Page 79 of Scandal at Greystone Manor

‘No, Mr Halliday, I am not. I need to find out all I can about Lord Bolsover. Are you quite sure his claims are just and fair?’

The old man smiled. ‘Just and fair? Hardly. But if you are asking me if they are legal, then I must tell you that as far as I can see they are. Do you have information to the contrary?’

‘No, I hoped you might have. Did you know he has bullied Sir Edward into allowing him to propose to Miss Cavenhurst—Miss Jane Cavenhurst, I mean—and his lordship intends to take her and the Manor in lieu of the debt?’

‘No. I did not know. That is indeed troubling news.’

‘I think Sir Edward believes Bolsover has your support. And Jane—Miss Cavenhurst—is convinced she has no choice but to agree.’

‘Good God!’

‘Do you know anything at all that might discredit his lordship?’

‘Only that he is a gambler and plays deep, but if he chooses to live in that way, it is his affair.’

‘I would like you to dig a little, see what you can unearth.’

‘My lord,’ Theodore said with some pomposity, ‘Sir Edward Cavenhurst is my client. I cannot do anything without his permission.’

Mark turned to the younger man. ‘Then what about you, Cecil? Will you take my instructions?’

‘I would,’ he said doubtfully. ‘If I knew why you were asking.’

‘I am soon to be married into the family and would not have them brought low if I can help it. I would pay off Sir Edward’s debt myself, even though it would have a damaging effect on my own resources, but Sir Edward is too proud to accept. Besides, if Lord Bolsover is crooked, I want him brought to justice, not to pay him off.’

‘I’ll see what I can do,’ Cecil said.

‘Then you must do it in your own time,’ his father said. ‘I do not doubt we will have trouble getting Sir Edward to settle his account as it is. I am not inclined to spend any more time on his behalf.’

Mark left, annoyed that even Sir Edward’s own lawyer was turning against him. Cecil’s enquiries might take some time and he was too impatient to wait. His next call was at White’s, where he hoped to find Toby Moore, but Toby like the rest of London society had decamped to the country. The man did not have a country estate, but was no doubt going the round of friends. Frustrated, Mark went to Horse Guards where he met his old battalion commander. ‘Can you tell me anything about Lord Hector Bolsover and Captain Tobias Moore?’ he asked him when they had finished clapping each other on the back and Colonel Bagshott had congratulated him on his elevation while commiserating with him on the demise of his father. ‘What regiment were they in?’

‘I have no idea. I believe they served in the Peninsula, if not at Waterloo. Toby Moore calls himself “Captain”. I met him once just before the battle of Cuidad Rodrigo. Never saw him again after that.’

‘It will take me a little time searching the records. How long are you in town?’

‘Only today and tomorrow. I must return to Hadlea the day after.’

‘Let’s meet tomorrow evening for supper. Stephen’s at eight o’clock suit you?’

‘Yes, I will be there.’

Mark went back to South Audley Street to spend an evening at home. He could have gone to his club but he did not feel like being sociable. He had too much on his mind. If he could only find something to discredit Bolsover, he might save Jane from being forced into marrying him. It would please Jane and her parents, but it was not enough. It did not release him from his engagement to Isabel. That was something else entirely.

* * *

The following evening he met Colonel Bagshott as arranged. They spent a frustrating hour and a half, talking about old times and old comrades and reliving old battles, before the subject of Hector Bolsover was broached.

‘As far as I can tell Lord Bolsover was never in the army,’ the Colonel said. ‘I believe he went out to the Peninsula as a civilian, though why I do not know.’

‘He is a gambler,’ Mark said. ‘No doubt he was fleecing the troops. What about Toby Moore?’

‘He was cashiered for cowardice after the Battle of Cuidad Rodrigo. He has no right to call himself a captain.’ He paused. ‘Are you going to tell me what this is all about?’

Mark told him the same story he had told the lawyers. ‘I was hoping to discredit Bolsover enough to make him leave the field,’ he said, ‘but so far have discovered nothing except that he is a mountebank of the first order.’

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