Chapter Forty Four
"Who on earth was calling you at this time on a Saturday morning?" Isobel queried sleepily as Dickie came back into their bedroom from speaking on the telephone.
"It was Tim" Dickie replied "Nothing dreadful has happened" He added quickly as Isobel sat up, alarmed. "Quite the opposite." He swung his legs back into bed, resting against the pillows. "He and Julia are engaged" He smiled at his wife. Maybe now his youngest son would know how wonderful it was to be in a loving relationship.
"Oh, that's wonderful!" Isobel exclaimed, rolling over to give Dickie a big hug. "I didn't expect him to come to the point so soon."
"Neither did I!" Dickie chuckled "He has asked if they can come up next weekend? He'd like to discuss a few things with us, and I think he'd like to take Julia to Cavenham too."
"Yes, of course. Did you tell him that would be fine?" Isobel was already planning the next week in her head. Dickie smiled while watching her mind work.
"No, I said I'd speak to him later. I wanted to make sure there weren't other plans afoot. Besides, he hasn't spoken to her Father yet" Dickie chuckled again.
Isobel stilled beside him "I wonder how Sir Thomas will respond to being presented with a done deal! I do hope that meeting goes well." She worried her bottom lip. Dickie couldn't help but lean over and kiss this wonderful woman who had taken his son so easily into her heart.
-TW- -TW- -TW-
"Come in" Chief Inspector Whittaker growled.
"Sorry to interrupt" Inspector Money thought it best to lead with an apology "Just wanted to run something by you, if you have a minute? I brought coffee" He placed the steaming mug on his boss's desk.
"If you brought a cream slice with that, you may just have a chance!" Whittaker grumbled without looking up. His eyebrows rose as a plate appeared beside the coffee mug. "Well, this must be something good!" He sat back in his chair as he motioned for Money to take a seat.
"I think Miles may have found something." Money wore a satisfied smile "I thought you might want to give the Commissioner an early Christmas present"
"Oh?" Whittaker looked sceptical "It'll have to be something exceptional if you think it will get us any Brownie points at this stage." Whittaker dragged a tired hand through his hair "He is NOT impressed with these latest figures." He gestured to the papers spread across his desk.
"Hmm" Money hummed in agreement "Would the Black Baron be enough?"
Whittaker spat a mouthful of coffee across his desk.
-TW- -TW- -TW-
Dicke sighed as he walked into the entrance hall at Cavenham.
"Welcome m'lord" Hargreaves stepped forward to take Dickie's coat "Mr Stevens is waiting for you in the study. Would you like tea brought up?"
"Yes please Hargreaves." Dickie gave his old butler a thankful smile "And if you and Mrs Pearce could join us initially, I'd be grateful."
"Of course m'lord" Hargreaves nodded and turned to complete his tasks.
With a deep breath, Dickie turned towards the study. Inside he found Stevens organising papers across the large desk.
"Ah! Good Morning m'lord! How was London?" Stevens smiled.
"Quite eventful really" Dickie replied, somewhat tiredly "What have you got there?"
"Some research I've been doing regarding possible recovery options. I was hoping we could discuss them today." Stevens turned back to what he was doing.
There was a brief knock at the door before Hargreaves entered and held the door for Mrs Pearce to enter carrying the tea tray. There were more pleasantries as she served everyone a cup of tea and offered cake, but as they settled into seats at Dickie's invitation he knew the more serious part of his visit had begun.
"So, I wanted to talk to all of you together so that we all know where we stand." Dickie looked at each of the staff in turn as he spoke "We've all worked together for some time, and I'd like to think we can all be honest with each other. While none of us are to blame for the situation, it will be up to us to try and recover." He paused "It will be a lot of work, and we will all have to be prepared to embrace new ways of working and be open to the fact that life may be very different." Here goes old chap he thought to himself briefly "We must all be sure this is what we want to do. If any of you wish to leave, I will understand. I am more than willing to provide references for those who wish to take them, or indeed a pension if you wish to retire."
A brief silence followed his statement. The fire crackled in the grate.
"Do you think the house will return to what it was?" Mrs Pearce asked.
"No" Dickie's answer was decisive "I have no wish to live here."
Mrs Pearce nodded her understanding, looking thoughtful.
"You would abandon all that we have lived and worked for!" Hargreaves all but shouted "You would throw away the honour of this house!" He stood, his fists clenched by his sides.
"I would remind you, Mr Hargreaves, that I did not reduce this house to its present state." Dickie replied calmly "My own efforts have been as surely discarded as yours have, and without my intervention this house would already be closed and in the hands of Mr Larry's creditors. I understand your disappointment, but we have to face the reality."
"I don't see why it can't just go on as it always did?! It's worked for centuries after all!" Hargreaves was glaring at him.
"It's just not feasible any more" Dickie shrugged slightly "You know yourself that young people don't want the same things since the war, so finding staff has been a problem. At the same time the bills have steadily increased, and even the efficiencies we have tried to employ have not reduced the cost burden that the house loads on the estate." He looked up at Hargreaves apologetically "It's just not financially sound to continue the old ways"
"Bah!" Hargreaves threw his hands up "You're just throwing in the towel! This all started after you met that WOMAN!"
Dickie stood "Mr Hargreaves, I understand you are upset, but I warn you I will not allow you to speak against my wife."
"Huh! Well you can keep her!" Hargreaves looked him up and down. "I'll be gone tomorrow." And with that his turned on his heel and stalked from the room, leaving an awkward silence behind him.
Mrs Pearce cleared her throat "I don't think that's any great loss, m'lord. Mr Hargreaves has never been particularly open to new ideas or change, however small. You should have heard the carry on when we had to switch the type of silver polish we were using last year" She smirked slightly.
Dickie huffed a chuckle "I won't lie: I do think it will make life easier." He paused "How are we doing with the rest of the staff?"
"We've pared back to a skeletal staff as we agreed" Mrs Pearce confirmed "Most have already left, and those that haven't are due to leave in the next few days. I've tried to retain staff that are family of tenant farmers mostly, for various reasons."
"Thank you, that's very helpful" Dickie nodded to his old housekeeper "So, Stevens, what ideas do you have to discuss with us?"
-TW- -TW- -TW-
"Excuse me Sir, there's a Mr Grey to see you" The young clerk announced.
Smoke swirled around the desk as Sir Thomas Foxton tried to wade through his correspondence. He waved his cigar vaguely in the direction of the door "I'm busy"
"It'll only take a few minutes Sir" Timothy said, sounding more confident than he felt.
"What the devil!" Thomas was not happy about being interrupted. The young clerk stepped quickly from the room. "Well! What's so urgent you had to come barging into my private office, hmm?"
"It's not urgent Sir" Tim began "More that I've been looking for you everywhere and this is where I found you" He gave a tentative smile "Juila has asked me to speak to you as soon as I could, and I thought this one of those times when I'd better do as I was told..."
"Julia sent you, eh?" Thomas turned back to the job at hand, all but dismissing whatever this young chap wanted "Well, spit it out!"
"Well, Sir, Julia and I recently became engaged." Tim swallowed as the man in front of him froze "I've come to ask for your blessing before we make the engagement public."
The clock ticked. The cigar smoked. A vein on Thomas' temple pulsed. Tim watched as the man in front of him slowly went a worrying shade of red. Thomas turned his full attention to the upstart in front of him.
"What did you say?" There was menace in the deceptively calm tone.
"Julia and I would like your blessing, Sir" Tim tried valiantly to hold his nerve.
"NO!" Thomas exploded "NOT A CHANCE! I DO NOT GIVE MY CONSENT!"
"Forgive me, Sir, but I wasn't asking for your permission" Tim was amazed he could hear his own voice "Julia is of age and has accepted my proposal. But she would prefer we marry with your blessing." He swallowed thickly.
"We'll see about that!" And with that Thomas pushed past Tim and shouted at a clerk to hail him a cab.
-TW- -TW- -TW-
Dickie closed the front door behind him wearily and let the relief of being home envelope him. He hung his hat and coat up, then walked through to the Drawing Room hoping very much that he would find Isobel in front of the fire.
"Hello Darling" She smiled up at him "How was your day?"
Dickie didn't say a word, but crossed the room and sat beside her. He took her hand in his and leant in to give her a sweet, loving kiss.
"I love you Isobel" He said quietly "I love coming home to you." He kissed her again.
Isobel looked at him with concern and reached up to caress his face. "Darling, what's happened?" she asked gently.
Dickie sighed "Nothing significant. Stevens has done a good job with looking at what we can do at Cavenham, and I think we have an excellent ally in Mrs Pearce, it's just..." He paused and shook his head ruefully "It's such a big decision. I can discuss it with people, we can exchange views and ideas, we can run figures and guess at the future. But at the end of the day I will need to make a decision that could have such serious repercussions for so many people." He looked into Isobel's eyes "Sometimes it's all just a little too much." He admitted "I had hoped I'd left days like today behind me."
"I think I'll ring the Abbey and tell them we won't be coming to dinner tonight after all" Isobel said quietly "I think we need a quiet evening, just us." She kissed him lovingly "As long as we're together, we'll be fine."
-TW- -TW- -TW-
"MARJORIE!" Sir Thomas opened his front door with so much force it bounced off the wall "MARJORIE!" He threw his hat across the room and left his coat in a pile on the floor "WHERE ON EARTH ARE YOU?!"
"If you'll allow me, Sir" His unflappable butler announced his presence "Her ladyship is in her Sitting Room with Miss Julia"
"Is she! Is she indeed!" He stormed through the house to his wife's favoured room. He threw the door open with force, but did keep hold of the door knob. Angry he might be, but he knew there'd be hell to pay if he damaged anything in this room.
"Ah! Thomas, there you are!" Marjorie turned to greet her husband brightly "Julia was just telling me all about her dinner last evening."
"Was she indeed!" Thomas ground out through gritted teeth "Well, it's not going to happen young lady! I will not allow it!"
"Daddy, you can't stop me. I know what I'm doing." Julia stood to face her Father "I'm of age and I am more than capable of making my own decisions."
"HA!" Thomas spat out "Not likely! I will not allow you to waste your life on that... that... jumped up little twerp!"
"Thomas dear, do calm down" Marjorie soothed "And will someone please tell me what is going on?"
"Tim has asked me to marry him, and I have agreed" Stated Julia, lifting her chin in defiance.
"And I will NOT give you permission to do this!" Spat Thomas. Marjorie closed her eyes in frustration knowing exactly how Julia would respond.
"I do not need your permission!" Julia hissed back "I WILL marry him, whether you are there or not!" and with that she marched from the room.
"Well, that went well." Marjorie commented calmly.