Chapter 10
John Chamberlain,the Duke of Lennox, read through the letter for the third time. It was not ambiguous. Ezra Burk, the Earl of Pembrook—and his ex-father-in-law—was calling in the loan he’d made to John. No reason for the request was given in theletter.
Blackleg disease had raged through his sheep the winter before his wife died, wiping out over half of his flock. He’d urgently needed capital to rebuild his stock and to get the estate through the rest of the year until he could sheer the new sheep. He had workers he needed to pay, and he was not about to let go of those people who depended on him for theirlivelihood.
He had fully intended to pay off the loan, but when Annabel died he was devastated and pleaded with Ezra to extend the loan until he recovered from his grief. Ezra had agreed and John had been making regular payments on the loan sincethen.
But that had been more than five years ago and he had still not paid off the loan in its entirety. This letter had come as a shock and he realized he would still be unable to pay off the loan at thistime.
He had already contacted his bank about a new loan to pay off the Earl, but they had refused, sighting the fact that he already had a mortgage on the estate, and his current income was insufficient to warrant a newloan.
The only thing he could think to do was to go up to Pembrook Hall and plead with Ezra not to call in the loan at this time. His new flock had been well established and he would be sheering in the late-autumn. Perhaps he could convince Ezra to wait for his payment until after the sheep were sheered and the wool wassold.
He checked the calendar. It was now mid-September and he figured he would have the wool sold by mid to late November. That was only two to three months. Surely, he could persuade Ezra to wait thatlong.
It was a day’s ride to Pembrook Hall, and he set out without telling his Aunt the reason for his travel. Nor did he stop in to say good-bye to his daughter, which was not unusual forhim.
The weather was fair and he made good time, arriving late evening after making an early start. He had the most conflicted emotions as he approached the Earl’s home, for it was here he had first met Annabel, his wife to be. And while the marriage was arranged, it soon blossomed into a great love. He could not help but be flooded with images of her and their happy life together as he approached thehouse.
John had not written ahead to warn Ezra of his visit and when he knocked on the front door, he was uncertain how well he would be received. Ezra and he had not met again since the day of Annabel’s funeral at Haverford and had not corresponded since then, except for John making regular payments on theloan.
The door was opened by thebutler.
“Ah, Your Grace, we were not expecting you,” hesaid.
“Is the Earl athome?”
“Yes, he is. Come in and I shall announce you. One moment,please.”
John went inside and stood waiting in the entrance hall as the butler went to find the Earl. He soonreturned.
“This way, YourGrace.”
The butler led the way to a drawing room where the Earl and his wife, Hester, were seated at a card table, playingdominos.
“Ezra, Hester, good evening, and please forgive the intrusion. Ezra, I needed to speak with you about your letter and I didn’t want to write you and wait for yourreply.”
“Good evening,” Hester said sweetly. “It’s a pleasure to see you,John.”
Ezra stood up, obviously displeased with theinterruption.
“John, this is most unexpected and not verywelcome.”
Ezra was a sour looking man with a red face and straggly whiskers. He had beady eyes and a large red nose. He was strangely shaped with a thin chest, a large belly, and spindlylegs.
“I thought my letter was perfectly self-explanatory and unambiguous. Why are youhere?”
“To see if there is some way we can resolve this issue as gentlemen. I’m unable to make the full payment at this time and wanted to negotiate a fairsettlement.”
“You certainly don’t expect me to deal with this at this time of night? You had better stay over and we can deal with this in the morning. I’m certainly in no frame of mind to deal with thisnow.”
“Very well, Ezra, and I thank you for yourhospitality.”
“Huh,” Ezra said. He then turned to the butler who was still attending. “Show His Grace to the east guestroom.”
“Yes, Mylord.”
“Have you eaten?” Hesterasked.
