Page 8 of A Duchess to Fight For
Chapter 3
Louisa’s father, Frederick Haddington, the Duke of Rutland, enjoyed dabbling in investments. Although he didn’t restrict himself to the import and export business, it held the most interest for him.
And it afforded him a great deal of time with his brother, Hobart. He and Hobart were close, and it was rare that they didn’t see each other every day. Frederick came to Hobart’s warehouse to watch the comings and goings of crates filled with merchandise. Hobart oversaw the crates of cargo. Shipments came in and went out; the brothers were always investing in something.
Frederick entered the dockside warehouse alive with men carting crates from a cargo ship into an entrance as large as open barn doors. He looked for Hobart and found him near the gaping door, parchment in hand.
Hobart read every crate then pointed to the men carrying it to its destination. The controlled chaos continued for over two hours before the men were paid, and the large doors were closed and barred.
Hobart approached Frederick. “I would have sent a runner to let you know when we were done. You didn’t have to wait so long.”
Frederick smiled at his brother. “It never gets old for me. I enjoy watching you.”
Hobart pointed his chin towards his office, his hand overflowing with packing documents attesting to the contents of each crate. “I need a drink, and you probably need one too.”
He went to the sideboard and opened the decanter. Frederick waited silently, hearing the splash of whisky hit the side of the glass. Hobart handed Frederick his glass then lifted his glass and clinked Frederick’s.
Hobart made a toast. “To continued shipments that take three hours to unload.”
Frederick grinned. “Hear, hear.”
Hobart leaned back in his chair and smacked his lips. “I’ve got eighty per cent of this shipment spoken for. I need to find buyers for just twenty per cent. This will be one of our most profitable hauls.”
Frederick nodded. “My investors will be pleased. We’ll take our cut and use the remainder to buy more?”
“It’s what I’d like to do. If you ever want to do anything else, you just need to let me know. I’ve saved enough to continue to buy and sell shipments on my own, but I would be happy to work with you.”
Frederick took a drink and breathed out. “Did the crew have any trouble with pirates? There was another story in the newspaper this week that they burned down a ship in the open seas. If that happened to us, and I didn’t carry insurance, we’d be wiped out. What have you heard?”
Hobart nodded. “I heard the men say the ship’s captain refused to let them board, so the pirates shot burning arrows at them. I asked my captain about the pirates. He said he never saw any ships between here and India. He’s sure the pirates were sending a message. Pirates don’t sail the seas to go home empty-handed.
“He wanted to keep the guards, though. His crew can’t fight the pirates and sail away from them at the same time. If the guards can keep the pirates from boarding, they are worth every farthing they’re paid.
“So my plan is to get all the crates that are spoken for to their rightful owners, sell the remainder of the crates then rustle up business that we want to export. Our fabric is still a hot commodity in India, so I’ll start with the mills.”
“And that’s where I come in. I will raise the capital. Shall we say two months?”
“Six weeks should do it.”
“We’ll meet next week for the investor’s money?” Frederick said.
“See you then, Frederick, unless I see you before.”
*****
Frederick and Hobart had always been close. Frederick was three years older than Hobart so had naturally inherited the title, but Hobart never once mentioned that fact in the forty plus years they had shared the planet.
Their parents were another story. They both ignored, or worse, belittled Hobart while they doted on Frederick.
Frederick spent too much time wondering why his parents were like that. When he asked, they denied it. But there was no exclusive education for Hobart. There were no summers on the estates of other sons of Dukes. There were no trips to London to meet boys his age who would eventually serve in the House of Lords with Frederick. Because he didn’t have rank. He was nothing.
Frederick never considered him nothing. They were inseparable.
When they were children, Hobart crept into Frederick’s room every night, and they slept in Frederick’s huge bed. Their parents were never early risers, so it was rebellious and comforting, and that amused them both.
Another show of brotherhood didn’t go over so well. They decided to become ‘blood brothers,’ and so they carved an X in part of their upper arms. Unfortunately, when it came to Frederick, he became over-zealous in carving the X in Hobart’s arm.
The cut was deep, and it wouldn’t stop bleeding, so Frederick ran to the village to get the healer. She and Frederick rode horses back to where Hobart laid, blood on his sleeve and on the ground in a pool.
