This meant that Constance had taken him in hand. Adelia accepted the apology with grace and hid her smile.
“Thank you,” he said in relief. “Now, about Robert and Charlotte. Something must be done before they destroy everything!”
“Goodness. Whatever do you mean?”
“You’ve seen how they live. You can see what they do with their days, their lives. Or what they don’t do! I am appalled, on a fresh basis, every single day, at the lives of utter indolence and dissolution that they follow.”
“It is a time of parties and celebration,” Adelia said cautiously, somewhat taken aback by the vehemence of Lord Mareham’s words.
“Well, as to that, it ought not to be,” he said grumpily. “It was never so frivolous in my day, you know. Now, the parties seem to stretch out for weeks either side of Christmas Day and no one seems to consider the true meaning behind it all. Society these days is a Saturnalia of feasting and I, for one, am heartbroken that I have lived so long to see our very nation crumble and collapse in this way. It is a tragedy.”
“Certainly things have changed but I am not sure it’s entirely a complete collapse...”
“I have heard of what they do now in Vienna, in Berlin, in Paris. As the end of the century approaches, the wheel of time has turned, and will crush us all, mark my words. Everything now is too fast, too bright, and too loud. And no, that is not merely the complaint of an old man. I have never, never seen such times.” He huffed. “Anyway, to the matter in hand. I had hoped that we had raised Robert to be a decent man, of an old-fashioned bent, chivalrous and industrious and aware of his responsibilities as heir to the Earldom.”
“And you have. Well, he is decent and chivalrous...”
“But hardly industrious, and he is certainly apparently unaware of any of his responsibilities. And I am sorry to say that your dear Charlotte is far too good a match for him. Please do not take this as a criticism of yourself, my dear lady; we are both in the same position.”
“I take no offence. And I am taking your words seriously. While I have been staying here, yes, it is true they seem very keen on parties and soirees. I wonder, though, what it is that you think they ought to be doing instead?”
The old Earl bristled. “He should be following my footsteps into the law, for a start! And as for Charlotte – oh, we love her very much, as a daughter in fact, but the sooner she starts a family, the sooner she will settle down to a far more refined and fulfilling role.”
“I agree,” said Adelia. She’d had the same notion though sometimes she thought that she wasn’t entirely sure Charlotte would make the best sort of mother – yet. Still, she had to say the right thing to mollify the Earl. “I shall speak to them both and do my best to guide them,” she added.
“I have tried that. So has Constance. I think I ought to warn you that if Robert cannot demonstrate to me that he is capable of a careful management of his own affairs, I shall have to revisit the matter of the inheritance. I am not saying I should disown or fully disinherit him, but I must consider what can be given to future generations. I will not pass on the fruits of the past generations of labour only for my own son to fritter it away in a matter of years – which, at the moment, seems very likely.”
Adelia was quite stunned. “I will confess, sir, that your thoughts have taken me by surprise. I can see that Robert and Charlotte do live a life of pleasure but I have not seen anything to suggest that they might be so wedded to hedonism that they jeopardise the future of your family name.” Even as she spoke, she wondered at it. After all, what great errors of judgment had they already made in becoming mixed up with Digby Nettles! That thought prompted her to ask, “However, perhaps they are also tarnished by some of the company that they keep; what do you think of the artistic circles in which they mingle?”
The mere mention of artistic circles seemed likely to cause a fit of fury in the old Earl. His sallow face flushed deep purple as he sought for words that were polite enough to be spoken in front of a countess but which could possibly convey his feelings adequately. He ended up simply spluttering. Constance looked over from the other side of the room and asked if he was feeling well.
“Yes – yes – a crumb from a cake has upset me,” he said, coughing, even though it was perfectly obvious he was not eating a thing. He turned back to Adelia. “A great deal of their problems stem from their choice of company!”
“Do you mean Mr Digby Nettles?”
“Oh, that art dealer? Isn’t he dead?”
“You sound as if he is not the problem. I had heard that he was not entirely honest.”
“He is – pardon me, he was – a dealer, a businessman. He would have been as honest as our government allows, so take that as you will. People chatter but as far as I am concerned, his reputation was good enough, give or take. Chap did have some funny ideas when he was drunk, mind you. He didn’t come to my sorts of places, of course. But he couldn’t have lasted long as a success if he had been swindling people, could he? He was wealthy so he was doing something right.”
It was a curious argument to Adelia’s mind. Almost as if the mere fact one was rich was somehow evidence that one was correct or morally upright. That didn’t bode well for the poorer sorts of
