Thank you all so much for your best wishes. I had a great day and was spoilt rotten! But, alas, it's time to get back to normal. The decs are down and put away and I can now concentrate on ridding this house of every blasted pine needle! Lol
September 24th 1843
...
Lord Carlisle Cullen
My dear Esme and I had pondered for many hours over the way to handle our estate when it came to the Swan family.
In normal situations, a lady, however old or young, would never sign a tenancy, but with Charles Swan passing away and Renee quite ill, I would now be going against every unwritten rule and would have Isabella sign the contract this year.
That in itself would be the talk of the village, but I would not turn my back on Isabella or her family. Her father, and his father before him, had run that farm like a well-oiled machine and I knew that Isabella was no different.
Charles was a highly respected farmer and what he did not know about farming, you could write on the back of a penny black stamp and above all, he was a decent family man and a friend of mine.
When Isabella and young Charles were born, both I and Esme would have gladly been their Godparents, but that would have been frowned upon and Charles senior would have done nothing to soil our family's name and reputation.
Instead, he asked that if anything were ever to happen to him, as a gentleman's agreement, would I make sure that his wife and children were taken care of.
It was almost a plea and after the solid years of his time with us as our loyal tenant and friend, who had shown us nothing but respect, I could not and would not let him down in that regard.
After his death, I made sure that Timothy, my land agent, gave relaxed terms to the family and I made sure that the rents collected from them were housed in the bank and not touched. I knew that Renee was also gravely ill and would not live on this earth for very long, so I made some plans to protect Isabella and young Charles.
With Esme's help, we made the bank aware that when young Isabella was eighteen, she would be handed back every penny she had paid to us since the death of her father, and we also opened an account at the bank for young Charles. He was the man of the house now, despite his age, and needed an education. A decent one would cost, and that would be an easy sum to find for us, but not so for Isabella.
I knew she was under a great deal of stress with the day-to-day running of the farm and her family and no doubt had not thought far enough into the future to secure his education.
I knew it could have been easy to all but force Isabella and Charles to move in with us, to give up the farm and let us take over their lives, but we knew it would make them miserable. Isabella deemed our lifestyle too high above hers and she would hate living here. It would be like caging a free bird. I laughed many a time when Esme would tell me of Isabella's bordering hatred for the upper class, but the deep respect that she had for all classes.
It pained me to think of Isabella working so hard the way she did and as much as I wanted to swoop in there and take her away from all her strife and pain, I knew I could not.
A knock on the study door made me put down the papers I was reading and call Timothy in.
He was a good and honest man who had been raised right and had managed to secure himself a wife. They were now expecting their first child and I knew they would make fine parents.
"Good morning, Sir, you wished to see me?" he greeted me, walking in with determination and holding out his hand for me to shake as soon as I stood.
Once the pleasantries were out of the way, we got down to business about the up-and-coming rents and agreements for the next quarter.
They were all dealt with in alphabetical order, and I was anxious to get to the Swan's account, even though I knew it would take time.
As much as I did not want to rush our work, I let out a large breath when they were done with and he held up the Swan's details.
"Obviously you know my plans for Isabella, so I need to redefine the lines this year again. Their rent is currently sat at forty-two pounds and three shillings for the year. How can we reduce that without Isabella becoming suspicious?" I asked with a gleam in my eye as I looked over the farm's information.
She was currently in charge of nine acres, eleven cattle, two horses, and many other smaller animals including pigs and poultry.
"I have been thinking about this. She does not need such a large woodland copse to manage, so we could take that back from her, but still give her leave to take what wood she needs for fuel and repairs. That could reduce her rent by a full fifteen pounds at least," he grinned in reply as he showed me a map of her land. "And also, maybe we stress that although it is not the done thing, she has leave to take whatever game from the lands, like the rabbits, pheasants and fish, without the threat of the gamekeeper, she may be inclined to relax a little on the food front." he finished as he pointed out the land and areas to take away from her.
I knew what it looked like by heart, but I would humor him this time.
"That is a good move, but what else?" I asked as he poured over the documents.
"I have an idea, well, Sophia had an idea, if you do not mind me sharing it with you." he asked and I motioned for him to continue, so he did.
"Isabella is well known for her preserve making with fruit and pickles. Maybe, if she were willing, she could step away from the livestock a little and concentrate on preserves as a living? If she had another farmhand or three, she could keep the livestock to tide her over until the fruits came in next year. If she had less to do, she could teach young Charles until he becomes old enough to go to school and she would have less pressure on her, helping her care for her mother. Sophia also suggested turning the farm from arable to market produce. Town is expanding as ever, thanks to our Queen and her love of all flowers and lace. Isabella would do well in that line of business. It would not take much for Isabella to preserve her produce and either sell it to stores or even at markets." he mused, and I was awed.
"It would have to be dealt with carefully, Isabella will not go for it if she thinks that it is some form of charity. For her to believe that it is an overhaul in business, I think I may have to visit her for myself," I said with determination.
Timothy's eyes lifted to meet mine.
It was almost unheard of for a landlord to see his tenants unless they were directly hired by him, like Isabella's father. I had only met Isabella once and that was when she was seven. I had seen her of course, many a time in church and on the road, but she was just as stubborn as her father and never made small talk with me when others would have seen us.
As my Esme liked to state almost daily, society says, and society does.
Isabella may have come from a poor family, but she had more respect than some from my class.
"Isabella will have kittens if you turn up on the farm and wish to talk to her. Perhaps it would be best if Lady Cullen talks to her first, you know she has a way with words." He smiled and I saw his thinking.
After Timothy left, I went in search of my love to get her views on the matter. Esme would be on board with anything that involved Isabella and young Charles.
I found her in the rose garden at the rear of the house with Betsy, her personal maid.
"I think it's a splendid idea but turning Isabella into a businesswoman will be no mean feat. I will need to urge her into town to see how it is done and she dislikes it so much," Esme giggled lightly and then went on to explain how much Isabella disdained town once again.
"I have to agree with her. If it were not for my position, I would like to spend my days in the country and talking of which, where is Edward?" I asked as we drank tea under a small gazebo by the edge of the lake.
"He has taken the children into the village with him. Charlotte all but begged him to buy her a new pinafore and he felt that his presence should be known in the area. He hates the whispers just as much as Isabella does and he knows that rumors will be rife of his returning home." she replied with a small smile and even though she tried, she could not hide her pain from me.
"Esme, he will find his way. I know that he has not been home much since Sarah passed, but he needs to overcome his fears and pain at his own pace," I said soothingly as I took her hand.
"I know, dear, but I do fear that he will forever be on his own and you know as well as I do that he needs something more in his life," she said sadly.
"I know and I think he knows that too, but I also know that he has his mother's strong disposition. He will not be on his own for long, he will find someone who will love him for who he is and will love his children like their own," I grinned, and she laughed.
"I have a plan for that."
I found myself rolling my eyes just as I heard the sweet laughs and voices of my beautiful grandchildren from behind me.
I looked over my shoulder to see them coming towards us, down the sloped lawn, smiles on their faces as they ran.
"Children!" I called out happily as I stood up just in time to scoop them up in my arms.
"Grandpapa, daddy bought me a bracelet!" Charlotte exclaimed with a small squeal as I spun them around. As soon as I placed them back on the ground by my side, Charlotte eagerly showed me her new treasure. Edward had made a lovely choice on, if I had to guess, an Etruscan style bangle that was perfect for my granddaughter.
"Be careful not to break the small chain or you will lose it and be heartbroken, sweetheart," I said with a smile and then bent over to kiss her head, and then Henry's.
"Hmm, I had plans to simply buy her a new pinafore and ended up spending a great deal more," Edwards's voice chuckled behind me, and it was good to see him smile where the children were concerned.
I knew it pained him to be constantly reminded of Sarah, but I saw it as a good thing. Without her, we would never have such beautiful children in our lives.
"That is something you will have to get used to, young man, with having a daughter." Esme laughed a little, but I saw the brief flash of pain in her eyes.
"Ah yes, Esme, but do you remember our small boy who would forever drag us around town to look in all the windows of the stores? I had to learn very quick to say no, otherwise he would have more toys in the nursery than anything else!" I laughed happily as I saw a wry grin on Edward's face, along with slightly pinked ears.
Soon after the children calmed down, Edward took them to the nursery so they could eat, and Esme and I were by ourselves again.
I saw the spark had left her eyes once the children had gone and after a little coaching, she carefully and tearfully recalled the conversation she had with Isabella in the village on her birthday.
"I did make it clear that I did not want to take Renee's place as her mother, but I care for her so much that it hurts. I want her and Charles to be more than tenants, Carlisle, I want them to know that they can come here at any time and talk to us if need be and to learn to lean on us."
"She has always been more than just a tenant, Esme, but I do see your point. It would be good to have another lass around, especially with Charlotte being so small. It may do her good to have a companion at some point in the future. And of course, let us not forget about young Charles. He and Henry would be brilliant together as friends," I mused, and Esme smiled wickedly at me and looked up to the house.
She was up to something.
"Esme, what are you not telling me?" I tried to sound stern, but it did not work as well as I had thought, because she laughed at me.
"Nothing, dear, nothing at all," she grinned in reply.
Almost 200 hundred years later and it's so bizarre to think of how times have changed. The mentality and way of life are so vastly different now.
What do you think about Carlisle's plans? Do you think that Isabella will go along with them? And Esme... lol