May You Live in Interesting Times

Chapter Seven

After dinner, Abigail joined the equally distraught Duchess and Gabrielle for the carriage ride to the prison. They parked outside, and found Joe there waiting.

“I never got in,” the boy said. “They says it cost tuppence to get in ter visit. I done went all around the place. They’s usually a hidy hole or somewhat to sneak in, but couldn’t find one.”

“Well, it is a jail,” Abi said, amused that the boy was indignant at the thought that there was a building in London that he couldn’t sneak into. “I shall pay for all of us to get in.”

Their admission didn’t include any information on where the Duke was being held. That took another four pence, and Abi insisted that the fee would include their being escorted to the cell.

They walked through the prison, and saw some rather comfortable looking cells: not as lavish as those in the Tower of London, but respectable. They walked far past these, with the cells becoming more and more spartan. Eventually they reached dark, damp cells, and found the Duke sharing a cell with an old, wizened man.

“You really is a Duke then?” the ancient said in surprise. “I thought you just stole some clothes and was saying that.”

Gabrielle gave her father a long hug, while the Duchess stood away for a few moments, trying to convey her dislike at being married to an inmate, and then rushed over and also hugged her husband lovingly. She clearly still adored the man, in spite of all his faults. When they were through, Abigail handed the Duke the plate they had brought with them. There was no table in the cell, only two mean cots, and the Duke sat at the one that was his and ate as his family chatted with him, as though he had been gone for weeks, and not just a few hours.

When he was finished, he was given the two rolls, wrapped in paper, and Abigail explained that someone would be back after lunch on the morrow with more food. The four visitors left the cell, which was locked behind them by a turnkey.

On the way back the Duchess bemoaned the low status location her husband was in, and begged Abigail to look into moving him to one of the higher status cells. At the warder’s office, Abi did ask about the nicer cells, and was told that there was a fee of a pound a week to get into those. The middle range cells were four pence a night, or two shillings a week, and they included ‘full range’ which meant the prisoner could wander the facility at will during the daylight hours, and were only locked in after dark.

The Duchess wanted the more expensive cells, but Abi only agreed to the medium class ones, and paid eight shillings for four weeks. She insisted that this should include visitor fees for whoever brought the meals in. The Duke would also have the cell to himself with no sharing.

It was early afternoon when they returned to the house, and the Duchess and Gabrielle fled up into their rooms. There were a few more wagons arriving with supplies that day, with Bentley having the guest rooms equipped with beds, carpets and wardrobes, as well as additional food for the kitchen, and some decorations for the rest of the house.

William had nearly finished his report, and was glad to have Abi back to tend to paying the merchants so he could wrap it up. He handed his ‘sister’ a small bag of coin, and disappeared back into the office.

Supper was somber that evening, with the Duke’s place sitting empty. The Duchess complained about the conditions of the prison, and how certain she was that her husband would catch an illness in there. Abi mentioned the improved room, and the possibility of moving up to the top line cells. William immediately said no to that. If the Duke were in fine quarters, and eating fine meals, he would not be gaining anything from the experience. He also hinted that if the Duke behaved himself in Fleet, he would consider paroling him after a month.

After supper, Abi had another class with her students. All of the prior group had returned, as well as two newcomers, meaning two of the groups were three to a slate. Abi planned to order more slates to ensure that all would be able to get a chance. They covered both the letter ‘B’ and the letter ‘C’, which was one of the easiest in the alphabet. The students were getting better using the chalk and slates, and soon could even draw the tricky capital ‘B’ with some precision.

They also spent time searching through the broadsides for the new letters, as well as the ones they learned the prior night. This time Delilah and Abi added the first letter of each student’s last name to the mix. She was surprised to see that at the end of the lesson some of the students were practicing their initials on the slate. In 1642, signing your initials constituted a legal signature, so these students were proud to be writing their own name for the first time, in a way.

Abi decided that when the additional slates were ordered, she would order some cheap pens, ink, and more paper, so that those ready for it could practice their ‘signatures’ in pen and ink.

The class ended early, as this was a bath night for Abi. She enjoyed a bath, and made Gloria get in when she was finished, so that her maid might be cleaner than she otherwise would prefer. Abi knew in the future, in 1665 the plague would hit, and she would have to have every staff member bathing daily to prevent the disease. She also knew that she needed to get some dogs into the house: they would help prevent rats from infesting the house.

That evening William and Abi met again in her room, with a rather disgusted-looking Gloria sitting in the corner, upset that her mistress had made her take a bath months before she was ready. William was ready for his meeting with Pym in the morning. The Puritan man was known for keeping early hours, so William would leave early enough that he could be at Parliament by 8 a.m. He would take James to drive the carriage, and Kensing to act as footman. He hoped to be home before dinner.

Abigail was glad of that. She had three jewelers coming in the morning, and she also wanted to get an early start, by putting the contents of the seven bags out on the large dining table. She expected that to take her, Bentley, Winthrope, and Gloria at least an hour. The jewelers were expected at 10. She felt she could handle dealing with the men, if necessary, but in a few short days she had come to realize that men treated women as unequal. It would be nice if William could arrive before the jewelers left.

The next morning William rose early. Hockings was up, and helped William into his best clothes, brushing his vest, and finally pronouncing him ready to go to Parliament. When they went down to the kitchen, they found that James and Kensing were already there. Delilah had started having a baker work a night shift, mixing dough for bread and the many rolls the house now consumed every morning and night. The bread and rolls used a white dough, which was a treat for staff, since most common people in London at the time ate cheaper brown breads. William had to laugh to himself about that. In 400 years, it would be the brown breads eaten by the well-to-do, and white bread by the poor.

The baker had made three loaves of white bread, and four batches of rolls, 48 to a batch. She took some of the first rolls out of the oven, but still warm, and made cheese and beef sandwiches for the men. Joe somehow found out there was food being served, and also got a roll, even though he was not going with the men. James noted that there were three other men readying the carriage, and that they would be down to break fast as soon as the carriage left.

Kensing rode in the carriage instead of the normal footman’s position, since he was in charge of the bag of £500 that William planned to present to Pym. William himself carried his report of the Siege of Hull.

At Parliament James drove the carriage to the main entrance and let the others off, then drove off to a holding area, where he would wait until they came out of the building again.

At the front desk, they approached a man, and asked to see ‘Lord Pym.’ The man sniffed, and said that the man preferred the term ‘Brother Pym’ and he was much too busy to see anyone without an appointment.

“Oh, that is too bad. I wanted to make a contribution to the Army,” William said, taking the hefty sack from Kensing, and shaking it a bit. The official’s eyes widened. “But if the … Brother Pym is too busy, then we will have to leave it for some future time.”

The man practically launched himself from his post and hurried off within the building, only saying “Wait here.”

The man came back a minute later with a man dressed in clerical robes. “Brother Pym?” William asked.

“No, but I will take you to him.” They headed into the building, and after they passed several other men, it became clear that the man was wearing the uniform of Parliamentary staff, not clergy. They finally stopped at an inner door, which the man entered, to find a dozen men dressed like him, working on ledgers. They walked to the rear of the sizable room that had a sign on the door reading ‘Chair of The Committee of Safety’ on it.

This time when the man came to the door, he stopped and knocked, and a voice within called out” “Enter.” William and Kensing went in. The man closed the door and left.

“You have something for me … for the country?” Pym said. “I do not know you.”

“I am The Earl of Stanstead, William Currie,” William said. “I recently returned to England with my sister, and we have purchased the house of the Duke of Spritzland. I know that that house will not have paid taxes in some time, so I am intending to make a contribution that will eliminate the arrears.”

“Spritzland?” Pym said with a sneer. “Has the young Duke gone to the poorhouse yet? Such a waste of what his father left. I knew the old Duke, his father, years ago. He was a good man. I don’t know how he managed to raise such a wastrel. What do you have for us?”

William opened the bag of gold, but did not hand it over. “There are £500 pounds in here. I know that will be far more than the arrears on the estate, but I want an assurance that the house will be clear from any other taxes or levies for the coming 12 months.”

“There is another levy coming out, and it should be £50 on that estate. Perhaps another £25 on your lands in the south. Or did you not purchase those?” William nodded that he had. “But this amount will more than cover those, and the arrears, as well as the levy we will need in the spring. I will agree to an exemption for you for the coming year, to next Michaelmas.”

With that William handed over the sack, and Pym took it eagerly, dumping the gold on his desk and quickly guessing that the amount of £500 was accurate. He scooped the gold back up, and called a clerk to take it and count it. When the underling was gone, he said: “That, and as much more that we have raised, will go north to the Army. You have helped ensure that they will be fed well, rather than at half rations, as they have been. You clearly are not a Cavalier, by your hair. It is good that another Lord supports the cause.”

“Parliament represents the people, and I and my house are all people,” William said. “I want to do more for the cause. I seek a posting.”

“With the Army?” Pym asked. “We already have the Earl of Essex commanding the army. Perhaps we can find a lesser post for you. Mind the pay will not be high.”

“I have no need for pay,” William said. “And I am not a military man, and unlike some of the others of my rank, do not pretend to be. But do take a look at this report.” He handed his document to Pym.

The older man studied the document for nearly 15 minutes as the men stood before his desk. Finally he looked up. “This is a fine report. Much of what is in it is known to us, but there is some new things. You were at the siege then?”

“No, but I interviewed some soldiers that were, and they gave me most of the details I have provided.”

“So you want to be a spy for us then,” Pym said.

“No, again that is not an area I am strong in,” William said. “I would like a commission in the Parliamentary army that would allow me to go to the camp at my own will, and hopefully record the events of the battles. I would prepare reports of what happened, similar to what you have in front of you, and give them to yourself or another you direct. It is important for me to have something from Parliament, so that the Army does not try to conscript me, or confiscate my horses. I wish to have one or two men with me, and at least four good horses.”

“Aye, the Earl would try to conscript you,” Pym said. “His cavalry is below the standards of the King’s. Yes, I have something for you in a few days, and will write Essex personally to ensure you are not molested. Do you go north immediately? A battle is imminent, I think.”

“I will need a few days to prepare,” William said. “After that I will head up.”

“Good. That gives me some time to get a document for you. I suppose it will have to be small enough to carry easily. The scribes tend to want to make proclamations large enough to sail a ship with. I will send it to your house when it is ready.” He turned his attention back to Williams report, essentially dismissing them.

“Thank you myl … Brother Pym,” William said. With that they left, and made their way to the entranceway, and then to the carriage home.

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While William was at Parliament, the house was busy. Breakfast had been served with the Duchess bemoaning that the Duke was not by her side. She announced that she would not be going to the Fleet that day: it was too taxing on her to see her husband in that place. Gabrielle still wanted to see her father, and Abi said that Joe would accompany her. She noted that if the carriage was not back from Westminster, then they would have to go by wagon, which the young girl sniffed at.

Once the meal was cleared away, Bentley and Winthrope appeared, and along with Gloria they made the table ready. Abigail had a key to the Earl’s office, and went in and brought the heavy bags out, one at a time. They were set on the table, and opened one at a time. The jewels within ranged from amazing to mundane. It was nearly a year’s loot by the robbers, and they had been quite notorious on the road where they ran into Abigail. As well, the operated on two other roads in the area, making it difficult for the authorities to track them down. To add to the situation, the coaching system was new, and responsibilities for safety were not clearly delineated. The fact that wealthier women insisted in wearing many pieces of jewelry made the take of the robbers large.

Most of the gems needed to have at least some sand brushed off, although most had been shaken free in the sacks. There was a half-inch of sand in the bottom of each, and any items in that part of the sack were very dirty. Soon the entire table was covered, and the contents of the last sack had to be placed on the smaller dining table. They barely finished when the Jewelers were announced by the doorman. Frugal, as their trade was known to be, the three had ridden in together, crowded into a single Cabriolet.

Abigail introduced herself, and then asked the men to look at the gems on the tables.

“Madame,” the oldest of the three said, “You wish to sell these items? I see several that I made myself, and it is known to me that they are stolen goods. I will not be a part of any plot to recirculate these.”

“They are stolen, or were,” Abi said. “It is our goal to reunite them with their owners. We hoped that you could help identify those owners to us so they could be returned.”

“We can do that,” a younger man said. “We could take the lot and examine them, and then pass them on to their owners.”

Abigail realized that there were going to be some that could not be traced, and thus would wind up on the shelves of the jewelers. “We would prefer to repatriate them,” she said. “If you can identify them.”

“Most jewels have hallmarks,” the third jeweler said. “See this one? I created it 15 years ago for the Duchess of Suffolk. There is a mark showing it to be 20 carat gold, then a mark for London, and this one represents the year. Finally, under these is a mark that represents the customer. This is the mark for Suffolk.”

Abi peered closely at the gem, and could barely see the mark, which looked to her like an infinity sign, with a tail from the lower part of the left loop.

“Pad please,” Abigail said to Bentley, who pulled out a pad of paper and a pencil. Abi wrote down ‘Suff’ and then copied the mark. The piece was moved into one of the bags, which no longer contained any sand.

For the next three hours the group went through the gems, identifying the owners of five more dukes, and eight earls. When a new mark was found, Abi wrote it on her slip of paper. Dinner was late, because the table was in use, but at one they had bagged more than half the items, and moved the rest down to the other end of the table.

William had returned while they were working, but went into his office and let Abigail handle things.

The jewelers were treated to a meal, and when the Duchess and Gabrielle came to eat they were astonished to see all the valuables sitting on the table. Gabrielle wanted to try on the gems, and had to be warned away by Abigail. The young girl could barely keep her eyes on her plate though, with so much gold at the other end of the table. Her mother tried to avoid looking at it though. She was sad to see so much of what she once had, before her husband pawned it away.

When the meal was over, Abigail gave £2 to each of the jewelers, who smiled at getting what was nearly a week’s pay for a half day of work. Gabrielle stood looking at the jewels, barely able to keep her hands off them. Her mother gasped, and picked up a fancy ring.

“Oh my. Oh my,” she mewled. “I know this ring. It was once mine. It was the last piece I had. He finally pawned even that.”

“Put it on, milady,” Abigail said. “Gabrielle, when you are at the prison, ask your father who he pawned your mother’s ring with. In fact, also get the names of any other places he pawned things at. We will find out who bought the ring, and buy it back, even if it is twice the price.”

“Oh milady,” the Duchess said running over to Abigail and embracing the younger girl. “I can never thank you enough. It is as though I wasn’t married without the ring. To have it back … I am so happy. What do you intend to do with the rest of these things?”

“Return them, I hope. Their rightful owners deserve them back.”

“They do. I recognize a few pieces here, from the days when we still went to parties and balls,” the Duchess said. With that she identified five or six more items, and Abi was able to add more marks to her booklet.

Gabrielle had to be physically forced from the table so that she could deliver her father’s food, accompanied by Joe. Bentley and Winthrope went through the remaining jewels, looking for the marks that the Duchess had uncovered. In the end, there was only one smallish bag containing unidentified gems, and Abigail had the names of Seven dukes, a Viscount, nine Earls, and five Barons to contact. She decided to have their wives come to pick up their goods in the following four days. She would have an ‘At Home’¹ on those afternoons, and invite the women to come.

She went into the Earl’s office, bringing in the bags of jewels, and began writing messages to the first six noblewomen. Then a footman was sent out to deliver the messages.

1. The ‘At Home’ was a time when a society woman would be at home to receive guests. Others would have other ‘At Home’ days and the woman would visit on those days, often visiting several ‘At Home’s in an afternoon.