible to do so.”

  His voice had sharpened as he spoke and now he placed his hands on the arms of the chair as if to rise as he went on,

  “What is the point of wasting time? If they want to take me before the Magistrates – let them do so!”

  Aleda gave a little cry and Mr. Winton said quietly,

  “Sit down!”

  It was obviously a command and, as if his Commander-in-Chief had spoken, the Earl did as he was told.

  “Now you listen to me,” Mr. Winton said, “and this is not a moment for heroics.”

  The Earl stiffened, but he did not get up as Mr. Winton went on,

  “I will pay your creditors what they are due and I will take over your house and estate. I have some work for you to do that I reckon you would find most interesting and at the same time lucrative. I will also marry your sister!”

  For a moment both the Earl and Aleda stared at him almost open-mouthed.

  Then, in a voice that did not sound anything like his own, the Earl asked him,

  “Are you – serious?”

  “Completely!” Mr. Winton replied. “I admit it is unusual, but that is my proposition and it is something that I do not intend to argue about. Your answer is either ‘yes’, or ‘no’!”

  “But we don’t – know anything about – you,” the Earl said hesitatingly.

  “I can assure you that my credentials are well in order and the Bank of England will honour my
cheques.”

  The Earl put his hand up to his forehead and commented,

  “I can hardly believe that what you have just said to me ‒ is true.”

  “I think I have made it perfectly clear,” he retorted.

  “Do you really mean – ?” the Earl began.

  Now there was a light in his eyes that had not been there before.

  It was then that Aleda stood up from the chair where she had been sitting.

  “I can only thank you for your generosity to my brother, but, of course, you will – understand that it is quite – impossible for me to – marry you.”

  Mr. Winton turned to look at her and it was the first time he had done so since he had begun to speak.

  She had the strange feeling that he was appraising her at the same time, although not entirely physically.

  It was as if he was looking into the depths of her in a way that somehow made her afraid.

  Then, as she lifted her chin defiantly, he said,

  “Is that your final word, Lady Aleda?”

  “Of course it is!” she answered. “You can hardly expect me to accept anything so utterly ridiculous.”

  As she spoke, her eyes met his.

  She was aware that they were the steely grey that somehow made her think of frost and the cold winds of March.

  Then, as she lifted her chin still higher, he turned round and walked towards the door.

  He had reached it before the Earl asked,

  “Where are you going?”

  “I am leaving,” Mr. Winton said. “My proposition has been refused and there is no longer any reason for me to stay.”

  “But you cannot go,” the Earl cried frantically.

  “I am sorry,” Mr. Winton replied, “but my offer has to be taken as a whole or I withdraw it completely!”

  The Earl walked towards him.

  “Please,” he said, “please wait while I speak to my sister.”

  Mr. Winton drew his watch from out of his waistcoat pocket and looked at it.

  “You have four minutes,” he said, “before those who are hounding you will return to the Banqueting Hall.”

  As he spoke, he turned and then walked to the far end of the library.

  The bookcases which jutted out into the room hid him from view and the Earl went to his sister’s side.

  “For God’s sake, Aleda!” he said in a low voice. “This man could save me.”