Chapter 5: A Settlement

The town house had not been used by the family for more than a year, but they had a caretaker, and Sir Anthony had used it on a few occasions when Navy or business matters commanded his presence in London. Nevertheless, the house was in a need for a “spring cleaning”, and the whole family and all the servants worked together to make the place habitable. On occasions like this Lady Carter felt that it would not hurt her dignity to participate in the work and this applied to her husband and her children too. Within two days, all the rooms had been aired and cleaned, and the bad odours were gone. Mrs. Blacket took over the household again, and the Carters reclaimed their rooms.

The old smoking room that had been Rupert Palmer’s, Harriet’s first and hated husband’s, had long been remodelled to Sir Anthony’s tastes, whilst the old study had remained Harriet’s special domain. One of the smaller second floor rooms had been converted into a dedicated bathroom with a modern douche bath, an ingenious invention Sir Anthony had come across during a visit to New Orleans in the former French colony of Louisiana. The drain connected to a cast iron tube that in turn drained into the gutter outside. The water reservoir for the shower could even be heated. Using this bathroom was new for Richard and Eleanor, but both appreciated the luxury.

After everybody was settled and comfortable, Lady Carter and her daughter picked up Lucy and Ellen to visit Wilson’s Fashion on Bond Street. Elisabeth Wilson, the owner, was an old friend of the family who had started her business in a small shop in Portsmouth’s Mulberry Street that she had rented from Anthony Carter. For close to twenty years, Elisabeth Wilson had made the dresses for Harriet Carter and the uniforms for Sir Anthony. Her business expanded over the years and the move to London had brought her a large number of new customers. Yet Harriet Carter was still served by Miss Wilson herself.

A number of dresses and skirt/blouse combinations were ordered for Ellen and Miss Wilson was in her element. Apprentices brought in bales of cloth in various colours and tones until Miss Wilson was satisfied that the colours complimented Ellen’s blond tresses and blue eyes. Eleanor too needed new garments having grown up considerably over the last year. Her strawberry blond hair, so similar to her mother’s, called for other colours and again cloth bales were hauled from the storage until Miss Wilson was satisfied. In the meantime two tailors worked on the dresses Ellen had been given by Eleanor to make them fit better on her more mature form. Alll this was like a wonder for Ellen and she was properly awed.

A shoemaker was the next address, and Ellen was fitted for a number of finely crafted boots. That accomplished, the women hurried back to Lucy’s house. It was explained to Ellen, that she was not to show herself on the street until she had proper dresses. First appearances were important and she would be branded as poor relative if she were seen wearing hand-me-downs.

Whilst Lucy and Harriet chatted amiably over tea, Ellen and Eleanor were in Ellen’s new room. The Wilkes had welcomed their daughter with open arms and the room showed it. Eleanor smiled at Ellen’s exuberance thinking that she would be even more overwhelmed once she saw the Carters’ mansion. Ellen, meanwhile, began to bombard Eleanor with questions about Richard, how he was, what he was doing, until Eleanor threw up her hands in defeat and promised to tell Richard that he should visit Ellen.

Indeed, over the next days, Richard found numerous excuses to visit the Wilkes’ house under one pretext or another, but always ending up sitting next to Ellen and holding her hands.

Two weeks after the move into the City, a visitor was announced at the Carter’s house. A tall and gaunt man in his early forties, he introduced himself as Major John Meadows. Sir Anthony received him in private in his study. While tea was served, he studied the man. He must have been a good looking man once, but too much drink and an unsteady living had taken their toll.

“I take it you came about young Ellen,” Sir Anthony offered.

“Well, yes, I want to pick up my daughter. It was very considerate of you to give her shelter, but she will have to return with me. As she may have told you, she is engaged to marry.”

“Major, let’s not beat about the bush,” Sir Anthony cut in. “The girl told us that she was to marry a creditor of yours to satisfy a gambling debt. My wife and I find that sort of behaviour disreputable to say the least. And I suppose the Major Meadows who fought honourably at Waterloo would have agreed.”

“I am afraid the girl is none of your business, Sir Anthony. She is my late wife’s daughter, and I am responsible for her.”

“I’ll have to dispute that claim, Major. I had my attorney look into church records and court documents. It so seems that you have neglected to obtain legal guardianship for Miss Trilby. Neither did you adopt her as your daughter upon your marriage with the girl’s mother.”

Meadows blustered. “She lived in my house, I was married to her mother, and she is mine. I can obtain that guardianship within a day.”

“Afraid not, Major,” Sir Anthony calmly stated. “You see, technically, she was an abandoned orphan with no legal guardian. Therefore, Mr. Justice Bolton saw it fit for her to be adopted by a prominent London gentleman. You are two weeks too late to obtain guardianship seeing that she is not an orphan anymore.”