The Pinchbeck Peer: Book 8: The Clever Man by Andrew Wareham

Author:Andrew Wareham [Wareham, Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-04-02T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

“Mr Ernest Verstappen, my lord. Not the precise problem we had envisaged, but nonetheless a matter for slight concern.”

Quimby had a slight smile creasing his normally pursed lips. Fabius wondered what had cast him into such transports of joy.

“Mrs Verstappen inherited last year, my lord, her good merchant father joining his ancestors then. His whole estate was set in trust to her and to the heirs of her body – not a penny to her husband except she chooses to give it him from her income. I do not know the precise figures, my lord, but have been able to make an estimate that may well be accurate.”

Fabius was prepared to wager that Quimby would be out by no more than five shillings a year – his sources in the City were generally precise.

“How much, Quimby?”

“Twenty-two thousand and five hundred pounds per annum, my lord. The principal is invested in a broad range of funds and shareholdings, including a number of East India merchants. Her money is safe.”

Fabius could not restrain the grin.

“Mr Verstappen inherited a thousand a year, did he not? Presumably, he will have increased that from the initial sums that came his way on marriage?”

“Only by about five hundreds a year, my lord. He had debts to clear and spent incautiously as well, once he knew he was rich. His goodfather supplied him with another two thousand a year, additionally to the sums in his lady’s pocket. While the old gentleman was alive, Mr Verstappen was comfortable and not too much aware he was no more than a pensioner of his wife.”

“And now he has to beg her to open her purse strings. Is she bitter that he has failed to provide her with title and social standing?”

“Definitely so, my lord. She has a husband for whom she has no liking, which mattered little when he was to become Duke of Mendip. Whilst he remains a very mere ‘mister’, she has no reason to restrain her tongue, or provide him with more than a beggar’s allowance. Her son as well has but little respect for his father, brought up to recognise him as a weakling and a failure in life.”

“A pity. They are Verstappens, after all, and should be at least respectable… A baronetcy to the boy on his inheritance, think you, Quimby? Nothing to Mr Ernest Verstappen himself, but the family to acknowledge the boy?”

“I might proceed a step further, my lord. I think a barony would be better. Nothing more than an Irish peerage, I do not think we need to see that family in the House of Lords, but the title would be most welcome. The lady has cousins in the City and dispersed throughout the merchant community.”

“Expensive, Quimby!”

“Casting our bread upon the waters, my lord. It might well return to us.”

“I am unwilling to beg favours of Billy Pitt, Quimby.”

“Undesirable indeed, my lord. He has no more than three or four years in him, at most. His successor – as yet unidentified – will certainly wish to build a coalition of supporters.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.