Page 61 of A Sense of Injustice
He surrendered Onyx to Exton’s groom who ran up to take his reins when he saw Luke approaching. Luke thanked him and told Romulus to wait in the stables whilst he himself was admitted to the house by Exton’s butler.
‘I will inform the master of your arrival, my lord,’ he said, taking Luke’s hat and gloves, ‘if you would be good enough to wait in the drawing room.’
Luke entered the room in question with a degree of trepidation, worried that one or both of Exton’s nieces would be in occupation of it. Happily, it was devoid of human presence, but Luke barely had time to warm his hands in front of the fire, glance with mild unconcern at his mud-splattered boots and run a careless hand through tangled hair that had been flattened by his hat before Exton joined him.
‘An unexpected pleasure, my lord,’ he said, hand outstretched.
‘I hope you will still feel that way when you hear what I have come to tell you,’ Luke replied, grimacing as he shook Exton’s hand.
‘Oh dear.’ Exton frowned. ‘Trouble in Swindon that I need to be made aware of? I have not heard of anything untoward but…’
‘Something of a more personal nature, I regret to say.’
Exton eyed Luke with wary speculation. ‘I don’t understand.’
‘Is there somewhere we can talk in absolute privacy? The matter is delicate.’
‘My nieces are both out paying calls, but I suppose they could return at any moment. Be so good as to join me in my library. We will be assured of privacy there.’
Luke clapped Exton’s shoulder and followed the older man into his private domain. He declined Exton’s offer of refreshments, Exton waved his butler away and the man withdrew, closing the door quietly behind him. The men took seats on either side of the fire and Exton looked across at Luke with an expression of polite enquiry.
‘There’s no easy way to say this, Exton,’ Luke said, scratching the back of his neck, ‘and so I shall simply come straight out with it and tell you what I know. I apologise in advance if it upsets you, which it is bound to do. I hope we have always been friends and that I can speak without fear of giving offence.’
Exton gave a hesitant nod. ‘I hope so too, but I confess your grim expression is making me uncomfortable. Please, my lord, simply say whatever you have come to say. It cannot possibly be that bad.’
‘It concerns your niece—’
‘Lydia?’ Exton’s brow cracked like a crumbling conscience. ‘I have already spoken to you about her, and indeed to the girl herself. She has not, I hope, gone against my most stern instructions and caused embarrassment for you?’
‘I am not referring to Miss Gregory, but to Mrs Brigstock.’
‘Ah!’ The fleshy cheeks beneath Exton’s grey whiskers turned a deep shade of pink. He clearly believed her capable of causing whatever difficulties that had brought Luke to his door, fractionally easing Luke’s anxiety. ‘It is she who has been making trouble for you? I am very sorry. She can be a wilful child but since she has been married, her widowed status affords her a degree of latitude that prevents me from placing the same restrictions upon her movements as I do upon her sister’s. I thought she knew how to behave, but obviously I have given her too much credit.’ Exton suddenly looked weary and every one of his sixty-something years. ‘Please tell me what she has done to offend you and I shall ensure that offence is not repeated.’
Luke felt increasingly uncomfortable and a little concerned for the squire’s health, but he had no choice but to lay out what he knew about Mrs Brigstock and Cleethorp in clinical detail. When he ran out of words, Exton’s hands were trembling and the colour Luke had noticed peeping through his whiskers earlier had drained from his face. Luke stood, poured a generous measure of brandy from the decanter on the sideboard and forced the glass into Exton’s unsteady hand.
‘Here, drink this. You’ve had a terrible shock, for which I apologise. I should have found a way to break the news to you more gently.’
‘There was no way that you could have softened the blow.’ Exton took a large swallow of his drink. ‘To say that I am shocked and deeply disturbed would be putting it mildly. Felicity, as I said earlier, has always been a little wild. My dear widowed sister, dead now these past few years, grew increasingly incapable of controlling her. When Brigstock offered for her, my sister was delighted and frankly a little relieved. I advised against the match. He was far too old for her and it was obvious to anyone with eyes in their head that she was only interested in his money, but I was not listened to.’ Exton took another sip of his brandy and fixed Luke with a look of nervous confusion. ‘Are you absolutely sure that she was instrumental in her husband’s death? I have always known her to be ambitious, but I didn’t imagine in my wildest dreams that she could be so wicked.’
‘There is no doubt, I’m afraid. I just now confronted Cleethorp. He didn’t condemn himself by admitting to spooking Brigstock’s horse, but he didn’t deny it outright either, as he surely would have had he been innocent.’ Exton gave a grim nod of agreement. ‘We know he was staying in the local tavern at the time of the incident.’
‘Ah.’ Brigstock’s shoulders sagged and he appeared to age ten years before Luke’s eyes. To such a principled man, Luke was worried that the shock and potential scandal might do for him. He wished he could have avoided telling him, but reminded himself that he was not the person directly responsible for causing him so much anguish.
I’m afraid your niece had Cleethorp wrapped around her little finger, and he would do anything she asked of him. But he must take his share of the blame. She assured him that with Brigstock out of the way, they would be able to live in comfort on her inheritance. Brigstock got wind of her machinations and exacted revenge by giving most of his blunt away before his death.’
Exton managed a chuckle completely devoid of humour. ‘Brigstock’s revenge would be admirable, had it not cost him his life. He would not have anticipated that, I am perfectly sure. Felicity told me after his death that he had not been as wealthy as she had supposed and that there were some hitches in the settlement of his estate. According to her, that was why she had been reduced to renting a small cottage on the outskirts of London and why she had asked me to take Lydia in for a prolonged visit. She had stayed with Felicity and Brigstock before that, you see. Anyway, I agreed because I had little choice in the matter. The girls are my responsibility, God help me.’ He let out a protracted sigh. ‘I am too old to chaperone a young girl. I no longer understand their needs—if indeed I ever did. But I could hardly refuse. I gave Felicity a fairly substantial loan too—’
‘Which is probably how she managed to raise the rent for her current lodgings. She was left virtually penniless, you know.’
Exton raised one white, bushy brow. ‘Are you absolutely sure?’
‘Perfectly so. I have spoken to Brigstock’s solicitors. There is no mistake.’
‘I believed what she told me. It never occurred to me that she would deliberately lie to me.’ Exton drained his glass, looking more upset that his niece had told him an outright lie than by anything else she had done. ‘The most shameful part of the entire affair, even more than her deliberately contriving the death of her husband, is her attempt to force Miss Pearson into a marriage with her paramour.’ Exton rested his forehead in his cupped hand and repeatedly shook his head, sending wisps of white hair flying round his bald pate. ‘It is beyond belief what that poor girl must have suffered. I am so very glad that you became involved, my lord, and saved her.’ He set his features in a rigid line. ‘What happens now?’
‘Cleethorp is, as we speak, on the London train. I have told him that if he ever shows his face in Swindon again then news of his exploits with reach his brother’s ears.’ Exton nodded his approval. ‘Frankly, I think he was glad of an excuse to escape your niece. She has letters of a compromising nature that he wrote to her that ensured he continued to dance to her tune, even though he had started to see her for what she is.’
‘Well, that’s something. I suppose you couldn’t expose his role in Brigstock’s death because you have no actual proof.’
