The Patient Bridegroom. Barbara Cartland

you will not help me,” he went on, “I must go to London and beg from my friends whom I have not seen for four years.”

      He paused to say more quietly,

      “I felt, my Lord, as our estates march with each other, you would understand better than anyone else the predicament that I find myself in.”

      “Of course I understand,” Lord Frazer replied. “Your uncle’s behaviour since you left has been the talk of the County.”

      The Earl had not realised this and he frowned.

      He thought, however, that it would not help matters for him to comment.

      “I suppose you could go cap in hand to our neighbours,” Lord Frazer continued, “like the Lord Lieutenant who is known as one of the meanest men in Oxfordshire. When he attends Church, his contribution is not worthy of the seat that he sits on.”

      The Earl remembered this and he smiled.

      “There is also Sir William Forrester,” Lord Frazer continued, “who, I believe, has fallen on hard times because of his son’s extravagance at the gambling tables. He is not at all likely to be open-handed to the young at this particular moment.”

      The Earl tried to think of someone locally who was known as being generous.

      It was not a question that he had asked before he went to India. He had accepted people as they were and had not been in the least concerned with their bank balance.

      There was a poignant silence until at last he said pleadingly,

      “Please, my Lord, help me if you can. It is not a question of me alone. The people who are at your gates as well as mine are on the verge of starvation.”

      Lord Frazer rose to his feet and stood with his back to the fireplace.

      He was not a tall man, yet for the moment he reminded the Earl of Mount Harriet.

      He and the Viceroy had climbed to the top of it and that was what he had to do now!

      For his people’s sake he must not fail.

      Although it went against the grain to crawl, he kept seeing the faces of the children as he passed through the village.

      They looked thin and pale and hungry.

      He tried hard to pretend that it was not as bad as the famine-stricken places that he and the Viceroy had visited in India.

      Yet it was bad enough for him to know that not only the old people were suffering but so were the children.

      It was something that most definitely could not be allowed to continue.

      He had to save them, however much he had to humiliate himself to do so.

      With an effort, because it went against every grain in his body, he said,

      “Please help me, my Lord. I am desperate, absolutely desperate. If you refuse, I can think of no one I could possibly turn to.”

      His voice seemed to ring out and he knew that it came from the very depth of his being.

      He had to save his own people, the people who had served his father and mother, as their parents had served his grandparents.

      He had to save The Castle, the land and eventually himself.

      Lord Frazer did not answer.

      He merely walked across to his desk and, opening a drawer, took out a map.

      He put it down on the carpet in front of the Earl and he saw with some surprise that it was a large and comprehensive map that covered the two estates.

      Both his own, which was much larger and, on the right-hand side, Watton Hall, with the two thousand acres that surrounded it were featured.

      The Earl had never seen this map before and he thought with surprise that Lord Frazer must have had it drawn recently. He was sure of that when he saw that it included cottages which had been built just before he went to India.

      “I had this done a little while ago,” Lord Frazer said, “because I thought that it would be interesting to see the comparison between our two estates. As you will see, Duncans Wood separates us and remains, of course, the bone of contention it has always been.”

      “That is why I have offered it to you,” the Earl answered, “because I have nothing else that is not entailed on the son I shall never be able to afford.”

      He spoke bitterly.

      At the same time he despised himself for pleading with Lord Frazer.

      He was obviously delighted that for the first time since he had lived at Watton Hall he had in his power a neighbour whose father had proved so stubborn and difficult.

      Once again the Earl thought of how the Viceroy would have handled this situation.

      He knew that he would have used his charm and, at the same time, without losing his dignity, his friendliness.

      The Earl then said,

      “Perhaps, my Lord, we can do something together. Not only in this emergency but in the future.”

      “That is exactly what I was thinking,” Lord Frazer replied, “and what I have in mind is something that I actually thought of some years ago.”

      “What is that?” the Earl enquired.

      “It was that our two estates, which we know cover all of eight thousand acres, should be joined.”

      “Joined,” the Earl repeated.

      He thought that he was speaking rather stupidly.

      His father would no more have joined his land with that of Lord Frazer than fly over the moon. He disliked the man and was determined that he should not get his way over Duncans Wood.

      Nevertheless Duncans Wood would most undoubtedly feed the pensioners and save the children from starving.

      He was therefore prepared to give it to Lord Frazer without bothering about it again.

      “Now, what I will do,” Lord Frazer said slowly, speaking as if he must emphasise every word, “is to give you fifty thousand pounds so that you can start to clean up the mess your uncle has left behind.”

      The Earl stiffened in astonishment and then he gasped.

      He thought at first that he had not heard right what Lord Frazer had just said to him.

      His Lordship went on,

      “When that is spent, and you will find that you need every penny of it, there will be the same amount to follow when you ask for it.”

      “I cannot begin – ” the Earl began.

      Lord Frazer then held up his hand.

      “My gift,” he said, “is offered with one condition. That you marry my daughter.”