He thought that Wicks knew what he meant, but he did not comment.
He had learned how the servants had managed to keep alive after his uncle had gone.
There were a few vegetables from the garden because the old gardener had remained in his cottage, having nowhere else to go.
They snared rabbits and even managed to shoot a wild duck or two on the lake.
“The swans flew away a long time ago,” he had been told, “after Mr. Burne refused to let us feed them.”
Everything the Earl was hearing about his uncle made him hate him more.
Yet Basil Burne was safely on the other side of the Atlantic and out of reach.
The Earl doubted that he would be in the slightest perturbed by what anyone felt about him in the land he had left.
The only thing that really mattered, the Earl knew, was to find enough money so that the pensioners and children in the village would not starve.
Those who were still working on the land had received nothing in wages since his uncle had guessed that he would be returning from India.
The Earl kept on turning over and over in his mind how shocking it all was.
While he had been so happy in India, he had no idea that his people were suffering, his fields were growing weeds and his Castle was, day by day, becoming more dilapidated.
The horses turned in at the drive leading up to Watton Hall.
It was infuriating to see how well-kept everything looked and the two lodges had very obviously been recently painted as had the iron gates with their gold tips.
It would be ridiculous to say that Watton Hall in any way rivalled The Castle.
Yet it was a prepossessing large mansion and in its own way very impressive. It had been built in the Georgian style early in the reign of Queen Victoria.
As the horses drew up outside the porticoed front door, the Earl could not help feeling that his appearance would be a great surprise to Lord Frazer.
He did not feel nervous, only slightly uncomfortable.
Then he remembered how his relative, the Viceroy, had always won everyone over to his side. It was by what the ladies in the Hill Stations called his magnetism, charm and charisma.
He had, the Earl remembered, a quite deliberate way of speaking and those who met him found him easy-going and informal.
At the same time he had a dignity and bearing that made it impossible for anyone to be unduly familiar.
The Earl remembered too that those who worked for him loved him both for his kindness and for his efficiency.
Surely, he thought, with the Earl of Mayo to guide him, he could get help from anyone, even from Lord Frazer!
The butler, who was very smart and the two footmen in the hall, looked at him in some surprise.
He gave one of the footmen his hat.
Then he followed the butler down a wide passage into what he thought would be either the library or Lord Frazer’s study.
It turned out to be the study and the owner of Watton Hall was sitting there at a most impressive desk.
The inkpot, the pen holder and the candlestick to seal the letters with were all made of solid gold.
“The Earl of Rayburne to see you, my Lord,” the butler announced in a stentorian voice.
Lord Frazer looked up in surprise.
Then he rose slowly to his feet as the Earl walked towards him.
As they shook hands. Lord Frazer said,
“I thought you would return from India after I heard the Viceroy had been murdered.”
“I returned home immediately,” the Earl replied, “and I have come to you now, my Lord, for help.”
He thought that Lord Frazer raised his eyebrows.
At the same time there was a glint of satisfaction in his eyes.
He indicated a chair in front of the fireplace and, as the Earl sat down, Lord Frazer seated himself in one beside it.
“I thought,” he began as if he was deliberately choosing his words, “that you would be surprised at what you found when you returned.”
“I was not just surprised,” the Earl said, “but horrified and appalled. How could any man, especially one who bears our family name, behave in such a shocking manner?”
“Your uncle was greedy,” Lord Frazer said, “and, when I heard what was happening, I was amazed that no one had communicated with you.”
“That has not surprised me,” the Earl said. “I understand my uncle told my people they were my orders as well as his and they therefore accepted that there was nothing they could do.”
“I heard that he had gone to America,” Lord Frazer remarked.
“That is what my Solicitors have just confirmed to me and I have also discovered that he has taken every penny that I possessed with him.”
“I thought that was what he would do,” Lord Frazer commented with a slight smirk.
The Earl wanted to say that he thought in that case he might have taken it upon himself to communicate with him.
However, he thought it wiser not to say so.
Instead he said,
“I have come to you, as my nearest neighbour, to ask for your understanding and help.”
He thought, as Lord Frazer did not say anything, that perhaps he was not as hostile as he might have expected.
He went on quickly,
“I possess nothing at the moment that I can offer you except Duncans Wood, which has always been a contested property between you and my father.”
He paused for a moment and then continued,
“All I can say is that if you will trust me and lend me enough money to keep my people from starving and to get the farms working again, I will promise on my word of honour to pay back everything you have given me as speedily as is possible.”
The Earl hoped as he spoke that he sounded convincingly trustworthy.
He hoped even more, since it was by no means a good business proposition, that Lord Frazer would be generous.
There was silence and then Lord Frazer enquired,
“Have you any idea how much you need?”
“As much as you can possibly lend me,” the Earl replied. “The pensioners have been given no money for the last month and they were also down to half what my father allowed them in his time.”
His voice sharpened as he went on,
“Young men have been thrown off the land so that nothing has been cultivated. Some of them have left the village altogether to look for work and the rest are just surviving on what they can poach in the woods since there are no deer left in the Park.”
“I heard they were killing them,” Lord Frazer said. “But, as they were not fed either, they were not very fat.”
The Earl pressed his lips together and he could not help noticing that there was almost a triumphant sound in Lord Frazer’s voice.
He could in a way understand that Lord Frazer was pleased that this was happening to a family who had opposed him for so long over Duncans wood.
“I expect you know already,” the Earl continued, “that The Castle has not been properly kept up since I have been away and, because most of the servants were sacked, it has not even been kept clean.”
“I