Page 43 of A Gentleman's Reckoning
John stood in his small sitting room, folded his arms, and looked around, dissatisfied. His life in those years since school had not been much different than that of many gentlemen, but that brought little solace. He had wasted his money on gambling and women and—were it not for his win from Barnsby—spent the entirety of the small inheritance he had received from his mother. He had not gone to visit his stepfather when he had first fallen ill and had only arrived after his death—a fact he could scarcely contemplate without being consumed by self-loathing. He scarcely paid heed to his brother’s attempts at closeness, except for fulfilling his promise to learn how to run the estate. But that had been self-serving. And yet, somehow, Greg had not come to detest him. Even his wife seemed to view John with undimmed affection. The remorse that he usually managed to keep at bay now bit at him.
Sobered by these reflections, John thought that there was no better time than the present to write to his brother. It would not be too soon.
Gregory—
I have just signed the legal documents for Westerly, and although any show of gratitude of mine will fall short of what I feel you deserve, I must attempt to express it anyway. I have wished to come and visit you and still hope to do so soon. I am staying in Chelsea at themoment, for I have found myself in a bit of a situation. My direction is in this letter should you wish to write to me here.
Please do not worry about me, and know that for once my troubles are not of my own making — at least it is not a result of my folly. But I prefer to explain it to you in person and promise to come as soon as I am able. In the meanwhile, I am compelled to send you a short letter to let you know that I am well, to thank you, and to send my affection both to you and to my dear sister, Anne.
Yours truly,
—John
The next day, John was in his office, with only Timothy sitting at his desk working on sums. Under John’s focused tutelage, he had grown more proficient at them, but he would never be at Gabriel’s level. However, John had no doubt that both had a bright future ahead of them and a more promising career than they might otherwise have, had they not landed in the asylum.
He glanced at the marble plaque that he had discovered hidden when the wall came down. It was astonishing that the falling stones had not broken it. He read the engraved names, taking more time to note the amounts associated with each one. It was in going through them methodically that he noticed, for the first time, Lord Hollingsworth’s name listed next to the amount of seven hundred fifty pounds.
After Timothy’s revelation about Gabriel being sponsored, he had eventually located the ledger from the year Gabriel arrived. Lord Hollingsworth’s gift was the exact sum of the anonymous donation that had gone to sponsor the boy. This detail caused him to speculate for the first time that perhaps Lord Hollingsworth knew the former Lady Goodwin more intimately than he had let on.
The more he thought about it, however, the more John had difficulty in crediting the notion. If the late Lady Goodwin was anything like her daughter, her integrity would be too pure topermit such a thing. He wondered if this might be a matter to bring before Lord Hollingsworth to try to get to the bottom of the misappropriation of funds. After all, Lord Hollingsworth’s name had not appeared in the early books either.
John looked up when he heard the sounds of footsteps approaching his door. Mr. Dowling appeared with the mason standing behind him.
“Mason Cook is here to repair the wall, although I told him that the damages are more extensive than when you first spoke of them.”
John had moved away from the marble plaque as soon as he had been aware of Mr. Dowling’s presence. He did not want him to be overly interested in its contents.
“Thank you. Let us go and examine it now.” He gestured to the mason, and also to Timothy, to follow him to the stable. As they crossed the courtyard, he elaborated on the damage.
“It is as the headmaster has said. A large part of the wall has crumbled, and this has created a hole between the chapel and the stable. It looks like the foundation will need to be strengthened. Is that something you can do?”
“I will need to see it,” the man replied.
John said nothing further until they were standing in front of the hole. The mason went over to pull one of the stones in the pile and finger the plaster that had attached it. He looked up at what was still holding the top of the wall in place and went over to the stones on the bottom, wiggling them to see how solid they were there. Then he stepped away, skirting the pile of stones.
“I can fix it, but I will need more help. It is too much of a job for one person.”
“I assumed as much. Can you give me an estimation of what you think it will cost to fix everything and repair the chapel wall from the inside as though it were new?”
The mason quoted a sum that caused John’s eyes to widen.No new donations had come to him recently, and the recurring ones were so small as to barely support the orphanage as it was. But this was not something that could wait.
“Find the men you will need and begin on the repairs as soon as you can,” he said. “I would like to have the work started as soon as possible so that we suffer no risk of anyone else getting hurt.”
John spun possibilities through his mind of how he might handle the budgeting for this. He would have to speak with Mr. Peyton and see if there were funds he was not aware of. It was difficult when he did not have full visibility on the donations coming in. He would manage to find the funds no matter what it took, even if it meant digging into his own savings.
“Very well, sir.” The mason looked at Timothy, who was a well-built lad and had shown his curiosity by following the mason around and watching his every movement. “Any interest in learning the trade?”
Timothy looked up at John with an eager light in his eyes, and John nodded his encouragement. “I give you leave to follow the mason while he is here, so you can learn all you can. We will resume your training when it’s over. In any case, it will give Gabriel more time to heal, so we don’t go too far in the lessons without him.”
“Yes, sir!”
“Grab a hold of this line here,” the mason said, without wasting any time. Timothy did so and began to help him measure the foundation that was still standing.
John left the mason to it, confident he knew what he was doing. Besides, the groom was there to answer any simple questions that might come, or fetch John to answer the more complex ones. As he exited the stable, a carriage rolled over the cobblestones into the courtyard, the iron gates closing behind it. John recognized the earl’s crest. For the first time, a frisson ofdread shot through him as he imagined the earl himself stepping out of the carriage and seeing John there.
Fortunately, this did not transpire, and instead he saw the footman helping the delicate Lady Geny to alight. John knew it would be unreasonable to seek a private conversation, especially after what he had said to her in their last meeting when he attempted to put distance between them. He should walk the other way, but he could not help himself.
“How do you do, my lady?” He bowed before her. She turned with surprise at the sound of his voice, a flush of pink touching her cheeks, and a smile coming to her lips.
