Page 48 of Everything But the Earl
“He defeated Napoleon,” said Canbury.
“No, he didn’t. Did Prinny put on a uniform and march into France? He did not. Wellington won at Waterloo. Prinny wears costumes and pretends he’s a soldier.”
Canbury bristled. Edgerton just smiled.
Owen sighed and folded the letters he’d been reading. He slipped them into the leather portfolio he’d been carrying them in. “I intend to vote against the new road,” Owen said. “And I intend to do something about the Luddite rebellion. But if you’d like to sniff Prinny’s shoes in your spare time, far be it from me to stop you.”
Owen didn’t wait for a reply and instead left the room. But as he left, he realized he’d be stuck in London sorting all this out for the foreseeable future.
With his friends at the club that night, he said, “How didIbecome the member of Parliament most interested in the rights of regular people? I’m a bloody earl.”
“Something in your blood gets riled up when the English government begins to assert its authority,” said Fletcher.
“Joke’s on the Crown,” Owen replied. “I own the castle their ancestor built to threaten the Welsh.”
“Yes,” said Lark, “but despite several generations of your family worming their way into the British aristocracy, part of you still takes pity on anyone the Crown wants to oppress.”
“What has you so upset, precisely?” asked Hugh.
Owen knew exactly what the issue was, but voicing it to his friends felt…embarrassing. “Do you want my honest answer?”
“We won’t judge,” said Fletcher.
Owen rolled his eyes. “Yes, you will, but honestly, the situation isthat I suspect most of my fellow members of Parliament, even those in Commons, would just as soon side with the business owners and not bother about what is causing the rebellions.”
“The Luddite situation,” said Lark.
“Yes. To me, the obvious answer is to find other jobs for the rebels, because truly, all they want is to be able to earn enough to feed their families. And I think they have the foresight to know that now it’s textile mills, but soon machines could take over the way we make everything. Imagine if you no longer need a man to work a printing press, but instead newspapers are printed by mechanical means. Or what if machines made, I don’t know, clothing or food. Thousands of artisans would lose their jobs. I applaud these technological advances, but what do you do about all the people whose skills become obsolete?”
“It’s nice that you care,” said Hugh.
Owen grunted. “The problem is that I feel a moral and ethical obligation to see this through, at least as long as Parliament remains in session, because I worry that without a voice like mine, the Tories will let the rich and powerful level London to build more palaces.” Owen paused and rubbed his forehead. “I am pontificating.”
“It’s fine,” said Lark. “You let me blabber on last week. ’Tis now your turn.”
Owen nodded. “Well, I suppose part of me might prefer I were more heartless, because more than anything, I want to leave for Wales right now so that I can lie with my wife again.” That was the crux of it. He felt an ethical obligation to stay in London, but what he wanted more than anything was to be with Grace.
“Ah,” said Lark. “I see the issue here. You installed your lovely wife, who you like, contrary to all conventional knowledge, at your distant home and miss the touch of a beautiful woman.”
“I suppose I could write and ask her to come here, but that is not our arrangement.”
“Can’t hurt to ask,” said Hugh.
“She has her own obligations in Wales. According to her last letter, she now has two pottery students she is teaching, plus she is managing my estate and helping my aunt oversee the castle renovation work. There was also mention in one of her letters of her feeling a bit under the weather and not being able to travel much, even locally, although I suppose that was a month or two ago.” Owen shook his head. “It is uncouth to discuss such things.”
Fletcher frowned. “It sounds like you miss her.”
“I do.”
“And not just physically.”
Owen nodded. “I suppose that’s true. We exchange letters regularly, but it is not the same as speaking with her, and I find that, the more intimate our letters become, the more I want to see her. Is that mad?”
“It makes sense to me,” said Hugh.
Beresford walked in then, looking more morose than he usually did. Owen watched him speak to someone across the room before strolling toward the fireplace where Owen and his friends sat.
Beresford stopped by Lark’s chair and asked, “Women are still banned from this club, correct?”
