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“Oh, Rundell and Bridge, or Jeffrey’s. Phillip’s, maybe,” one merchant said.
“I like Barantine’s,” the other said. “Bond Street, a most agreeable place to do business. I’ve bought Belle some very pretty pieces from there, but if you’ll take the advice of a fellow whose wife adores jewels of all kinds, the ladies do tend to have their own ideas as to what they’ll wear often and what they’ll bring out once a year just to please a man. Take Mrs Fletcher with you and let her choose for herself.”
“Hmm, I thank you kindly for the suggestion,” Pa said. “I shall be sure to follow it in future, but for now, I should like to buy her a little something to surprise her. She’s taken a knock, with this cousin of hers letting us down so badly, and there’s nothing like an unexpected gift to lift a lady’s spirits, is there? Johnny, I know your hours are spoken for, but as for you, Will, you might like to come with me.”
It was an unexpected reprieve from attending the women on one of their many shopping expeditions, so Will agreed to it with alacrity.
~~~~~
Will was dressing the next morning when Enoch knocked on his door.
“Beg pardon, sir, but this note has just been delivered for you.”
It was a page torn from a notebook, with a message hastily scrawled on it.‘Will, I must talk to you. I am at the corner of Brook Street. Tibbitt’
“Who brought this, Enoch? A footman?”
“No, sir, not a servant.”
“Can you find a window at the front of the house looking out to Brook Street, and tell me if the man who brought this message is standing there?”
Enoch returned in short order to confirm it.
“Send someone out there to tell him that I will be there as soon as I am dressed,” Will said.
It was half an hour before he considered himself presentable enough to leave the house, but Tibbs was still waiting there, although a trifle damp from a passing shower.
“Fletch! Good God, man, how long does it take you to put on a shirt and coat? But you always were a dandy, I suppose.”
“Whatever is the matter?” Will said testily. “Why did you not come to the house, where you could have waited in the dry, and had something to eat and drink as well? All this mystery is ridiculous.”
“Well, that is the outside of enough, I must say! You made it perfectly clear that I was not welcome to call upon you in your illustrious new surroundings, and I make no complaint aboutthat, for I understand what you are about. But I had to see you urgently, and how else am I supposed to do it?”
“What is it that is so urgent?” Will said wearily. “I hope this is not all a hum, Tibbs, for no matter what you may say, I have rushed through my dressing on your account, and it is too early in the day for jesting.”
“No jest, I assure you. It is about your sister.”
“My sister? Rosie, I presume you mean.”
“The beauty, yes. Seemingly someone saw her… somewhere, who knows where, and wishes very much to find out more about her. He — it must be a he, I am tolerably certain — found out her address and the family name, and that you are recently come from the north and about your father being a mercer. That word was definitely mentioned. He asked your servants, no doubt. So he has been sending spies all over the City to find someone — anyone — who knows you, for no one inhisworld seems to know you. The word came to my father’s ears, and so… here I am. I need to know if I may pass on information about your sister to this mysterious admirer. He wants to meet her, Fletch, and I have no idea how it may be done.”
“No more have I, for if he is of the upper ranks, then we certainly have no acquaintances in common. You may pass on the word of Rosie, if you please. Say that she is four and twenty, with no prior attachments. You may mention her dowry, if you feel it necessary.”
“What is her dowry?”
“Fifty thousand.”
Tibbs whistled long and low. “GoodGod, Fletch! Fifty thousand! Never mind this reclusive admirer, I shall try for her myself. Fifty thousand!”
Will smiled suddenly. “Do you know, I had as lief she take you as any other man, Tibbs. But this fellow must have his chance, although I do not at all know how she may be introduced to him. Still, if he is as keen as it sounds, he will find a way. And now I must go in to breakfast.”
They bade each other a friendly farewell, all their mutual annoyance evaporated, and Will returned to the house in a sanguine frame of mind, to apprise the family of this interesting development.
Johnny left directly after breakfast to begin his acquisition of books for the Chadwell Park library, but Will participated in the dancing lesson again, feeling he was becoming more adept at the minuet with every day that passed. The Frenchman now deigned to permit them to perform reels and country dances, with the cotillion a treat promised but as yet unfulfilled.
Pa was keen to begin his own shopping, so Will left the girls to enjoy Miss Hapgood’s lesson in correct speech and walked with his father to Bond Street, to have a look at Barantine’s the jewellers.‘Jewellers of Distinction’, declared the discreet sign above the door, and it certainly seemed to be designed to cater for the most expensive tastes, being fitted up in a very luxurious style.
The two spent a pleasant hour sipping an excellent claret while being shown one exquisite item after another.
