A Season for Honour

Chapter 6

Alex had been at Northleigh two weeks, and to his surprise, he had found tutoring the young lad a rather enjoyable experience. After a week of working with the young Lord Kendall, he discovered that he was a bright, intelligent student, who was always eager to please his tutor. He had even started to look forward to the morning sessions in the library at Northleigh. He felt that they gave his life a purpose that had been lacking since he had left the army. He was also surprised to find that he did not miss the life of dissipation he had left behind him in London. Instead of drinking and gambling, and living the life of a rake, he spent his evenings at the Dower house, sitting quietly by the fire, reading and preparing lessons for the following day. If any of his associates could see him now, they would barely recognise the scoundrel that left London just three weeks ago.

Alex quickly acknowledged Lady Kendall's worries, regarding her son's readiness for school. The boy had indeed grown up in a household run exclusively by women. And, even though they loved him and had his best interests at heart, it did not take Alex long to discover that if the lad were to be removed from the loving environment of Northleigh, he would find it difficult to stand up for himself. It did not help that the boy looked small for his age. Sometimes other boys, especially in the all-male environment of Eton, could be cruel. Therefore, over the coming months, he needed to teach the boy how to stand his ground and ultimately not succumb to the bullies' threats that he would no doubt encounter when he went away to school.

Over the past two weeks, he had worked hard to gain the boy's trust. He had answered, as honestly as he could, every question the boy had asked him about his time as a cavalry officer. He knew that once the boy had confidence in him, he would be able to teach him the subtler points of self-defence. However, to instruct the boy effectively, he needed the full support of Lady Kendall. But, he was still unsure, after his initial talk with her in the library, if she would allow him to teach her son anything that involved violence.

During his evenings alone in the Dower house, he had often wondered why Lady Kendall had been vehemently against the use of physical discipline. Alex could see no problem with using it himself. When Alex had been a young boy, he had been regularly punished by his father for getting into one scrape or another, and he had seen the punishment as part of growing up. Young boys, who were prone to creating all kinds of mischief, when caught must learn to face the punishment, however fierce, like a man. But Lady Kendall had made her opinion of discipline very clear and did not allow any form of physical chastisement in her household.

He had also found out that Charles' former tutor, the rather dower Mr Dowle, who he had met in the village on the morning after he had arrived, had been dismissed because he had used the cane on the boy. Sir Freddie, Charles' guardian, who he had also met the day after his arrival, had reiterated Lady Kendall's request and made it clear that he would be dismissed if he broke this stipulation of his employment. He had been told in no uncertain terms, by Sir Freddie himself, that Mr Dowle had been dismissed not only because he ignored the orders of the boy's mother, but also of his guardian as well. However, it still left him puzzling over why they had both been so adverse the use of physical chastisement.

If they did not allow any physical chastisement in the household, would they permit him to instruct Charles in the finer points of self-defence? He would dearly like to teach the boy to box, and maybe even to fence. However, he needed permission from Lady Kendall and Sir Freddie before he could do either. And he was not at all confident that either of them would give him their consent.

Until he had talked with Lady Kendall and had gained her consent, he would continue to build a relationship with the boy. There were many attributes a young man, in Lord Kendall's position, needed to learn. After morning lessons, Alex had started to take his pupil outdoors in the afternoon. Not only had he given him some riding lessons, but he had also taken him to visit his rather ancient estate manager, Mr Crabtree. When they had been out viewing the farms associated with Northleigh, Alex had also talked to him about the importance of running your estate efficiently. He had told him that many families relied on the smooth-running of the estate for their livelihood. And Alex had told him that as a landowner, he would be responsible for all the people working on his land.