Noble Duty

18. Family Decisions

As Charles and I crossed a wooden bridge, he said, "Our home sits between two streams, this one rising well up the slopes to the west of our property. The other issues from three springs in the northwest corner of our forest. With a conduit, we sluice a continuing supply of clean water down to our elevated cisterns, both for consumption and in case of fire."

"Oh, how clever."

"Thank you. I modelled the system after the design Captain Bryson had in his Billingsgate house."

"Billingsgate in London?"

"Aye. Between the Bridge and the Tower."

"We have a warehouse there, but I am unaware of any houses."

"No, none remain now. But before the Great Fire, there were many." Charles winced. "We watched them burn."

"Watched them burn?"

"While we took refuge in his barge downstream of the Tower. He had taken me in from begging in the streets after Mother passed on."

"Oh!" He has come a long way from a begging orphan – but the topic is the Billingsgate house and the fire. "My grandfather and his family had their Cheapside properties consumed by the fire, and he told me many tales about the devastation."

"As I have told my children and grandchildren." He swept an arm back and forth in front of us. "Thus, the reason we keep these large, clear spaces between our houses, barns and other outbuildings. Fire is eager to spread from one to the next if they are too close."

Then, off the bridge and along the broad, gravelled paths, we mounted the steps to the porch, and he pointed at the 1682 carved in the stone above the door. "That was when the masons laid this arch – nearly another year was required to complete the manse. With five children, we took residence the following spring."

"That must have been liberating for them – all the open space after the confinement of the house on the wharf."

"Aye, it was too busy and dangerous out the front, but we had a small enclosed garden out the rear in which they romped. Only Charlie and James were of sufficient age to sense much of a difference."

Charles opened the door, ushered me in and called, "Camille."

"In the withdrawing room with Gillian, Mary and Camelia. Come join us."

He led me across the broad lobby, and as we passed a door, five small children rushed out, one of them calling, "Tell us more stories, Grandpapa."

A woman appeared behind them, smiling and shaking her head. "Not until you have finished your day's tutoring."

"But hunting pirates is more interesting than numbers."

"But not as important. Besides, you can see he is with a guest. Also, you heard that your grandmother wishes to see him."

Charles chuckled. "And dwell on this, my darlings: Without numbers, you will not be able to navigate to the pirate havens. Nor will you be able to cypher the value of all the booty you take."

As we continued toward the withdrawing room, I asked, "Am I correct in assuming your time at sea was pirate hunting?"

"Some of it, but initially, it was under a letter of marque as a privateer. After the peace, we turned to hunting, and finally, to trading."

I nodded. "And Lady Camille turned your interests to creating a family."

"More like enabled it. My craving had always been to have a family. Though I loved the sea, its draw is near nothing in comparison to this."

Then, after pondering the timing and circumstances, I asked, "How did you rise from a homeless orphan to owning Zeelandia?"

"Captain Bryson lost his dreams in the fire, but not his vast wealth nor his love of the sea, so he bought her as a Dutch war prize from the Admiralty, and he took me as his cabin boy. Our years at sea brought many great successes, affording me to buy the ship when he again settled ashore."

"Aha, becoming captain and taking Camille as your cabin boy."

"It is more complex than that, but for now, yes." He ushered me between a pair of open doors and into a huge room, and as we approached the women seated with tea by a window, he said, "Mary, this is Captain Jarvis Overton."

I took her offered hand, smiling as I looked at the faces of the women. "I see where your daughter gets her beauty."

She chuckled. "You are well-schooled in flattery, sir."

"Nay, not flattery, my lady. A statement of fact. Beauty such as yours needs no hyperbole."

Mary smiled and looked toward the doorway. "Is Charlie not with you?"

"No, he remains in the office with James, organising the repairs." Charles laughed. "He said this way, Camelia will be unable to sway him with her charm. He wishes you to use your reason, and he will abide the decision."

I watched Camelia's expression turn dour through this, and I smiled inwardly at recognising in her one of Gillian's beguiling ways. Is this the manner of all women? Or only of those with huge self-confidence?

Mary's words brought me from my thoughts, "Your father is a wise man, Cammy. You must find one like him – which takes us back to where we were before the men arrived." She turned to Gillian. "Will she be an imposition? Will she disrupt your routine by being there?"

"I have no routine, and beyond the few things Father had me do to learn their ways, I know little of what is required. Uncle Richard was left to oversee the barony while we were in Jamaica, and I ..." Gillian paused and shrugged. "I have had no time to think about how to proceed on my return, but I see having Camelia there to assist me would be a benefit."

I stepped beside Gillian's chair and laid a hand on her shoulder. "And if your father trusted his brother to oversee, you can allow him to continue. There is no need for you to handle all the details. Think of the barony as a ship; the captain, the first officer and so on."

While Gillian bobbed her head, Camille looked up from her teacup. "Oh, I had not thought. With everyone passed on, your uncle has inherited the barony." She shook her head. "Such an unjust system, the patriarchy."

"Indeed, unjust. But fortunately, unlike with most writs of creation, the Cavendish Barony was written to allow a daughter to succeed if there are no surviving sons." Gillian pressed her hands onto mine as she continued, "The barony will go to Uncle Richard and his descendants only if Jarvis and I do not raise a family to carry on after us."

Through this, Camille's expression changed from stern to a wide-eyed smile of excitement. "Ooh, such a noble mission, Your Ladyship."

"It gives me hope after all that has happened." She waved a hand as if shooing flies. "And please, dispense with the honorific fuss. I am still Gillian."

"But your mother demanded we address her as such."

"She had strange notions about many things. But to here and us – I would welcome Camelia's visit."

Mary looked at Charles and Camille as they nodded. "Then, it is settled."