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“Landers… I believe Johnny may have mentioned the name, yes.”
“I have only met your brother once, when I dined with Anthony at Cambridge, but naturally when I heard you were in town, I wished to pay my respects.”
“Would you like to meet my father? Or is it me in particular you wished to see?”
“I should be delighted to meet your father,” Albury said, with a quirk of his lips that might have been a smile.
Will led him into the office and performed the introductions, and was pleased to see that Albury’s pleasant manner did not falter in the slightest at encountering Pa’s accent. Will wondered how many such men the viscount met socially — not many, he guessed. Men of science, perhaps, for many gentlemen had an amateur’s interest in the study of the heavens or beetles or the making of engines and bridges. But mercers? Men who traded in bales of wool and cotton and silk, men who watched the ships arriving from India or the West Indies, and knew the value of a flock of sheep by feeling the fleece? He suspected that Viscount Albury met few of that type.
But if it were so, no one would have guessed it. He was all affability, asking how they liked town, were they settled, had they made many new acquaintances?
“Aye, a few,” Pa said. “We’ve taken the girls about a bit, and they’ve turned a few heads already, as we all knew they would. Lovely girls, both of them. They take after their mother, fortunately.”
The viscount chuckled. “I am said to resemble my mother, too, but that is seldom so desirable an inheritance in a man. Your daughters sound delightful, Mr Fletcher, and I am sure they will be a great success. Indeed, the elder’s beauty has already attracted notice, for I heard talk of the incomparable Miss Fletcher in White’s days ago.”
“Talked about in the clubs?” Pa said, frowning. “I don’t like to hear that, my lord.”
“It is a great compliment, I assure you, sir. One poor fellow was desperately looking for someone to introduce him to the lady, so naturally that aroused a great deal of interest, and she was seen in person at the Iversons’ last night, I hear. You see how word flies about! So I am certain the young ladies will have a most enjoyable season. But tell me of your house in Hertfordshire. It is very modern, I hear, and with every convenience, and oceans of hot water at all times. How I envy you that!”
“Your house isn’t like that?” Pa said, amused.
“My father’s principal house is one of these old piles that has been untouched for generations. Some would say it should be torn down and rebuilt to a more sensible design, or at least improved, but we are rather fond of it — until we all want to take our baths at the same time.”
Will could see his father about to launch into a monologue on the benefits of a system of multiple coppers, which would lead inevitably to his latest interest, water closets, and Will had a much more pressing concern. “Then… your father is… an earl?”
Albury laughed. “I beg your pardon! You knew nothing of me so how could you know about my father? He is the Earl of Faulkbourne. Your brother is quite a character, is he not? He has dined with my father twice and the whole family once, but he never thought to mention it to you.”
“If it had been inscribed in a two hundred year old book in Latin, or better yet, Greek, he would have taken note of it,” Will said. “Since it was only a conversational matter, it no doubt flew over his head. He told me that there was a viscount in the family, but he was hazy about whether that was you or your father. The earldom escaped his notice altogether, seemingly.”
Albury laughed genially. “I liked your brother when I met him, and I like him all the better now. He is refreshingly original. We old families are inclined to think we are so important that everyone must know who we are, whereas in fact the world continues calmly turning and the stars rotate in the sky and most of the population knows nothing of the Landers family, nor wishes to, most likely.”
“Most of the population is too busily scraping a living as best they can to worry about the grand folk,” Pa said. “They know their own lord well enough, and they know the King and his family, for they pray for them every Sunday, but the rest of the peerage is no more real to them than fairies and hobgoblins.”
“That is a profound thought, Mr Fletcher,” Albury said, nodding slowly. “But I must take my cue from the fairies and disappear, for I am dining out tonight and must not be late. Have you an exciting evening planned?”
“We’re going to the theatre,” Pa said.
“Ah, which one?”
“The Theatre Royal. Is it a good play?”
“I have not seen it yet, although reports are good. But it hardly matters, for no one goes to the theatre to watch the play. One goes to see and be seen, so enjoy the spectacle. Good day to you, gentlemen.”
Will saw him out, then returned to the office. “Well! A viscount. Trust Johnny to tell us nothing of such illustrious friends. He seems like a very pleasant man.”
“Aye, very pleasant. Not much pepper to him, but perhaps that gets bred out of these great families. I shall just go upstairs, I think, to tell Mrs Fletcher that we’ve had a viscount in the house. She’ll be very excited, although I don’t suppose we’ll see him again.”
“We have his card,” Will said. “I might just return his call.”
And he smiled to himself. What a day it had been! His first view inside the select environs of White’s and now Viscount Albury. It felt, for the first time, as if the family was moving upwards to its rightful place in society.
11: The Theatre Royal
The Theatre Royal in Drury Lane provided the Fletcher family with an experience unlike anything they had previously encountered. They had enjoyed performances at a theatre of the same name in York on many occasions, but this was on a grander scale altogether. The mêlée of carriages jostling to deposit patrons, the press of people entering and loitering in the lobbies, and the crush on the stairs conspired to make even entering the building a trying business. But Pa had scouted out the best route to their box, and there all was in readiness for them.
Their first view of the interior of the theatre left them in awe, for it was massive. There were five tiers of boxes arranged around the pit, and although many were still empty, many others were alive with colour and movement as theatre-goers settled themselves in their seats, jewels flashing and the feathers in the ladies’ caps waving.
“This is an excellent box,” Stepmother said, leaning a little over the padded rail to look down. “Only two levels below us, a partition to keep us private and we are near enough to the stage to see everything. Well done, Harry.”
