Page 27 of Scandal at Greystone Manor

They arrived at the front door of the Manor. Drew declined Isabel’s invitation to come in for refreshment, bowed and took his leave. Jane and Isabel went indoors and rejoined their parents and siblings. Nothing was said of the conversation on the road.

* * *

Jane had been promised enough money to buy a house for her children’s home without the need to use her aunt’s bequest, so she had agreed to hand that over to her brother.

‘I do it for Papa’s sake, not yours,’ she told him, a few days later when she caught him coming into the house in the middle of the morning. He looked dishevelled, as if he had been up all night and she wondered if that had been the case. He was rarely at home. ‘I have asked the bank to pay it into your account, but it will be the last. Use it wisely and no more gambling.’

‘Thank you, Sis.’ He grinned. ‘I suppose a jobation is a small price to pay for it, but you know you are sounding more and more like Papa.’

‘It is because we both worry about you, Teddy. You do not seem to have any sense of responsibility.’

He heaved a melodramatic sigh. ‘I am a sore trial to you, I know. How much is it, by the way?’

‘Five thousand pounds and I begrudge every penny of it and make no bones about it. If it had been for anything else but gambling...’

‘It will pay my way out to India and keep me going until I make my fortune.’ He stopped her before she could begin scolding him again.

‘India! What are you talking about? No one has mentioned India.’

‘Well, it might be the West Indies. I haven’t made up my mind.’

‘Teddy, that money is meant for you to pay off Lord Bolsover and your other debts. It was not given to you to fund your travelling.’

‘Unfortunately I have no choice. Five thousand is not nearly enough to see me clear and Hector Bolsover, for some reason of his own, has been going round buying up all my debts, not only the gambling debts, but everything else. I don’t know what his game is, but it ain’t good to have all one’s debts in one pot. Spread about a bit they can be managed by paying off a little here and there, robbing Peter to pay Paul, as it were, but as it is I am trumped. There is nothing for it—I must emigrate.’

She was appalled. ‘Teddy, have you been gambling since you returned home?’

‘I’ve only been trying to recoup my losses. I thought it would save you having to stand buff for me...’

‘Now you are in deeper than ever.’ She was exasperated that he never seemed to learn.

‘Sorry, Jane.’

‘Have you told Papa and Mama you are leaving?’

‘I am about to.’

‘And when will you go?’

‘On tonight’s mail. Wish me luck, Jane.’

‘Luck! I would sooner box your ears. You have brought disgrace on this family, Teddy, with all this talk of luck. I can only hope that a spell abroad and some real work will bring about a miracle.’

‘Oh, Jane, give over your lecture. You will not see me again for some time, let us not part at odds with each other.’

His engaging grin was still evident and she relented enough to hug him and tell him to take care.

The family was all at odds, she reflected as he hurried away. Her brother was a scapegrace and her sister, Isabel, was having serious doubts about a marriage that had been talked about for years and welcomed by both families. Her father was worried to death about his finances and her mother blind to it. So far there was nothing wrong with Sophie except a tendency to speak without thinking. As for her own thoughts and feelings, they were as much in disarray as everyone else’s. The best cure for that, she decided, was to occupy herself with something worthwhile.

She was determined to make her orphanage a success and although she had enough to start looking for premises, she would still need a regular income to run it. To find that she must raise more money and the best place to do that was London. Her father would never allow her to go alone and he was too preoccupied to take her. It would need some thought.

* * *

Jane consulted the Rector and Mrs Caulder and though the Reverend said he would enquire about premises, he cautioned her not to consider travelling to London without a male escort. ‘Instead you could make a start by writing letters to influential people,’ he said.

‘Begging letters?’ she queried in dismay.

‘Well, yes, but in a very good cause. Shall we give the organisation a name so that you are not asking for yourself, but on behalf of everyone connected with the idea? I would ask Lord Wyndham to put his name to it, but it is too soon after his bereavement. I will sound out one or two others.’

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