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What thetondid not know was that Matthew was the bastard son of the Duke of Welliver.His firstborn.There were things in life that chaffed, but that fact chaffed like a wet saddle on a ride to Scotland.
A few of his close companions might know he was Welliver’s bastard, but bastards were too common for it to be a matter to anyone except Matthew.
His mother had hired the infamous Walter Snell to squeeze Welliver of every shilling possible.Snell’s idea of riches was different than Matthew’s, but Mother had been thankful.Then she’d been Walter’s lover for some years before he died.
Beatrice Eggers had been another of Welliver’s conquests who’d been impregnated and forgotten, except she’d been a kitchen servant who’d been dismissed at the news of her pregnancy.No one had believed her claim against Welliver.As a practical matter, Matthew’s mother had been luckier.She’d actually been his mistress rather than a woman bearing an assault or mindless coupling over the library desk.
“Tell me how things have been for you.Is the estate manager being fair?”
“Oh, yes, sir.More than fair.Getting to work with the horses has been the best thing to happen in my life.Better than talkin’ to a man, that’s sure.Mr.Foster tells me I’m a natural.Maybe I can even talk to horses.”He laughed a bit, then ran the back of his hand under his nose.“That’s not why I come, Mr.Hardy.”
“Bobby, don’t you think it’s time you call me Matthew?I am your brother, after all.”
“I ain’t never gonna be like you.Even I’m your brother.”
“Well, what can I do for you?”He’d made promises to himself and to the family he was discovering.Both a heartfelt joy for his kin and an irksome resentment against the man who fathered them.
“Remember when you said you could help me start me own business?”
“Go on.”Matthew was encouraged that Bobby, beaten down and desperate when Matthew had found him, had stepped forward.He didn’t mean for them to beg or feel demeaned.He truly wanted to help them, if they knew what they wanted to do.
“It’s the horses, Mr.Hardy.I love them, and I thought maybe I could start breedin’ them.Maybe have a few of me own.I’m not needin’ a fortune—well, it’s not a fortune for you.I thought I could start with maybe two mares, breed them to one of your stallions at Cumber Park.”
Matthew asked a few probing questions.He already knew he was going to help, but he couldn’t make it easy or lead Bobby to believe he was just giving him the funds.“How would you repay me?”
“Well, I’ve been a’thinkin’ about that too.I want nice horses, quality horses.Ones you wouldn’t be embarrassed to have in your own stables.”
“The horseswillbe in my stables,” Matthew said, sipping at his tea again.
“Yes, sir.I know.But after we have the horses bred, once they foal, you could take the foal of your choice.I would get the other one to sell or to train.Plus, I would repay you three pounds a month for the six years it would likely take to discharge the debt for the first two horses.Unless I can make a good profit when I sell, then I could pay you more.”
“Wouldn’t it be a hardship to pay that much a month?”Bobby didn’t squirm and kept a direct gaze without being insolent.
“You know I have no wife or young’uns.It’s not a hardship.”
Matthew provided rations and lodging to all his employees who worked at his farms.Agriculture could not succeed without many bodies, and he made sure they were kept comfortable.It was then possible for men like Bobby to save a few shillings every month for their futures and families.
“What about the stud fees, oats, pasture, shelter?”
“I will work hard, Mr.Hardy.You know I will.”
“Have you thought about where we could find good-quality mares?”
Bobby hung his head for a moment, then stared Matthew in the eye.“I don’t know any other horse breeders, Mr.Hardy.Savin’ you.”
Yes, Matthew was the lucky one of Welliver’s bastards.As a young boy, he’d never believed that, but as Matthew had grown and learned the truth, everything became clear.As for his brothers, Bobby Eggers grew up in miserable circumstances.That could have been Matthew.
“Why don’t we attend the next auction at Buxton?I’ll have Winters check the schedules.Perhaps we can catch a race while we are there.”
“That would be good, Mr.Hardy.Matthew,” Bobby emphasized, but appeared embarrassed.He started to stand but plopped back on the stool.“Oh, there is something else.I spoke with me mother last week.She was thinkin’ about another house servant who had left service a few weeks before she did.Maybe she was in the way, too.”
“Do you have her name?”Nothing surprised Matthew about Welliver.Often, Matthew wondered if Welliver’s legitimate sons knew about their father’s proclivities.Matthew knew men could be dogs when it came to women.Ultimately, real good men could control themselves, especially when they had already made promises to their wives.
Realgood men would also take care of their children.A blaze of shame shot through him.Was Matthew now determined to atone for all the wrongs in the Welliver family tree?Including his own little poisonous roots?
And why?The unanswerable question.Why demand to be serviced by women who were already downtrodden and barely able to feed themselves?Working in a duke’s household should have provided tangible benefits instead of demeaning threats.When Matthew thought he should investigate the current circumstances of Welliver’s legitimate sons in London and at the ducal residence in Essex, he’d sent one of his own footmen to work there.He had a comprehensive report six months later.So far, the four legal sons were as normal as he could expect fromtonlords—some light gaming, one had a mistress.The new duke seemed cut from a completely different cloth than his father.
Now, seeing Bobby in front of him, he was still astounded how much they all resembled their father.
