Hope for Tomorrow (20 page)

“
I've disappointed you,” he said. “You expected me to be the wealthy landowner who could help and instead you find an impoverished aristocrat who is all show and no substance.”

“
Don't say that!” she chided. “You are far more than your bank balance and you also do me a disservice if you think that money was the reason why I liked you.”

“
I'm sorry.”

“
I was thinking.”

“
Am I allowed to ask what you were thinking?”

“
I don't know,” she admitted with a small smile. “Actually I was wondering if I was brave enough to loan you the investment capital. I mean, I shouldn't even be talking to you about any of this without hearing what Gus has to say. It is his company name that will help sell the garments and I don't even have the slightest clue yet if he likes the idea. I only sent the letter detailing my plan this morning and now I am already offering loans.”

“
Thank you for the offer,” he said, genuinely touched by the gesture. “But I could not take your money.”

That got her hackles up!

“
Why? Because I am nothing but a fallen housemaid and you are the Earl's son?” she snapped.

“
Not at all,” he sounded genuinely distressed at the thought. “It's because I would essentially be taking money from Hope.”

“
Please,” she scoffed. “I already have more than enough for two lifetimes.”

“
What?” he looked genuinely shocked.

“
Well, I do... Gus gave me a share in the company and for years the profits just piled up in my account. Then he invested some of it in the railways for me which just keeps paying interest and I have since invested some more in them and... what can I say, the railways are popular.” She shrugged, almost feeling guilty for having so much money.

“
Oh, my dear, if only my father had just a little of the foresight that your Gus has, neither we nor the town would be struggling right now.”

“
Well anyway, as I said I really should not have told you this yet. And if we do go ahead, you and Gus must act on my behalf in this town. If word should spread that I am just a fallen housemaid then the reputation that our gloves have will be lost.”

“
You must not talk of yourself like that.” It was his turn to chide her. “You are far more than just a fallen housemaid.”

“
Perhaps, but we both know that is all most people will see if they find out. My lives in Penchester and Marchwood must never meet.”

He nodded his head, conceding the point.

“
Speak with Gus. I have no head for business other than farming and property but if he is agreeable I would be willing to talk terms, provided that you charged interest on any loan.” 

Martha smiled.

“
You seem to have settled,” she noted. “When you were younger you were constantly railing against becoming the next Earl.”

“
I remember,” he smiled. “I now think that might have had more to do with obeying my father than any dislike over running the estate. Now that I have a more or less free hand, I find that I rather enjoy it.”

“
Even with the sleepless nights?” she asked.

“
Even then.” He nodded. “And if only my father would agree to sell the land to the railway then I'm certain that my sleep would also be much improved.”

“
I'm sorry,” she said. “It seems rather cruel that you are tasked with running something but have no say over the more important matters.”

“
We all have our crosses to bear,” he said with a faint smile. “As crosses go, mine isn't really so bad.”

Martha smiled back, wondering at the new maturity that he was showing.

Lady Beaumont had learned about the housemaid's family taking one of their properties from her lady's maid and needless to say, she didn't like it one bit!

Lucien didn't often spend much time at home during the day, preferring to be hands-on in his management of the land but now that she knew this woman was back, Lady Beaumont thought that Lucien must be spending all his time with her. How he ever expected to find a wife while chasing after a housemaid was beyond her.

Unfortunately Lucien was his own man now and she had to be very careful about how she handled things. She set her mind to finding a way to get rid of this woman without her son finding out about it.

Chapter Eighteen

Martha received a reply from Gus two days after she had sent the letter. To her surprise he said that whilst he was happy to offer his advice, he wanted no part in this venture himself. He hoped that wouldn't put Martha off exploring the idea and he was happy for the Aldercott name to be used on the designs, he simply felt that it was time for Martha to branch out on her own and start making her own business decisions.

The one piece of advice he would always give when considering an investment though, was to never invest more than you could afford to lose.

That left Martha with something of a problem since Lucien would have to act as her sole agent in Marchwood as for obvious reasons, 'Martha Aldercott' couldn't visit the town and for equally obvious reasons, no business would want investment from 'Martha Dawley'.

When Lucien visited the house that morning, she told him of the contents of Gus's letter and he could see that she was frightened by the idea of making her own decision.

“
It was a nice thought anyway,” he smiled, letting her know that he had no hard feelings.

“
I do not much like the idea of investing in the mill if I cannot get directly involved in it, which would be difficult without Gus's help but I'm not giving up that easily,” she told him.

“
So what do you propose?”

“
First of all, that I loan you the money to invest in the mill to ensure that they remain in Marchwood. You and I will then go into business designing and making outerwear using wool that we will purchase from the mill. Of course to the masses 'Martha Aldercott' will be a silent partner but of course we can still talk and correspond over business matters.”

“
But we will still face the problem of not having a railway line.”

“
True, but we also have the advantage of knowing that it is coming once your father passes away. In the meantime we can secure ourselves a good deal on the wool since there will be no transportation costs involved as well as getting a good price on our premises since the local economy is so poor. Hopefully those savings will offset the loss to our profit margin from increased transportation costs.”

“
You really have thought about this,” he said.

“
I have. I suggest that we are equal partners in the new venture. I will put up the capital that we need to get started and when you sell your land, you can repay me half of the start-up costs. You will need to be in charge of the workshop here-”

“
But I know nothing of dressmaking,” he interrupted her.

“
You don't need to,” she assured him. “We will find someone who can take care of the seamstresses, you just need to handle the business side, expenses, wages, orders, that sort of thing. It shouldn't be very different from what you already know.”

Lucien was in two minds about this. He felt that it
was
a good idea and would help give the town a boost until the railway arrived, with the added bonus that if he had another source of income, then he wouldn't be completely reliant on a good harvest each year. Still he felt out of his comfort zone when he considered the intricacies of the business because it was an industry that was completely unknown to him. Estate management and farming he had grown up with but dressmaking?

The deciding factor for him was the fact that they would be in business together, meaning that they would have to stay in regular contact. He didn't think that she was doing this for him, she was doing it for her home town but there was no point in claiming to be a reformed character if you never got a chance to prove it and this could be his chance.

The next few days were rushed as they looked around possible premises and sought a manager who could oversee and hire the workers. They talked a lot but mainly about the business and various ideas for it. They decided to call it Beaumont & Aldercott since Beaumont was part of the aristocracy and Aldercott already had herself a fine reputation in the clothing world.

The time that Martha didn't spend with Lucien she spent with her family since she only had a few days left. She taught Mary a few more tips on sewing, who could in turn pass those tips onto Maggie. She found an elderly gentleman from the hamlet who for a few shillings offered to teach the boys how to grow their own vegetables. Thankfully, though they were a few weeks late it was still Spring and so the boys could expect their first harvest fairly soon.

She wasn't able to find someone to act as nurse, housekeeper, nanny and governess, which had been a tall order, but Mrs Lassiter and Sarah both assured Martha that they would stop in regularly and inform her if there were any troubles.

John was still a monster but he had calmed down a little, possibly because his work each day tired him out. Lucien had agreed to keep him on and start paying him a wage which John didn't seem to like but he also didn't argue. Martha was ready for him to run away again as soon as he had worked off his debt to Lucien but there was little she could do if he chose that path.

Her mother was looking healthier with each passing day; she was eating semi-solid foods now and sitting up in bed. Martha was sorry to be leaving her but she hoped to be able to come back fairly soon.

She left the family with strict instructions to tell Mrs Lassiter immediately if their father should come back to town. She had no firm plan of what she would do yet but she had a few ideas in mind.

Finally her seven nights were up and it was time to return to her other life. It felt so strange to be leaving again. She hadn't realised how on-edge she always felt in Penchester, constantly on her guard lest she say or do the wrong thing. Coming back here she had been able to let her guard down for once and her time here had actually been very relaxing, despite the problems.

Lucien took her in his coach to the railway station in Manchester and after her belongings were loaded, they stood by her carriage, each feeling awkward.

“
Thank you for your help,” Martha said. “Without you this would have been much harder.”

“
And thank you for your faith in me, I hope that I can do you justice.”

“
I'll write as soon as soon as the contracts have been drawn up.”

Lucien wanted to tell her how pleased he was that they had become friends again but was afraid of frightening her off.

Martha on the other hand, was frightened of her feelings for him. They had spent a lot of time together over the past week and got along just as well as they once had but it was that very ease of their relationship which frightened her. What if she fell back into the same trap that she had when she was younger? Still, a curtsey felt too cold a goodbye.

They were business partners now though, so Martha hit upon a compromise. She pulled her glove off then held her right hand out. Lucien gave her a warm smile as he grasped her hand.

“
Goodbye, Martha.”

“
Goodbye, Lucien.” She smiled back then reluctantly stepped away and let his hand go as the whistle blew to let passengers know they they needed to get on board.

Lucien stayed on the platform and waited until the train was out of sight before finally turning away and leaving the station.

As Martha alighted from the train in Penchester, she looked around for a porter. Her eye was caught by a flash of dark hair and she smiled as she saw Hope running along the platform towards her, Gus following in her wake. She thought it was unusual for Gus to be here to meet her on a work day.

“
Mar, Mar!”

Martha bent down and scooped Hope up, holding her tightly and ignoring the stares she received from passers by.

“
Oh, my darling, I missed you.”

“
I missed you too,” Hope said, clinging tightly to her neck. “Is your friend all right?”

“
She's getting better now, thank you.” Martha kept a hold of Hope as she turned to Gus and for a moment she felt a pang of dread as she noticed how pale he looked, not to mention how slowly he was moving. He had never been a spring chicken but he had always seemed robust.

She plastered a bright smile on her face as he approached and kissed his cheek when he reached her.

“
How have you been?” she asked.

“
Oh, fine, fine,” he smiled. “Hope and I have been having a lovely time, haven't we, darling?”

Hope nodded. “Uncle Gus let me have two pieces of cake.”

“
Did he,” Martha smiled. “Well I hope you said thank you.”

“
I did.”

Martha waited until they were home and settled alone in the study before she asked Gus, “And how are  you really? What's wrong?”

Gus sipped his brandy and considered how to to answer.

“
Age,” he said.

“
Did you see Thomas?”

“
I did. He said it was old age. I dropped the
'old'; personal preference.
”

“
What else did he say?”

“
To take things easy, perhaps consider retirement.”

“
What happened?”

“
I became very short of breath, had a sharp pain in my chest. There's no treatment, no cure only lying back and enjoying life.”

“
Is that so bad?” she asked. “Haven't you earned a rest?”

“
What would I do with myself?” he asked.

“
Maybe we could go travelling.”

“
I don't like travelling and I do not want to spend my last years in a strange country with odd foods.”

She reached out and took his hand.

“
Well, maybe you can just take things a bit easier,” she said. “Spend more time at home with me and Hope. I'm sure you can find someone to take a little of your workload and if you can't, I'll do it.”

“
Oh, my dear,” Gus smiled reassuringly, realising how upset she had been. “I just need to learn to work at a slower pace, to stop thinking I am still a young man and listen to my body when it tells me to slow down. Don't you worry, I'm not ready to be measured for my coffin just yet.”

“
Good,” she smiled but still, at the back of her mind his appearance and his letter saying that he wanted no part in this new business venture worried her. Was he keeping the truth from her? Did he really have years?

She tried to put those thoughts aside for now. She would keep a close eye on him and see how he was over the next few days.

Three days after Martha left Marchwood, the Earl and his wife left for Blackpool where they had rented a house for three months. The estate couldn't really afford it but Lucien was willing to risk more debt if it helped his father.

It also meant that Lucien was now completely free to work on the new business with Martha. He still managed the estate, of course, but with his mother around he couldn't spend too much time in town or she would question him endlessly.

She had made it clear that she knew about Martha's family living in one of their properties and didn't like it but Lucien was immovable. She seemed to relax when he explained that now that Martha's family was taken care of, she was leaving again.

She never even asked about her granddaughter, not that Lucien knew much to tell her.

He set up meetings with the woollen mill to see about investing, purchased a large herd of  Merino sheep and along with the manager they had found, who had been poached from the Misses Nelson at the haberdashery, found a light and airy premises that they could work from (to cut down on the need for candles).

Many seamstresses worked from home but Martha preferred to follow the model that she knew, that Gus used for his gloves and so they took a lease on premises, though they called it a workshop not a factory (it was a question of image, Martha said). Lucien knew nothing about the trade so he was happy to defer to Martha in most cases.

He kept her regularly updated but although he wanted to, refrained from writing to her daily and kept it to twice a week at most.

Martha kept her replies brief and businesslike, informing him of progress at her end, items that she had ordered such as dress form dummies, and of course she sent the cheque for him to post into the business account.

Then at the beginning of May she sent him a letter which started off like most of her others but after a few paragraphs changed into a long, at times rambling letter detailing her fears for Gus, who apparently had suffered a fit of breathlessness whilst she was in Marchwood and another one just the day before she wrote.

Lucien's heart went out to her, for it was clear how much she both loved and respected him. Unfortunately he didn't really have any advice for dealing with the possible loss of a loved one so he just wrote back a sympathetic letter telling her how sorry he was, how much he had enjoyed meeting Gus and expressing his sincere wishes that Gus would survive for a long time.

He didn't know how she would react to that so he was pleased to receive a reply that thanked him for not repeating the same useless platitudes that she had heard so often recently.