The American Earl Read Free Page A

to remain here at Stoverton with a degree of comfort.”
    “How much?” I asked baldly.
    When he told me, I blinked. “That’s much more money than the allowance I received from my father. Are you certain about this, Mr. Shields?”
    He got that uncomfortable look on his face again and said that yes, he was certain. And he gave me the allowance money for the last two months as well as the next one!
    When I imparted this news to Maria and Flora, they were ecstatic. Truthfully, I had been afraid that Flora wasn’t going to stick it out with us, and if she left I didn’t know what would happen. Without Flora, Aunt Barbara would have legal cause to remove us – and I knew she would use it.
    But now I could buy enough coal to heat several rooms in the house and Mrs. Pierce, our cook, could order food from the grocer in town. Maria and Flora were happy and I was ecstatic. I hoped the new earl would never come.
    * * * *
    On April 11 Napoleon abdicated and the war with France was over. The war with America dragged on, however, and still we didn’t hear from Evan Marshall. In August, we learned that negotiations for a peace treaty between Great Britain and the United States had begun in Ghent. Part of me was happy that no more men would be killed, but I must admit that part of me regretted the ending of a war that suited my purposes so well.
    In November, the negotiators in Ghent announced they were close to an agreement.  Shortly after this notice appeared in the papers, Mr. Shields drove out to Stoverton bringing with him the inevitable but unwelcome news.
    I had just come back from a most satisfactory hunt and was still in my riding clothes when the solicitor’s coach pulled up at our front door. I invited him into the library, which was warm and comfortable thanks to the allowance he sent me faithfully every month. Maria and Cousin Flora were sitting at one of the two big desks doing schoolwork when we came in; I couldn’t see the point of heating the schoolroom when they could work in here. I used the other desk to keep the household accounts.
    “Come and sit by the fire,” I invited the solicitor. It was a cold, damp day and the poor man looked frozen.
    “Goodness,” Cousin Flora said, coming to greet the visitor. “What brings you here on such an ugly day, Mr. Shields?”
    “I have received a letter from the new earl,” he said, going to stand in front of the fire and hold out his hands out to the heat.
    I offered Mr. Shields some tea, delaying the dread moment for as long as I could.  He accepted gratefully and I dashed off to the kitchen.  Mrs. Pierce and Lucy, our only remaining maid, were sitting in front of the fire sewing when I came in.  Lucy jumped up to put the tea on and Mrs. Pierce opened the cupboards to see what she might offer a guest. 
    “Will you bring it, Lucy, when it’s ready?” I asked.
    “Of course, Lady Julia.”
    Lucy was Mrs. Pierce’s granddaughter and I had taken her in when her mother ran off with a man from the village leaving the child behind.  Lucy had been only nine when it happened, but I had told Mrs. Pierce that she could live at Stoverton.  I solved the problem of my mother’s certain disapproval by simply not telling her.  My good deed had been rewarded because Mrs. Pierce was fiercely loyal to me and wouldn’t think of leaving.  Nor would Lucy.  That’s why we still had a cook and a maid.
    I went back upstairs and announced that the tea was coming. Mr. Shields peeled himself away from the fire and came to sit on one of the sofas that flanked it. I sat next to him and gestured for Maria and Cousin Flora to join us.
    We talked about the weather, always a favorite topic of the English, until Lucy came in with the tea tray.
    Cousin Flora poured the tea and we all sat back, teacups in hand, and stared at Mr. Shields.
    “Well?” I asked. “What did this Evan Marshall have to say?”
    “He acknowledged that he had received my second letter and was planning to