Chapter 16: Country Life

Juli 1803

Tension in the Grey family was thick for the next days. During the meals, Margaret Grey sat at table with a face of stone, only speaking to Jane, and giving her husband and son frosty glares. At first, Thomas and his father expected the foul mood to go away with time, but after four days of this, Theodore Grey told his son to pack a valise, and within two hours, they were on the stage coach to London. For the next four days, they viewed the City, strolling in the public parks, frequenting fancy eateries, but also visiting the Admiralty, where the elder Grey notified the First Naval Lord’s office of Captain William Grey’s demise and of his own unavailability for the foreseeable future.

Theodore Grey, having no interest in Parliament or at Court, had received his appointment to Commander rather late. He was well aware that he would never be posted to a ship if he did not vie for one in this time of urgent need. Yet, the care for the Greys’ lands was at the forefront of his thinking, and therefore he was needed at home.

For Thomas, the visit to the great City was an eye opener. They even watched a theatre performance at the famous Drury Lane Theatre and once, they saw a royal carriage drive by, escorted by a score of Horse Guards in their splendid uniforms. During the visit to the Admiralty, Thomas saw his first admiral walking by, and he stood to attention as straight as he could.

“Not in here, Son,” the admiral told him with a smile. “This building’s full of senior officers. Nobody could get a single thing done were we to stand at attention all the time. Your first visit, young man?”

“Yes, Sir! Thomas Grey, scholar at the Royal Naval Academy, and formerly of the Unite frigate, Sir!”

The admiral made a face. “You’ll be a midshipman ordinary then?”

“No, Sir, likely not. I have 27 months of seagoing service already.”

“Well, good for you. You won’t be completely useless then. Good luck, young Mister Grey!”

“Thank you, Sir! May I know your name, Sir?”

A kindly smile appeared on the man’s face. “I am Rear Admiral Sir Cuthbert Collingwood, at your service.”

“Thank you, Sir!”

Shaking his head with a small smile, Collingwood walked on then, leaving a breathless Thomas in his wake. The man was a close friend of Lord Nelson of the Nile as he knew.

The days in London ended almost too soon for Thomas, but on the next day, they boarded a stage coach to Portsmouth, where they alighted in the late afternoon. They spent the evening dining at a good eatery and the night in a comfortable inn. In the next morning, after a good breakfast, they set out for the Sea Rover club, where Thomas was sent in with a letter and an envelope filled with five-pound notes. He was indeed received by Mistress Caroline, and he related his grandfather’s death and handed over the letter and the bequest to the woman who was torn between crying over William Grey’s death and open-mouthed wonder over the forty five-pound notes that were hers now.

She also called in the girls who entered the salon in various states of undress, but who were giving Thomas hugs to console him. Mistress Caroline then gave each of them two of the banknotes, even Miss Chastity who had never met William Grey.

With his father waiting outside, Thomas could not accept any more friendliness from them, but he bade his farewell and promised to be back once his classes commenced again.

When he emerged from the club, after perhaps fifteen minutes, Theodore Grey looked pointedly at his fob watch, but he had an indulging smile on his lips.

“I was wondering whether you were accepting more elaborate thanks from the women,” he taunted his son.

With a cheeky grin, Thomas answered. “If I had, I would not be out here yet.”

“Thomas, don’t ever brag about those girls with your mates! I take it that they are kind to you. Be respectful to them in turn.”

Thomas shook his head. “Never! If I told them about the Sea Rover, the instructors and Mister Bayly would know within days. I’m keeping mum about this. I’ll have another two years to enjoy Grandfather’s bequest to me. I shall not risk it.”

“You, my son, are wise beyond your years.”

The next day, they arrived back in Guilford and took a rented cab for the short drive home. Entering the house, they found Thomas’s mother, and she looked haggard and red-eyed. Looking at her cut into Thomas’s heart and a look to the side told him that his father, too, was dismayed.

“Where have you been?” she asked with a shaking voice.

“We visited London. I had to call at the Admiralty to settle my father’s affairs and to notify them of my hiatus. I took Thomas along, so that he would see the City.”

“Why didn’t you tell me where you went?” she sobbed. “I was afraid that ... I didn’t know whether ... you ... you’d come back.”

“Margaret, you would not speak to me, you would not listen to me. You already treated me as if I wasn’t there. If I had told you of my plans, what would you have said or done?”

“I ... You’re right. I was so angry at you, even at Thomas.”

“Margaret, we must talk. I don’t want us to be apart. Thomas doesn’t want us to be apart. Is that how we teach him to treat a wife when he is grown up and married?”

The bitterness came back to her voice. “Well, not married to my best friend’s daughter.”

“He should marry a girl he fancies and who fancies him back. Right now, that excludes the Paddington girl. She doesn’t even like him.”

“She’ll change her mind once she gets to know him better.”

Thomas, who had listened silently to his parents, felt that he should say something. This was his future after all.

“Mum, what if I shan’t change my mind?”

“Why on Earth not?”

“Mum, she’s apt to say stupid things at any moment. Remember ‘Killimarnuck’? She is also vain and expects everybody to fawn over her. I don’t know her that well. I’m certain she is not a bad girl. I just feel annoyed when I see her. From the way she looks at me, she feels the same about me. Mum, I cannot like her, just because you and Missus Paddington are close friends and she’s her daughter.”

“Margaret, let us try this: for now, no accidental meetings between them anymore. Once Thomas is finished with the Academy and has earned a commission, they may think differently about each other. The girl needs to mature, too. She is vain and ignorant, but Paddington has her schooled by that tutor, and those lessons may take hold. Just give them time, please, and don’t prod them!”

Thomas could see that his mother was half convinced.

“Father is right, Mum. Please, let it be for now, and don’t be angry with us anymore!”

Margaret Grey took a deep breath, and then her better side won, and she gave her two men a brave smile.

“Yes, let us be good again. I do love you both, and I’ll ask Petunia to be patient. Thomas, will you leave us alone for a spell? Your father and I must talk some more, and not all we’ll say is meant for your ears.”

Thomas nodded, and with a straight face, he said, “I shall go to my room and write a letter to Alice Houghton. I must let her know that I am free to woo her now.”

“To your room, you imp!” she scolded him, pushing him bodily to the stairs, but there was mirth in her voice. As he climbed the stairs, he overheard her next words. “He is not serious about that girl, is he?”

Thomas heard his father chuckle richly, and then his answer, “They are friends of sorts, or rather mates. Thomas says she’d like nothing more than to attend the Academy herself. Moorbanke indulges her tomboy antics. I suppose he’s disappointed in his grandson, and the girl is everything the boy should have been.”

“Oh, dear! You talked about her?”

“We talked about many things. Don’t worry! Thomas is a good youth. He’ll make us proud.”

Deciding that he had heard enough, Thomas crept up the stairs, avoiding the creaky steps, and into his room.

At supper, Thomas noticed a certain glow in his mother’s face, and he had to suppress a relieved grin: his parents had obviously made up with each other and were on friendly, even loving terms again.

Over his last weeks at home, Thomas accompanied his father on his inspections of the estate, meeting the tenants and discussing their complaints but also their shortcomings. Most of them were hardworking and honest men in Thomas’s perception, tending their crops and livestock, and caring for their families and other dependents. More often than not, the oldest unwed daughters were trotted out and introduced, hoping to catch the eye of the squire’s son. Yet none of them caught his fancy and besides, his father would not tolerate dalliances betwixt his son and the tenants’ daughters or maids. Nothing could come of that but trouble, he had told his son, and Thomas, given his weekly visits to the Sea Rover and the lovely cocottes there, was not overly tempted.

One of the tenants, a fellow by the name of James Jenkins, worked his farm with the help of two farmhands and a milkmaid, but had no family. According to his father, Jenkins was often complaining about the rent payments, and sometimes in arrears. Theodore Grey had no compelling reason so far to terminate the lease, but he admitted to his hopes of finding such grounds. To Thomas, the man looked shifty, and his swagger and sneer struck him as unbecoming. As warrant officer in the Cormorant, the man would not have lasted long under Theodore Grey’s command, Thomas was sure, and it vexed him that his father was so indulgent to the man.