Scandal at the Dower House Read Online Free PDF

the houses in the village and you will see how much better they are.’
    ‘I deplore the fashion of clearing away whole villages just to improve the prospect from a house.’
    ‘So do I, if that is the sole reason, and especially if no other suitable provision is made for the villagers. But these people want to move. Ask them yourself.’
    She scrambled from the curricle and vanished through a low doorway in the nearest cottage. Nicholas climbed down slowly, handed the reins to his tiger, and wondered whether he was meant to follow.
    Before he could decide, Catarina reappeared tugging at the hand of a small, slight, bent old woman who glanced up at him shyly as she tried to curtsy. Several small children followed her out of the house and stood nearby, joined soon by two more women and an ancient man smoking a foul-smelling pipe which had in it, Nicholas thought, something far more obnoxious than tobacco.
    ‘Moll, this is the new earl. Tell him why you want to move from this house.’
    Moll took a deep breath. ‘Well, surr, it be mortal damp in’t winter. See t’river, it floods in’t winter. An’ we don’t ’ave nowhere ter go, see, can’t, we don’t ’ave more’n the one room.’
    Nicholas glanced at the cottages and belatedly realized the thatch came so low it was impossible for there to be an upper storey, even a loft. ‘What do you do,’ he asked, ‘when the houses are flooded?’
    ‘It don’t often reach wall beds, so we can sleep in’t dry. We just ’as ter wade through it. But it covers fireplace, so we can’t cook. Surr, when will our new cotts be ready? Old Marge went just afore ’is lordship were killed, an’ says it’s ’eaven, so close ter new well an’ all.’
    ‘Will the new houses be ready soon?’ Nicholas demanded.
    ‘Before the winter, if you don’t stop the building,’ Catarina told him. ‘And even if you preferred to rebuild here, you would need to find somewhere for these people to go while it’s done. How many still live here, Moll?’
    There were three cottages remaining, so when Moll told him there were ten adults and as many children he looked at them again, wondering how on earth so many people fitted into their single rooms.
    ‘You’d prefer the new houses near the church? Rather than have these rebuilt, with upper floors and more room?’
    Moll looked frightened. ‘Oh, surr, you bain’t goin’ ter stop us ’aving our nice new ’ouses? The old earl promised, and we’m lookin’ forward to being close ter them who’ve already gone.’
    There was a murmur of agreement from the adults surrounding them.
    Nicholas nodded slowly. ‘Very well, I’ll make sure the builders finish your new houses as soon as possible.’
    ‘Bless you, surr!’
    ‘Do you want to see the new houses?’ Catarina asked as they drove away.
    ‘I think not. I really must be getting on. I intended only to make a quick visit to see my agent. I am on my way to Brussels.’
    ‘You are rejoining the army? Now that the threat from Napoleon seems greater? Is there really going to be more fighting? Sir Humphrey does not think so.’
    ‘I fear there will be. Perhaps he is trying to reassure you, prevent you from worrying.’
    ‘He is very considerate.’
    Was he? Nicholas ground his teeth.
    ‘The duke needs all the experienced officers he can find. Jeremy is already there, in Brussels, but so far all he appears to do is go to balls and parties.’
    ‘Then I wish you good fortune, my lord. My mother’s family in Portugal suffered during the French occupation. Several cousins were killed, either in the fighting, or when the French massacred all the people of Evora.’
    ‘Do your family live there?’
    ‘No longer in Evora. The Quinta das Fontes is near Oporto. That is the main estate, though various members of the family have their own houses along the Douro. They are mostly producers of wine.’
    ‘Which I suppose is how your parents met?’
    ‘Papa did a lot of business with the family,