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Chapter 3
By the next morning, Robert had decided what to do and delighted in the fact that he was going to tell absolutely no one where he was going or what he was doing. It was a strange sensation; while he was devastated by the fact that his sister’s actions had cut him off from his rightful claim to his family’s wealth, he now felt freer than ever. He no longer had to abide by his father’s rules or listen to his sister’s constant complaints about him. Now, he was going out into the world on his own, in a way, at just twenty-three years old.
Last night when he had been packing his bags and was beginning to panic about where he would go or what he would do, an idea popped into his head, and it made him feel like a fool for not having thought of it earlier.
When he was placing his finest suit in his case, he was reminded that it had once been George’s, and immediately Robert knew that he had to go to George. No matter what kind of trouble Robert was in, he knew that he could count on his brother to assist him in any way that he could. All he had to do was figure out a way to get to him, and he would be set.
He left the estate very early the next morning when only the servants and workers were awake. He walked into town, lugging his suitcase as he went, and quickly came to regret all the things he had brought with him. He did make it eventually, though, and was able to catch a coach to London. The ride was far less luxurious than what he was used to, but it got him where he needed to go, and he had never been happier to see his brother’s estate rising beyond the hills.
When he exited the coach, he gazed upon the house and felt the relief sink in. He cursed himself for having not thought of coming to see George sooner, but no matter, he was here now, and that was what was important. He took his case, set it beside the front door, and then knocked on it with the grand brass knocker.
A few moments later, a servant answered the door. “May I be of assistance, sir?”
“I certainly hope so,” Robert said honestly. “I apologize for arriving unannounced, but I would appreciate the opportunity to have a private meeting with my brother, the master of the house.”
The older servant looked Robert up and down and then opened the door wider to allow him in. “Certainly, sir. Allow me to enquire about his schedule for the day and if he might be able to admit you. Please come in, and I will call for your case to be brought inside.”
Robert thanked the servant and followed him into a sitting room. When he sat down, he took a moment to marvel at how much the house had changed since he had last been here. At first, he could not recall how long it had been, and that made him feel very guilty. That must have meant that it had been far too long. The children were all very young when he had last been given permission to visit, and he thought that George’s eldest would probably be around ten years old now.
If he recalled correctly, the room that he had been sitting in was once a sickly pink colour and was only decorated with furniture that his father had chosen. Everything that Lord Graham liked seemed to be very dark wood, quite large, and unfortunately uncomfortable. Now, however, the room was a pleasant pale green, and all the furniture was very inviting and plush. The chair that Robert presently sat in, for example, was almost a little too comfortable. He feared that he would not be able to rise from it when his brother called upon him.
It should be mentioned that while George truthfully was only Robert’s half-brother, the two were so close that they never referred to each other as anything less than ‘brother’. When it came to Louisa, however, Robert took great delight in constantly referring to her as his half-sister. She called him every bad name in the book, so why shouldn’t he?
Robert knew that his brother would not be available immediately, and so he took out the book that he always kept in his breast pocket and began reading it. It was a book entitled, Frankenstein, and although it had only recently been published, Robert loved the way it had been written. He thought the author had a phenomenal talent for description, and the plot hooked him from the very first page.
Right when he was getting to the end of the book’s introduction, the door to the sitting room opened, and George walked in. He was a strikingly good-looking man with a head of thick, curly brown hair, a pleasantly round face, and broad shoulders. If Robert hadn’t known how sickly he had been as a young man, he would have thought that George had just been born like this: sturdy, strapping, and generous.
When George laid eyes on him, he flung open his arms and encouraged him into them. “Brother!”
“George, good to see you, so sorry to call on you like this unannounced,” Robert apologized.
“Nonsense, nonsense, any excuse to see you is a good one! Come, let us sit by the window, and you can tell me why you have called upon me this fine day,” George said, clapping Robert encouragingly on the back.
The two men walked over to the two chairs directly in front of the grand window and made themselves comfortable. Robert looked out over the lawn and smiled.
“I’m very pleased that you’ve kept up your garden so nicely,” he commented.
“The garden isn’t even the half of it,” George said, chuckling. “I must show you my conservatory later on, as I have a great many species in there that I think would greatly interest you.”
“I would very much enjoy that,” Robert replied. “The house has seemed devoid of life since you and all of your plants vacated it so many years ago.”
“Does our vivacious sister not provide enough... liveliness for you?” George asked smirking.
“I would take your plants over her tyrannous attitude any day, Brother.” Robert took a beat, collected his thoughts, and then turned to begin explaining why he had called upon his brother so unannounced, but George was already looking him up and down. “You’re looking at me oddly. Is there something you can tell already about the reason for my visit here today?”
George chuckled, leaned back in his chair, and placed his hands upon his stomach as he gazed out over the lush gardens. “I don’t believe you realize how transparent you can be, Robert. For example, by the way, your brow is knitted and the fact that you’ve been playing with your fingers ever since I entered the room, I know that your visit has something to do with either father, Louisa, or both. I tend to think it is the latter, as those two are viciously inseparable.”
Robert looked down at his hands. “I hadn’t even realized that I …”
“Which is why I pointed that out to you,” George finished for him. “If you’re going to get anywhere in this life, you have to be very aware of what signals you are sending at all times. Had I not known you as well as I do, I would have thought that your fidgeting fingers meant that our visit here today was making you very anxious.”
Robert nodded, silently impressed by his magnificent brother. He idolized him in every way that one could; George was the kind of man that Robert wished to be when he was older. He was respectable, kind, understanding, and generous, and yet none of these characteristics gave way to him being the type of person that one could simply walk all over. Quite the opposite, in fact. He was very strong-willed and confident and knew his worth in society.
After having overcome his mysterious and ever-present illness that he’d struggled with since childhood, George had met and married a beautiful, kind-hearted young Frenchwoman, Eponine Corriveau, when he was only twenty-three years old. She came from a very rich family in France, and so the two were well-matched in that regard. They were also well-suited to each other because Eponine was the only other person that Robert had ever met that was as warm and inviting as George was.
They’d moved to one of the family’s other estates immediately following the wedding, and over the next few years, they had three children: Andre, Margaret, and Amelie. Andre was now about nine, Margaret was six, and Amelie was four. They were very well-behaved, bright children who, while they were largely looked after by a governess, spent a great deal of time with their parents.
“You can rest assured that I felt no fear about coming here today,” Robert finally replied, placing his hands calmly on his legs, “but you are absolutely right that my problems have arisen because of our darling father and sister.”
