Dressed for supper in the Room, I found myself in the servants’ hall staring at a battered Thatcher, currently surrounded by a mass of hysterical maids and angry footmen. Harriet was establishing calm, sending a young woman for cloths for the blood and dispatching one footman to summon me, another for Dr Page.
‘I can save you one errand at least,’ I said, catching her eye and smiling. ‘Better?’ I mouthed.
Her smile worried me, but this was not the time for delicate questions. I watched her deal with the whole situation, even deploying me once or twice on errands, once to check that the noise had not troubled Samuel, the next to assure Beatrice, flurried for the first time I had known her, that he was well. I was proud to work as part of her team. Accordingly, when it was time to ask questions and we adjourned to my office, I naturally looked to her as at very least my equal.
Dr Page sat opposite us at the table, rather than the huge desk. He looked uncomfortable, as well he might.
‘I do not ask you to break your Hippocratic Oath, Page – but I do need to know what is going on in this house. Not just for my sake, but for the sake of all the staff going quietly about their work who might meet the same fate as Hortense, as Samuel and now young Thatcher.’
‘Nothing but a few superficial cuts!’ he blustered.
‘Only because he is a tall, strong, young man,’ Harriet said. ‘What am I exposing my young women to? I have advertised, as you asked, for a nurse, but until one is engaged, I believe they are all at risk.’
Page took a long, deep breath. ‘What do you think is going on?’ Clearly he was desperate for a few more moments to work out how he should deal with the situation.
Indulging him, I said, ‘I believe that the cause of all these injuries is not her ladyship. Male voices have been heard coming from her private rooms.’ I looked at Harriet.
Nodding, she continued, ‘The chambermaids tell me there is evidence of more than one occupant. Mrs Arden tells me food has started to disappear from the kitchen. I believe her ladyship is concealing his lordship. Am I right? I take your silence as an affirmative. So how do we now proceed?’
Widening his eyes at her calm authority, he said, ‘You have alternatives. Some would say his lordship should be arrested, and feel the full force of the law. But when did the House of Lords last convict one of their own? Some of them would probably think that the beating of servants is acceptable! It is for wives, after all.’
A flick of her eyebrow told us what Harriet thought of that. ‘Is it only those for whom I am responsible that have been hurt?’
‘I understand … there are rumours … that vehicle of his – I believe someone at a house he had been staying at had his revenge. I treated his lordship and Luke when they returned here. They had to hand over their mounts to the man who accompanied them as part of their punishment. All very medieval.’
‘So Luke is here too! Does his father know? He doesn’t! Oh, how cruel.’
‘Is Luke his valet or his guard?’ I asked.
‘Both – more the latter, I suppose. What you must understand, Rowsley – what you must both understand,’ he corrected himself, with a small bow, ‘is that this is not his fault. He is suffering from a sort of madness, the result, I fear, of his father’s … indiscretions. You will note there was only one offspring of the marriage. I believe his lordship passed on the … the infection … to his wife. The version his current lordship has is almost certainly hereditary.’
‘No wonder mamas with marriageable daughters made them avoid him,’ Harriet said quietly. Then her face hardened. ‘He knew about this – is it syphilis? – and still seduced or raped the servants? Knowing he could infect them? He should indeed be brought to trial. They, after all, have a life sentence.’
‘But his legal advisers would argue insanity – and then he would be confined to an asylum where there would be no hope for him.’ He spread his hands. ‘This is not a decision to be taken lightly, is it? One thing we must all agree on, I know, is that he must lose his liberty. He will lose his mother too, by the way, soon enough – her symptoms are manifesting themselves now. The sins of the fathers, and of the husbands …’ He shook his head as if, for the first time, in despair. Then he resumed his professional demeanour. ‘What I propose is this—’
‘Page, I may have some proposals of my own, but not till I have discussed them with the key players in the household – my fiancée, Mr Bowman, and Mrs Arden. Without them, this household is nothing. Their years of loyalty and dedication must not be thrown away by our high-handed decisions. They must and will play a part. In the meantime, it is understood that the places of the staff will be taken by professional nurses and guards. The usual channels have not provided them yet: I’m sure you have people you can summon in an emergency like this? Thank you.’ I reached for the bell.
‘I’ve not quite finished here yet,’ he said. ‘I’ll make sure the sedatives I have administered to both are working, and then take one more look at young Thatcher. We don’t want those cuts to scar and spoil his beauty, do we?’
‘Indeed, we want no one to suffer long-term damage. I repeat, we need specialist attendants, Page, and some strong young men in case the sleeping draughts haven’t worked. Thatcher’s deputy will escort you to the servants’ hall.’ I rang.
I was not just being unwontedly officious. I wanted to have a few minutes with Harriet to see what she thought of my hasty plans. I drew my chair to hers, and took her hands in mine. ‘It has been a hard day for you especially, my love, and it may get harder. I have a few ideas. But if you disapprove in any way, foresee a single difficulty, I will abandon them without another word, I promise. Today we proved we have a special understanding, but I was conscious that I said things without consulting you first. Can you forgive me for jumping in? It will never happen again, I promise: we may be of one mind, but we need to establish that first!’
‘Yes. Yes, I forgive you and yes, we should work as a team.’ A blush suffused her face. ‘I—’
‘That is how my parents have always worked. It is the basis of their happy marriage. I hope it will be the foundation of ours.’
‘You may not – you cannot want me when …’ She swallowed hard. ‘There is something you should read before you speak of marriage again. I will give it to you tonight.’
I feared she would faint again, she was so pale, but she gathered herself together. ‘Meanwhile, these plans of yours …’
Our shared supper was a very sober affair, but at least Page had deemed it safe for Samuel to partake of the lightest of courses and a very little wine and water.
As we had agreed, I let Harriet explain the situation.
‘Any ordinary person who has done what his lordship has done would stand trial and no doubt be put in prison. But as a peer of the realm, his lordship is entitled to very different justice – and it is unlikely that he would be jailed. On the other hand, he might be sent to a lunatic asylum, which might seem the best option.’ She paused to look at the others’ faces. ‘He would be deprived of his liberty, which is just, but might be submitted to all sorts of indignities that people like you, Samuel, who have served the Family so long, would find unacceptable.’
‘He was my master, and his father before him – God rest his soul!’ There was no doubting his loyalty – which was about to be put to an even greater test.
Harriet continued, ‘Having his lordship certified would have all sorts of consequences. There is the obvious pain to her ladyship, but I am sorry to say that Dr Page considers she may be suffering from the same disease as her son – and some of our estate workers and their children, of course, may be afflicted.’
Poor Samuel’s face was a study in painful disbelief. ‘No! His father was a kind employer – a decent man!’
‘I agree. But even the best young men have … adventures … when they are young. “See Naples and die!” they say – because of the amount of disease spread by’ – she groped for a euphemism – ‘disease spread from man to woman and back to man. It seems to Dr Page that his lordship’s father may have infected her ladyship – and that their son, our current lord, is suffering from congenital syphilis.’ Her blush threatened to overwhelm her.
It was time for me to take over. ‘Sadly he is not known for his sexual continence, is he? And the disease may shatter the lives of people who, as their employer and landlord, he should have been protecting. I believe the estate must offer discreet but genuine compensation.’
Beatrice spoke up. ‘If his lordship – and maybe her ladyship too – are confined to an asylum, the House would have to be mothballed and even if the estate workers are kept on, all the domestic staff, maids and footmen – even Luke – would end up without work. Think how many families that would affect!’ She exchanged a quick glance with Samuel, clearly concerned for their future.
‘Exactly,’ Harriet said, to both her words and her unspoken fear. ‘As you may know, the only person who can dismiss Matthew is his lordship – and he probably has to be in his right mind to do it. So another suggestion comes to mind.’ Carefully she did not say whose mind. ‘The House is big, is it not? Most rooms are never occupied, nor were even when we had company. So it would be possible to seal off one wing – to make it as safe as an asylum. Dr Page would bring in specialist staff to care for him, and also, we could ensure, the very best doctors – not necessarily to stay here but to visit from time to time to make sure he is being treated properly and in the most up-to-date way. Of course we would not need nearly so many staff, but at least a few could keep their jobs – and with Matthew holding the purse-strings I think we can assume that no one would be dismissed out of hand. The estate could pay pensions to people feeling they were too old or set in their ways to find a new employer.’ She took a breath, as if to steady her voice. ‘Those afflicted with his lordship’s disease would also find money and if necessary a refuge here.’
Samuel gave me a harder stare than I was expecting. ‘Would this be legal? You might be feathering your nest for all the Law would know.’
‘I might. Samuel, half of me would love to abandon the Family to its fate. But like you I feel the burden of responsibility on my shoulders. Responsibility not just to you, my friends, and everyone in the servants’ hall, not just to the estate workers. You know I’ve long wanted to improve the estate houses and rebuild Stammerton. That way his lordship would leave a wonderful legacy of hope, not despair. And the building and furnishing would provide work for those who may have lost their jobs.’
‘Save them from the workhouse, you mean?’
‘Samuel, I would do almost anything to save anyone from the workhouse, having seen the conditions in even the best ones. We agree that all our colleagues here, great and small, are human? Let them not be treated inhumanely, then.’
‘What about Mr Pounceman? Won’t he shove his oar in?’
Harriet produced a sweetly malicious smile. ‘I suspect that if Matthew’s proposals are accepted, the family lawyer will suggest a board of overseers, such as workhouses have. If he were one of them he might be less inclined to gripe.’
If she had murdered four archbishops and seven babes in arms, I would still want that woman to be my wife. I said, ‘We must also ask the lawyer to institute a search for the heir to the title and the estate – to the best of my knowledge, he is a second cousin, currently living abroad. He must be informed; with luck he’ll be wise enough to return so that he may learn how an estate like this functions.’
At this point Tim knocked the door. ‘Sir, the people the doctor asked to come have arrived.’
Samuel rose to his feet. ‘Mrs Faulkner, I think you and I should escort them to the rooms concerned and discuss where they may be best accommodated.’
I nodded. ‘And I must send a note to Elias to tell him that his lordship has returned home safely, with Luke, but is too unwell to explain any more. Harriet – that book you recommended. Might I borrow it now, and read it in my office? Then I can return it to you and perhaps see if we come to the same conclusions about it before I leave for my house.’
She bowed and smiled, though she was white to the lips. ‘Of course. I have some accounts to complete before I retire for the night so please feel free to disturb me.’