The Two Lords of Wealdhant Manor (10 page)

“Tomorrow,” Algernon agreed, watching Jasper until he had left the room and shut the door behind him.

W
hen Jasper arrived
at Wealdhant the next morning, he rang the bell.

It still felt odd to ring the bell and wait to be permitted entry by Algernon’s butler. Wealdhant still felt like his, even though he simultaneously felt like a trespasser every time he stepped across the ancient threshold. For the brief few days that he’d been Algernon’s lover, he’d gotten in the habit of letting himself in and making his way to the study or Algernon’s bedroom to steal kisses. If there was any way to return to that, he thought he should try.

If Algernon would cooperate. They’d agreed upon a route yesterday, and Algernon had seemed willing to help him. If that were true, they could repair their friendship and their fledgling romance, and Jasper would have a measure of propriety over both Algernon and the estate.

The butler let him in with a professional nod, and showed him to the study. Jasper couldn’t tell if the butler resented him or if there was—occasionally—some measure of approval toward his intimacy with Algernon. The other servants might have failed to notice the exact nature of the attraction and conflict between Jasper and Algernon, but the butler was all too aware.

“Thank you,” Jasper said to the butler, striving to remember the man’s name and failing. He wondered if he might make better progress with Algernon if he established a better rapport with the overprotective butler.

“Sir,” the butler said, and left him before the door to the study, not bothering to chaperone him in this time.

Jasper showed himself in.

Algernon was behind the desk with his feet up and a novel open on his lap. When Jasper entered, Algernon brightened at once and tossed the novel onto the desk.

“Jasper! Here you are. I hope we’re going on our promised outing?”

“That was my intent,” Jasper agreed, unable to resist smiling in the face of Algernon’s enthusiasm. They felt like friends again, although Jasper marshalled himself to remain merely civil until he had promises or assurance that Algernon would cooperate with him and take his side against the contrivances of the railway company. If Algernon would champion his route and dig his heels in against the railway, they would be able to weather this storm.

Coming around the desk, Algernon paused in front of him, watching Jasper’s eyes.

Jasper bit his tongue, heart pounding with the sudden surge of need to kiss him, but if he started that they wouldn’t get going. If he started that again, it would be crueller and more difficult to provide the marriage records to the railway solicitor.

If that became necessary, the best way would be to send a copy by mail, and to make clear that if the railway continued with the falsehood of Algernon as heir, Jasper would bring the evidence in court against the Coxholt-on-Hugh Railway as proof of their dishonesty and corruption. Even so, they might find another way, and even if their relatively tiny company collapsed and vanished, another would come.

The railway was inevitable. Jasper allowed himself to wonder whether Algernon would be more pliable if he kissed him.

That felt dishonest, and Jasper discarded the thought. Algernon must agree to cooperate against the railway company of his own accord, or it was worthless.

Even if Algernon cooperated, to let him stay would be tacit acceptance of what Jasper knew to be a lie. He wondered if the exception might be made, for Algernon. If Algernon would make a genuine effort to protect the people and lands of Wilston.

They left the manor together without a word, striding side-by-side along the manor drive toward Wilston.

“It’s good to have you back again,” Algernon said.

Neither of them touched as they walked, although Jasper was tempted to at least offer his arm to Algernon. He wanted the warmth and reassurance of Algernon’s lithe, athletic body.

He thought of Algernon’s playful smile, and the way his mirth glinted in his dark eyes and tilted his kissable lips.

“I’m glad to be back,” Jasper said, keeping his tone gruff to discourage any intimacy between them.

Algernon made an irritable grunt which Jasper found endearing. Jasper coughed to cover his amusement.

“I’m sorry about having you thrown out,” Algernon said, making a blatant attempt at reconciliation.

Jasper mulled over his response. “I lost my temper,” he said, pausing so that he could meet Algernon’s eyes. “It seemed at the time that you were entirely in the pocket of Mr. Sutton and not willing to cooperate with me in order to resist his plans.”

Algernon looked uncomfortable, which did very little to reassure Jasper’s concerns.

“Jasper,” Algernon said, fidgeting under Jasper’s regard. “You must understand—the railway does have their Act of Parliament, you see… There is little enough I can do to oppose them.”

Annoyed by Algernon’s refusal to even try, Jasper turned and resumed walking toward the village. Algernon scrambled after him.

“
Jasper
.”

Jasper clenched his jaw, keeping his attention on the shape of the first farmhouse of the village.

“I think you’re being entirely unreasonable,” Algernon said, folding his arms and shooting irritable glances toward Jasper as they walked.

“I think you’re being a cat’s-paw to Mr. Sutton’s ambition,” Jasper countered.

“Now see here, Jasper, I—”

The door to Mrs. Summerfield’s cottage opened as they drew near.

Mrs. Summerfield smiled at them both. Jasper forced a polite smile and saw Algernon do the same.

“Mrs. Summerfield,” Jasper said, doffing his hat in greeting.

“Good day, Mr. Waltham! And Mr. Clarke. Are the two of you engaged on some business together?”

“We are, Mrs. Summerfield,” Algernon said, likewise doffing his hat. “We are considering the route of the railway which will be traveling through Wilston.”

“A railway!” her eyes widened. “Are we indeed? I thought Lord J—ah!” Mrs. Summerfield blushed and wrung her hands with embarrassment at having nearly called Jasper by his local nickname in front of Algernon. “Forgive me, I do mean that I thought Mr. Waltham had sent them off and had them resolved to go around us.”

“That is likely not the case,” Algernon explained. “They have an Act of Parliament, you see.”

“Oh!” Mrs. Summerfield’s eyes widened. “I see! I do see!” She paused, resuming the wringing of her hands. “What does that mean?”

“It means that Parliament has approved the railway all the way between Lincoln and Coxholt, and we—along with all the other little villages along the route—must sell whatsoever land the railway requires. It is in the name of progress, you see.”

“So we’ll be like Cairkby, will we?” Mrs. Summerfield asked.

“I, ah.” Algernon rotated his hat between his hands. “Yes.” He cleared his throat and rallied his enthusiasm in a manner which Jasper found both admirable and irritating. “There will be new trade brought in, and industry! You’ll be able to travel all the way to London for a matter of pennies by the new Parliamentary carriages.”

“Oh, yes,” Mrs. Summerfield agreed fretfully.

There was an unhappy silence between the three of them.

“Will we…” Mrs. Summerfield said, ducking her gaze before trying again. “Will we be one of those factory towns, Mr. Clarke?”

Algernon looked toward Jasper for help and found none.

“I don’t know, Mrs. Summerfield,” said Algernon. “We haven’t a factory.”

“Oh, I’ve heard about those factory towns,” Mrs. Summerfield said. “Big noisy brutes of buildings, and stealing work from proper artisans!”

Algernon squirmed uncomfortably.

“England is changing,” Jasper said. “The railway to Cairkby has already brought us new blessings and challenges. The best we can do is to fight to make sure that Wilston is not trampled in the advance of progress.”

“To be sure you will, Mr. Waltham,” Mrs. Summerfield said.

“Good day, Mrs. Summerfield,” Jasper said, clasping Algernon’s elbow in order to steer him onward.

“We’re agreed then,” Algernon muttered, keeping his tone lower as they walked through the village. “The railway is inevitable.”

“We’re agreed upon the modified route,” Jasper said, “and it’s only Mr. Cranston who needs to be informed of it, since it will impact his farm most.”

Algernon’s jaw tightened, which made Jasper tense in anticipation of a renewed argument between them.

“Mr. Cranston’s farm wasn’t upon any of the old Wealdhant maps,” Algernon said instead.

“No,” Jasper confirmed. “His farmstead hadn’t been settled yet. When the manor was last occupied, Mr. Cranston’s ancestors were still slaves upon the estate.”

“Oh!” he said, folding his arms tightly over his chest and hunching his shoulders. “Oh. He’s the coloured gentleman I met the first day here, isn’t he? The one whose wagon lost a wheel.”

“Yes,” Jasper said. He thought of a pamphlet he had read some years ago which condemned the practices of the East India Company for having to some degree enslaved the populace of India, and wondered guiltily whether Algernon had some soreness upon that topic. “According to the story I heard, my great-grandmother allotted Mr. Cranston’s ancestors a portion of the Wealdhant grounds. This would have been before Somerset’s case put an end to slavery in England. The farm does well. The Cranstons are a credit to the estate.”

“To be sure,” Algernon said.

Algernon remained quiet and introspective the rest of the way to Mr. Cranston’s cottage.

Mrs. Cranston opened the door to Jasper’s knock, and smiled charmingly to see them. She was a pretty mulatto woman, younger than her husband, and very cheerful.

Algernon’s spirits revived somewhat when they were invited in and offered tea, and he interacted warmly with the two little girls who bounced around their legs.

“Now, ye must tell me,” said Mr. Cranston, who had the local Wilston accent thicker than his wife, “what it is that brings ye both here to my humble farm.”

“It’s about the railway, Mr. Cranston,” Algernon said, confidently taking the lead in broaching the subject. “Parliament has approved that the railway
shall
run their route through Wilston, and no matter what route we try to design it seems certain that it shall one way or the other run through your farm.”

“Through my farm!” Mr. Cranston exclaimed with shock.

“Through your field,” Jasper said. “The farmhouse shall be safe. Algernon, do you have the diagram?”

“I do,” Algernon said, taking it from his pocket and laying it upon the table. “This is our best invention of a route, but you see that it shall cut along the edge of your farm, through this field.”

“Aye, and what shall I do? Will the train’s passage damage my crops?”

Algernon frowned helplessly at the question and looked to Jasper for help.

“I don’t know,” Jasper said. “But we would be glad to provide whatever recompense we can. Some other portion of the estate land can be allotted to you, or you may simply expand your existing farm to the remaining land on either side.”

“I shall research whether or not a train’s passage is a danger to crops,” Algernon promised.

“Be there no other way?” Mr. Cranston asked.

“If I can find one, I shall enact it,” Jasper promised.

The Cranstons looked alarmed and worried. “May we keep this diagram to consider?”

Hesitating only a moment, Algernon nodded. “To be sure. We are all at a disadvantage by the railway’s encroachment. As Jasper said, we will assist you in any way possible. You need only to ask.”

“That is kind of you, Mr. Clarke,” said Mrs. Cranston.

They finished their tea in uncomfortable silence and left quickly.

“Did we handle that poorly?” Algernon asked.

“I think it went as well as it could,” Jasper said, walking companionably at his side. “The railway is making us all miserable, as you said. The slope to either side of Mr. Cranston’s farm is certainly too steep for a railway. But we shall certainly help Mr. Cranston. I intend to see to it that he and his family are housed and fed.”

“No matter what?” Algernon asked, smiling fondly.

Jasper coloured and frowned. “To the best of my ability, certainly.”

“No wonder they call you Lord Jasper.”

“Don’t you start.”

“Shan’t I?” Algernon asked. His grin widened. “I like the way it sounds. Especially if we are friends again. Will you call me Lord Algernon in return?”

Jasper caught Algernon’s hand. Surprised, Algernon stopped and blinked at him.

“Tell me you will do what you can,” Jasper said. “Work with me against the railway. Dig your heels in until they agree to the modified route. Fight with me to protect Wilston.”

Algernon frowned.

Tugging his hand away, Algernon took a half step back. “I’ll do what I can, Jasper. I’ll propose the new route to Mr. Sutton.”

“What, like a shy child? Please, sir, look at my little drawing? You have no shyness at all when it comes to bandying words with me! What is it about Mr. Sutton that scares you so?”

“I’m not scared of him!” Algernon snapped, folding his arms. “I said I will do what I can, Jasper. Stop pressing me.”

“There is something you aren’t telling me,” Jasper insisted.

“I’m under no obligation to tell you anything.”

Jasper clenched his jaw, studying Algernon’s expression. Handsome and charming though he might be, if Algernon would not cooperate with him, Jasper would have to take action.

“You understand why this matters,” Jasper said. “I know you do. You are simply being a coward.”

Algernon’s eyes flashed with anger. “And you are a brute. I am the Lord of Wealdhant, Jasper, and I am done with answering to you.”

Turning sharply, Algernon walked away.

Jasper watched him go.

He felt sick with unhappiness. There was something Algernon hadn’t told him, he was sure of it.

It didn’t matter. His duty was to the people of Wilston, and the truth. As much as he wanted to forge an alliance with Algernon, it was clear that the railway issue had put them on different sides and there was no hope of reconciliation.