Hannah

Christmas came, and soon after it, Blanche left the neighborhood. Nothing much was said about it, although some suspected that she was in the family way, but nobody knew for sure, except for Fred and me, and we weren’t about to tell.

In mid January, I again had a letter saying that those who were involved in the housing scheme were invited to Horatio’s house the following Friday night. He said that he had heard from Mr. Andrew on Lord Howard’s behalf.

So again, I managed to get Florence to sit with Annie for me, but this time, I did not want to risk what might take place if Fred were in the same place as Horatio. I still was not willing to accept that he was Blanche’s child’s father, but I couldn’t either say that I didn’t think it possible. It was not only possible, but perhaps probable.

After Fred had made his accusation, I thought long and hard about that day when we met up with Horatio at Compstall. He had intimated to me that he might meet me there, and he definitely was put out to see me there with Fred. I know that he likes to drink, and I know that he would not necessarily have thought twice about taking advantage of Blanche or anyone else in a similar circumstance.

I met up with the Higgenbottoms and we walked the rest of the way down the hill together. The Salts had decided against our scheme, so were not invited for tonight’s meeting.

It was Alice who opened the door to us. It was really the first time I spoke to her, but now that Blanche had gone, she would be expected to do much more of the ordinary maid duties, I suspected.

“Bon jour Mesdames and Monsieur,” she said, and I heard Mr. Higgenbottom jump as if someone had sworn at him.

“Bon jour,” I answered for all of us.

“Please to go into parlour,” she said in hesitant English, as she took our coats.

We were the last to arrive, and I saw Mr. Taylor, the money lender had also arrived. Horatio introduced us to his friends who planned to invest - Mr. Henry Almond, Mr. Cochrane and Mr. Alexander Lawson. Louisa was not present, but her mother, Mrs. Hayes, was there as one of the potential investors.

When we were all seated, Horatio stood up.

“As you know, it has been some time since the properties that we wish to buy were surveyed and assessed by Mr. Andrew. I have only this week received the letter from him which I will read to you in a moment. But it seems that Lord Howard has not been well, and that has been part of the delay. And then there were special parties for his son’s 21st birthday. And now finally, I have heard, but I must say, this letter was not what I expected at all.

Mr. H. Whittington, chairman of the Ludworth Housing Consortium

Dear Mr. Whittington,

I must apologise for the delay in writing to you, but it was due mainly to the ill health of Lord Howard, who of course needs to be fully informed and to make the final decision on these proceedings. He has now given his permission for me to outline our proposal.

He feels that the fairest thing would be for the properties to be offered by auction. This might benefit your clients in that they might well get their property for a better value from their point of view. However, if there is competition, the opposite might be the case. Lord Howard has asked me to organise the auction to take place on the 1st of April, instant, and to advertise the properties as being for sale throughout the district, so as to raise awareness of the project. The auction will be held at John T. Goddard’s Auction House on Howard Street, at 10 a.m. Those whose properties are up for sale should expect requests from interested buyers to see the property the week in advance of the sale.

If there are any questions regarding this, please feel free to contact me.

I remain yours faithfully,

Charles Arthur Andrew
Business Agent for Lord Howard of Glossop

“I see from your faces, ladies and gentlemen, that you are as taken by surprise by this departure as I am. I do not know why they have decided to go to auction. But it appears that if we wish to purchase the properties we have no choice but to do it by this route.

"I am assuming that you, Mrs. Harrison, and you, Mr. and Mrs. Higgenbotham, wish me to act on your behalf at this auction and bid for your properties.

"As for you gentlemen who are not intending to live in the houses but are here mainly for purposes of investing your money, you can either bid on your own behalf, or have me do it for you. We do have several months yet before the sale, so the decision does not have to be made tonight. What are you feelings at this time on the matter?”

Several of the gentlemen spoke and seemed to agree that this might well work in our favour, and they were of the opinion that they would trust Horatio to act on their behalf. But I was suddenly not at all sure that I wished Horatio to be spending my money.

“And are you with the others on this, Mrs. Harrison?” he asked.

“I will need time to think, and then I will let you know my decision,” I said, which I think somewhat surprised him.

Later after coffee, I said that I wished to speak with him alone, about this matter and about another one and hoped that he might arrange it in some way. He smiled conspiratorially at me, and said he was sure he could arrange it.

The meeting didn’t last much longer and I was pleased when I finally reached my house, having to do the last half mile on my own, on a cold and stormy night.