Lady Ann's Holiday: Chapter Thirty Four - Part Five

Lord Hurley settled down to fish at one of the wider parts of the river, just inside Mossgrove Forest, close to the shadow of the old stone footbridge Burt used when he walked into the village the longer way.

Burt had laboured all the way there, weighed down with all the equipment while Lord Hurley wandered along, hands behind his back, whistling happily.

Burt busied around, helping Lord Hurley get comfortably into position and set up. When everything was ready he hung back in case he was called upon but out of the gentleman’s sight line. The gentleman wouldn’t want to be distracted by someone of Burt’s ilk.

Nothing was said for half an hour or so, then surprisingly, Lord Hurley turned to Burt and said, “You, man, you’ve worked at the hall for what…?”

“Since… Since I was a boy sir.`”

Richard gazed at him speculatively and then said, “Come here.”

Burt hurried forward.

“Sit down.”

“Sir?”

Richard pointed. “On the floor there.”

Feeling highly uncomfortable at having to sit so close to one of the quality, Burt sat on the damp grass on the edge of the river and looked down into the water. He had his doubts about what the lord would catch but there were occasionally larger fish to be seen. Right now he couldn’t see anything.

He glanced at Lord Hurley but the gentleman showed no sign of speaking. Burt wasn’t sure why he’d been called forward and wanted nothing more than to slink back out of view. It wasn’t proper for him to be sitting so close to a refined gentleman. He was worried he’d be asked about something he had no conception of. With his muddled mind he remembered and understood almost nothing of upper class ways.

“You must have known Lady Ann for a long time,” said Lord Hurley.

“… Yes sir.”

“Seen her grow from girl to woman.”

Burt nodded but Lord Hurley didn’t see. He was looking off into the trees.

“What’s your name lad?”

“Burt sir. Burt ‘Arper”

“I saw you with that strumpet of yours this morning Harper. A bawdy girl I’m sure.”

Burt wasn’t sure how to respond. “Yes sir.”

“Well let me give you some advice Harper; on the way to woo a woman.”

Burt swallowed, surprised by the content of this conversation but also slightly thrilled to be spoken to as one man to another by such a refined gentleman. He had loved manly camaraderie ever since he became a servant but this was really special.

“Women like gifts,” said Richard confidently. “You flash your money under their noses long enough and that’s all they see.” He chuckled. “It works every time.”

Burt looked at him and then back down at the water, thinking it best to say nothing.

“The women I’ve had over the years, simply by spending a few pennies on presents, you wouldn’t believe.” He chuckled again. “But you understand that, eh Harper? You’re a man of the world like I am.”

Burt felt warm and rosy at being thought of that way but he couldn’t help feeling troubled by the other things the gentleman was saying.

“It’s just a shame a man has to settle down sometime, eh? Am I right?” Lord Hurley laughed aloud. “Although your mistress is certainly the pick of the litter: a very beautiful lady – the perfect choice, especially with her family connections. It doesn’t hurt to mix business with pleasure as long as the money keeps rolling in, eh Harper?”

“Uh yes sir. I suppose so sir.” Burt struggled to understand the undercurrent behind all this but it was hard to follow as it fell so far outside his stunted experience – as it was now.

“But you and I know that marriage doesn’t need to be the end of it, eh? A wife serves excellently well as an ornament to be put on show during occasional business dealings and to supply an air of dignity; but nothing really needs to change in terms of a man’s needs. I’m sure a chap like you would understand that.”

Burt nodded eagerly, still not quite following.

“As a matter of fact,” said Richard, pointing. “You see that bridge there. That bridge was the downfall of one of my plans and possibly the reason why my engagement with your mistress was postponed.” He chuckled. “I came up to Yorkshire about a month ago to see Lady Ann and I brought a gift with me that I’d procured from my home town – from a gypsy woman of all things, with the strangest eyes I’d ever seen.”

Burt frowned, sure that reminded him of something.

“It was a stone pendant – a beautifully crafted item – destined to be given to your mistress. But fate had other ideas. I had it with me as I passed over that bridge and it slipped from my fingers into the water.” He laughed and Burt’s eyes grew wide with realisation.

“A pendant sir?”

“Yes. And with it I might just have been able to woo Lady Ann that little bit earlier. As it was she turned me away.”

Burt couldn’t believe it. Surely such a connection was impossible; but the coincidence was too great.

“Was it… a special pendant?” asked Burt, instantly unsure whether he’d broken some code of conduct by questioning his superior, but Lord Hurley didn’t seem to mind.

“No. Nothing strange about it. Just a trinket – not even expensive – but intricately carved.”

“Did you…” Burt swallowed again. “Did anything happen to you, when you first touched it?”

Lord Hurley frowned at him. “What the devil are you talking about?”

“Nothing sir. Sorry sir.” Burt lowered his head, aware that he had overstepped his bounds. It was alright for the lord to address him but not for him to address the lord.

Lord Hurley testily went back to his fishing and Burt looked off, trying to wrap his thoughts around it.

If Lord Hurley’s pendant had really been one he found by the river’s edge then why hadn’t it broadcast its powers to him as it had to Burt?

Perhaps because Burt, As Ann, had been more sensitive to it somehow? Or perhaps that it worked differently for different people…?

He had no idea.

But still; the idea that the pendant had come from Lord Hurley’s home town – that it had been intended for the original Ann and had still somehow reached her, despite the accident on the bridge…

It beggared belief.