The day that Josie was to meet this man was a gray day. The morning air, even before the rain began to fall, was already a dismal and foggy day. It was typical British day so to speak. The only thing that made it bearable to Gregory was that the rain would make the flowers grow, and that he could at least spend the day next to Josie.
That day was going to be an eventful one. They were going to meet the infamous and elusive Mr. Waite, business partner to Josie's dearly departed father. Gregory was curious, but there was also a shadow of uneasiness that hung over the air. But that feeling did not come from him. Rather it was from Josie herself. The P4 had commandeered a comfortable room in the main school building. It was typically reserved for meetings with the parents of the children who attended the school, or for meeting persons of some kind of importance. As it was not reserved for the day it was easy for them to use it for this meeting. Edgar had even ordered a rather tempting set of cakes and pies that were laid out on a silver platter next to the fire. And there was a nice pot of fresh hot tea. The prefect did enjoy putting on a show. While Gregory sat on the other side of the room Redmond, Greenhill, and Bluewer sat clustered around Josie like protective knights. Greenhill was openly staring at Josie and Gregory tried to not care.
The night before she had confided in him. "What if he demands money from me? What if my father had debts that I did not know of? I have a few books that I could sell if needed…but if it's more than that I am afraid I will end of in a debtor's prison!" She said in a rush of worry.
Gregory shook his head," Believe me, men like this, if there was a debt that was owed then he would have been here much sooner. The only thing that the rich love more than making money is collecting money that is owed to them. I think that you might be right. Perhaps that he just wants to give you his condolences over your father's death."
Josie looked at him wide eyed and some anxiety seemed to leave her face. But he knew that she was still worried. That worry would linger until she knew what this Mr. Waite truly wanted from her.
As noon approached, the time with which Mr. Waite had agreed to meet with her, Gregory buried himself in his sketch book and pretended to not care about the whole thing. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Josie. She sat ramrod straight in an oversized chair next to the happily roaring fire. In the chair she looked even smaller and more delicate than normal. Her hair was down and brushed to a fine glow, actually it had been brushed by none other than Edgar himself. He seemed to take a strange joy in doing it too. If Edgar was not her cousin it would have the rest of them wondering what his intentions were to the young lady.
Are you jealous Gregory? At least he gets to touch her when he wants too. Gregory banished the thoughts and focused on his drawing. It was a dark scene that he was painting, all dark storms and lighting over a tumultuous sea.
There came a knock on the door to the room and Josie jumped up as if she was a hunted rabbit and walked to the door. Even her large brown eyes were wide with an anxious look. It made Gregory ache and he wanted to comfort her in some way. Instead he remained seated.
On the other side of the door was an older man. But what struck him more than anything was that he was also exceptionally tall, and large. A full head taller than Josie he looked even larger than he probably was. His hair was a pure white and longer than most people would be considered civilized, but it just made him like the man more. He had a substantial gut as well, but was well dressed in the suit of a well to do business man. In fact, this Mr. Waite looked as if he were the living caricature of Santa Claus.
When he saw Josie he immediately broke out into a smile. He took off his hat and bowed deeply to the girl, and she looked taken aback at this mans' presence.
"My dear Josie! It is a great pleasure to meet you in person! Your father was a great man and business man, his death was an absolute shock." He said with a shadow crossing his face as he talked about her father. His grief did seem genuine to Gregory. His voice carried a very thick accent, thought he spoke British perfectly, he knew that English was not this man's first language
Josie smiled at the man, "It is wonderful to finally meet you Mr. Waite. Please do come in and have something to eat. In your letter you said that you had to talk with me as soon as possible."
She led Mr. Waite into the center of the room and introduced the rest of the P4 to her visitor. Even Gregory moved from his spot to shake the mans' hand. He had a firm grip and looked Gregory straight in the eye as he was introduced. Somehow he liked this Mr. Waite right away. He had an honest sense about him. But deep beneath that jovial exterior he knew that this was not a man to double cross.
Once the introductions were over Mr. Waite sat down in the arm chair that Josie had been sitting in previously, while she sat next to him in a less ornate wooden chair.
"My dear Josie, before I tell you this news are you comfortable with me sharing anything with these fine young men around? Are they trustworthy fellows?" He asked with a quick look around the room.
Josie nodded, "Yes, they are my friends and Mr. Edgar Redmond is my cousin." She said gesturing to Edgar, who smiled broadly at the attention.
Waite nodded and cleared his throat. "As you know I was a business partner with your father. He had only been my partner for a few years, and he had many others of course as I do as well. Our particular business venture involved the selling of oriental silks in the Scandinavian countries. I am Swedish you see," He explained.
At least that confirmed his suspicion that Mr. Waite was not an Englishman, but he wondered where this conversation was going.
"I had been in Stockholm when I received word of your father's death. I was unable to come as quickly as I wanted as I still had to oversee the distribution in Helsinki, and also in Copenhagen. And when I arrived in England I could not find you, I was afraid that perhaps you had died as well. But another business partner of your fathers told me to check the bookstore and see of the proprietor could give you a letter on my behalf." He smiled as he looked down on her, as if he was preparing to impart some great secret.
While he spoked Josie poured him some tea in a china cup and handed the dainty thing to Mr. Waite. In his large hands it looked laughable small.
Her voice shook as she finally spoke, "Is there some debt that I need to settle with you Mr. Waite? I'm afraid that I do not have much to sell, but I will do my best to repay anything that is owed."
Mr. Waite looked taken aback and shook his head. "No my dear girl! In fact I have come to give you what is owed to you! Your father got a fine share of money from going into business with me. The venture proved to be very successful, and the profit was more than I had ever suspected."
Josie looked confused until Waite reached into his pocket and produced his wallet, from which he took out a small piece of paper that Gregory knew was a check.
"Josie, I know that the rest of your father's estate was sold to pay debt. This here, this check, is all yours. Your father would have been happy to know that he was able to leave you with an inheritance."
Josie gingerly took the check as Mr. Waite sat back and sipped his tea. Gregory watched her face freeze as she read the amount on the check. It must have been a shocking number as her eyes grew even wider than they had before.
"All of this…this is from selling silks?" She asked with a breathless voice. The poor girl looked like she was going to faint.
Mr. Waite laughed. "It is! It was your fathers' idea, he procured the silks and I sold them. He suspected that the whole thing would make us rich."
Gregory kept watching Josie and she suddenly handed him the check. "Hold this, I need a cup of tea myself."
Gregory took the check and, even though he knew it was snooping, he looked at the amount of money. The total on the check was to the sum of $20,000 pounds. Gregory coughed in surprise and handed the check back to Josie when she returned with her tea.
Violet knew what that amount meant. That was enough money for Josie to live off for the rest of her life. She could buy a house, have nice clothes, spend her days reading and playing the harp while her children played at her feet. No wonder her father's entire estate was sold to pay off debt. He must have bankrupted his entire fortune on the hope that it would pay off. And it seemed that it had. Gregory looked at Mr. Waite in a new light. This jovial Swedish man could have kept the whole thing for himself, Josie would never have known that there was a fortune waiting for her. She would have lived and died as a poor servant. This, Gregory realized, was one of those rare honorable men.
Josie kept the check clutched to her chest as she drank her tea. There were tears in her eyes. "Mr. Waite, I don't know what to say. This changes everything for me!" She said with happiness in her voice.
Mr. Waite looked over whelmed with her response. "Think nothing of it my dear, you remind me of my own granddaughter. I know that if something happened to me I'd want to make sure that she was well taken care of." He patted her shoulder in a grandfatherly fashion and grateful tears fell from Josies' eyes.
Gregory felt that he could not breathe. That money was a great thing. He did not begrudge her the money, if anyone deserved that money it was Josie. She was the sweetest and kindest person that he knew. The rest of the P4 gathered around Josie, giving her their congratulations. Even Greenhill gave Mr. Waite another firm handshake and thanked him profusely; he knew what it meant for Josie as well. Gregory hung back and let them all surround Josie and shower her with attention. They had not seemed to realize that with this money she would be free of her life as a servant. It meant that she would be leaving this place, leaving the school, and leaving him behind.