Tom Browning's Schooldays
By
Joel
Chapter Fifty
I had a chance to speak with both Robin and Aubrey after our luncheon on Sunday and the writing of letters. I asked what plot they were hatching at the end of Mr Ridley's class. I was sworn to secrecy and Aubrey said he would arrange to bring back a quantity of wire and other things after the Easter holiday, then the pair would set up something of a telegraph between their rooms to send messages to each other. I said I would expect to see that happen when the next blue moon appeared. They just laughed and said I was a pessimist.
Many other things happened in the next few weeks: not least more birthdays and celebrations. Both Robin and I were in demand to play for these as well as at least one service a week. Mr Skrimshire said we should wait to be let loose on the hymns as controlling around two hundred or so lusty singers - although he did not use the word 'lusty' - was an art to be practised. Our schoolwork seemed to flow without too much trouble. Mr Martin kept us all very busy but we learnt well under his guidance. I could see Tom and Aubrey being good friends as they attended Mr Dimbleby's extra classes. He was introducing them to much harder examples in Euclid and they spent a good deal of time arguing about the best way to set out a proof or to prepare a complicated construction. Aubrey said he was glad of the book of further problems and proofs of Euclid I had given him and he was sharing it with Robin.
Outside lesson times I was happy that I had numerous opportunities to ride Blaze with Robin on Silver and we were often joined by George on Barbary and older fellows like Jocelyn and Nevison from other Houses. Henry Radcliffe often rode with us, too. He had struck up a friendship with Aubrey. It was a friendship which I hoped would not lead to anything unfortunate for Aubrey but as time went on I could see it was a true meeting of like minds as we learned Radcliffe had also shown promise in mathematics.
Freddy and Marcus Aurelius, who I rightly called, as manners demanded, 'Neville' and 'Palfrey' when in their company, were a delightful pair and Lawson, their room mate, borrowed a pony on occasion. Natty was always commandeered by them to ride alongside and they never seemed to tire of his tales of visiting London, especially the gruesome Tower, which none of them had had opportunity of visiting. It was obvious that Natty had fitted into the working of the stable so well. He was hard-working, efficient and most alert to the needs of the horses under his care. I wrote a second letter to his mother half way through the term and said how well he had fitted into life here. He was so proud when he received a letter back which his mother had got Mr Venables to help her with saying she was so content he was happy and well.
Some of my fellows were not always well. George suffered more than his share of bruises playing football and had to be treated with my depleting store of arnica. Twice I had requests for doses of Lancelot's balm from Preston and a friend of his when they had supped too much at the Hat and Feathers where they had attended a prize fight and a cockfight quite clandestinely. After another Sing-Song half way through the term it would seem most of Pratt's House were laid low again having over-indulged in some very suspect ale. I was not called upon to minister to them but I met Dr Dimbleby hurrying away from that House on the Monday afternoon as I was returning from the Chapel having had an organ lesson from Mr Skrimshire. After I had greeted him he let fly a good stream of oaths worthy of any stable- lad which I interpreted as his condemnation of the stupidness of the sufferers and that all would suffer from more addling of their meagre wits. He apologised after the outburst and said I should bring Robin and Aubrey for a dish of tea at his mother's. I said I thought the pair would already be there as it was a time for their extra lesson with his father. They were closeted with him in his study so Dr Dimbleby led me to the parlour where his mother was busy at a tapestry. She was most welcoming and showed me her work which was about three feet square and depicted a half-finished country scene of trees and a brook with two people sitting on the bank of the stream. On a small easel was a fine painting of what would be the completed work.
"I have so much time to myself," she said with a smile, "I need something to keep me occupied."
"You are never idle, Mama," Dr Dimbleby said to her. He turned to me. "Do you not think my young brother is an accomplished artist?"
I looked closely at the painting which was just over a foot square. It was most delicate in its portrayal but the colours were also bright and well-formed. I noted that the canvas of the uncompleted part of the tapestry had the outlines of the rest of the painting drawn in black.
"I have not studied many pictures but would say it was made by a most-skilled artist," I said.
Dr Dimbleby laughed. "There, Mama, your Edgar will be most pleased with that judgement."
"He knows my judgement," Mrs Dimbleby said, "Master Browning has confirmed it most generously."
I was most forward and said that Robin Goodhew's younger brother was also most talented though not yet thirteen. I drew out the drawing he had given me. I carried it always folded in my jacket pocket. I passed the page to her.
She studied it and turned it about to get a better view. She said nothing but handed it to her son. He looked at it and shook his head in wonderment.
"Goodhew's brother drew this?" he asked. I nodded. "He is not yet thirteen?" I nodded again. He turned to his mother. "Mama, this is almost unbelievable. I have seen many drawings Edgar has made but I would say this surpasses even his talent."
His mother looked at him. "I would agree." She held up her hand and took the drawing from him. "What you say is true?" she asked me.
"Ma'am, young Philip Goodhew will surpass us all I am sure." I smiled. "I think even my Uncle Dodd is somewhat in awe of him." I told of the discovery of possible hidden rooms and his drawing up of the detailed plans for the installation of our water closets. I did not say 'jakes' which was the word more in common parlance.
Mrs Dimbleby was most amused at my tale. Just then Mr Dimbleby appeared followed by Robin and Aubrey. His wife passed him the drawing without saying anything.
"Where did this come from?" he asked after studying it. He looked at me. "It is such a good likeness. Who limned this?"
Before Robin could say anything I explained it was by his younger brother. Mr Dimbleby also shook his head.
"It is worthy of the young Raphael or Botticelli," he averred. He turned to Robin. "This is by your brother?" Robin nodded. "Is he being taught?"
"No, sir, other than what my father has shown him. He has always drawn whatever takes his fancy." Robin took another folded piece of paper like mine from his pocket and spread it out. "Here is one of my mother and father which he drew so that I would not forget them." He smiled. "I could not forget them even without his drawing."
As Mr Dimbleby looked at it I also peered around his arm. There was no doubt. It was a true and accurate portrayal of Jenny and Steven Goodhew standing by the open door at the front of their house. I had not seen this drawing before. It had caught their smiles and good-natures so exactly. The part of the house behind them was also captured accurately as well.
"Are there plans for the boy to attend here?" Mr Dimbleby asked.
"I do not think so," Robin said, "My father says he will ask the opinion of a teacher of art in Stamford and then take advice."
The two Dimbleby's looked at each other as they stood looking at the two drawings. "I would advise that he should take the opinion of someone at a higher level, perhaps in London..." Mr Dimbleby said.
His son interrupted. "...Father, the boy needs his work seen by the finest artists in the land who would see that his talent is nurtured to the highest level. How can this happen?"
"Sir," I said, "It is most probable he will accompany my family to London at Easter when my brother is married. My Uncle Dodd should be told as he will be there as well."
Of course, the whole tale of what would be happening in the family had to be recounted to much merriment. As I finished Mrs Dimbleby rang her bell and the maids brought in a trolley laden with sandwiches and small cakes. The tale had to be told again as we ate and drank and Mr Dimbleby was again most amused that Cedric Branscombe would have two young relations to keep in order. Mr Dimbleby also said he would write to Uncle Dodd as we decided he was the best person to set things in train. We didn't see Ptolemy perform that visit but Robin said later he was sure the bird recognised him after he had been allowed to test its prowess further by choosing cards with squares, circles or triangles on them rather than lines.
Both Theo and I helped George discreetly with his studies, though Theo was forthright at times when he though George was slacking. I did not think George was a slacker but it was just that he was interested in other things than schoolwork. He was also set by Mr Pretyman to help the Pups and Whelps one afternoon a week with their attempts at football. He and Preston towered over the youngsters, who doted on the attention they were getting from such senior school fellows. Twice during the term Robin, Radcliffe and I were also delegated to help the youngsters in their own Hare and Hounds. Both times Freddy Neville and young Lawson were the Hares and scampered off with Radcliffe leading the way. George and Preston marshalled the older Whelps while Robin and I kept the younger Pups from stumbling and falling into ditches. There was much panting and puffing as they all manfully tried their best to keep up with their fellows. On both occasions Matron stood and laughed as a bedraggled and muddy tribe were delivered into her care for baths.
"There'll be a need of much good soap and water to cleanse this lot," she announced on the first occasion as she stood arms akimbo with the mired and laughing youngsters crowding around her. "Two to a bath each time and do not tarry, that water has to be shared!"
Two of the serving-lads were there to aid her and I suspected they were well acquainted with making sure younger brothers were well-scrubbed for there was much splashing and laughter from the washroom attached to that part of the House. As we left to take our own baths she said we should return for some sustenance.
We older ones bathed in our own wash-house with George chivvying young Potts for more hot water as he said Radcliffe was more muddied than the rest of us. This was true in that Radcliffe had been tripped, deliberately for sure, and rolled in a great muddy hole. He had retaliated by scooping up a handful of the sludge and hitting George squarely on his back as he laughingly ran on. As he undressed ready for his bath so George held Radcliffe and smacked his bare arse to hoots from Robin and me. We kept out of the way. When he turned, with George still gripping his arm, his pizzle had become stiff and seemed a prodigious size for one our age. He was not embarrassed by this as George's own length was thickening, though not yet as hard. What could George do but slap him again and tell him to step into the bath? Both Robin and I grinned at each other and young Potts just wrinkled his nose. No doubt he had seen many such exhibitions before! Radcliffe winked at us and waggled his hips as George stepped into his own bath now almost fully erect himself. I had difficulty in keeping my unruly stem from copying theirs.
When Robin and I were together later in our secret cubbyhole before our evening meal that night he remarked that Radcliffe was as wanton as Jabez Bottom and would probably match him soon. I said we should be satisfied with our own growing pegs as I had to open my mouth wider now. I hoped our giggles could not be heard by anyone passing the locked door as we tested each other's girths as we made free with much laving and sucking.
We had not been disappointed, when we returned to Matron's kitchen that first time after cleaning ourselves, for there was a most substantial repast of cake and bread and damson preserve. As we feasted on the array there was quite a hubbub as Robin showed the youngsters how to make a knot appear in a piece of twine which then magically untied as he moved his hands apart. Mr Pretyman appeared and laughed as the small boys were asking Robin to show them the trick again. I then had opportunity to ask if I might consult his books. He asked what did I want to know? I said I was puzzled by time and wanted to raise the subject in Mr Ridley's class. He smiled and responded that I would be in the company of many philosophers who had wrestled with that notion. He said he would set out some of his books and later give me a list of things and ideas to explore.
I spent several happy hours on rather cold and wet days reading and making notes. I learned that our seconds and minutes came from the Babylonians. Mr Pretyman smiled when he handed me a volume of St Augustine's Confessions. 'Quis est ergo tempus?' the venerable saint had asked more than fifteen hundred years before me! Augustine was bemused also as he said he knew what time was unless someone asked him to explain it - 'si quaerenti explicare velim, nescio'. What could I, a mere boy, add to that? I knew a day was the time the Earth took to rotate once on its axis and a year the time taken for the Earth to make an orbit around the Sun. I was quite bemused about the measurement of days by the observation of stars and marvelled at the ways in which men in the past had tried to measure time passing. The dripping of water from a container or the burning of marked candles going back to Greek and Roman times. I drew a copy of a sundial and learned that the angled pointer in the centre is called the gnomon from the Greek 'to know'.
The observations of Galileo on the swinging censer in Pisa and his ideas of the pendulum marking exact time by the magnitude of those swings reminded me of the decrepit grandfather clock at home and the way the weights should keep the pendulum moving. I made a careful note that brave Signor Galileo had not really recanted his belief that the Earth travelled around the Sun, even when threatened. However, I found years were not exactly three hundred and sixty five days, so over time, calendars had to be altered. I knew that our calendar had changed in the last century and there were riots to return the lost eleven days when the dates had got out of line with those abroad. I would ask if anyone in the class had been born on the added day in Leap Years. If so, after twenty years had passed would they be five?
Although the sundial was useful when the sun was shining mechanical clocks were invented to measure the passage of time. I read a pamphlet describing how John Harrison had walked from his home in Lincolnshire, my home county, to London in 1730 to produce a clock capable of keeping exact time over long sea voyages. This was necessary so the mariners could calculate their correct longitudinal position to prevent the navigational errors and shipwrecks which occurred so often. The pamphlet did not give details but noted it was not until 1773 when the King had persuaded Parliament to provide a final grant to the aged Harrison. I asked Branscombe about this and he said he knew his father had relied on his own valuable chronometer on voyages. He said it was still wound daily but now kept safely in his father's bedroom, where he was not allowed to touch it. He said he hoped it might be his when he went to sea.
I was bemused, as were the others in the group, when I described the French calendar in use soon after the Revolution of 1789. Although they kept the twelve months they renamed them and had weeks of ten days, or decades, with three decades each month. Extra days were added at the end of each year to complete the proper number. All laughed when I said the only good thing I had found about Napoleon was that he abolished this calendar in 1806 and adopted the Gregorian calendar as we had done in 1751 even though it had given us trouble when we did the change.
Winstanley especially praised me after I had raised my questions and described what I had found in my reading, but had said I was none the wiser as to what time was. I concluded it was something we sensed as things happened, and that was as far as I could say. He said he had asked himself the same questions when he heard about the new railways and the telegraph apparatus that Aubrey Bayes had seen. There were problems to be solved in that each place on a line should have a clock showing the same time particularly to prevent accidents. At present, he said, travelling clocks, having been set in London, were taken on mail coaches and then wherever the coach stopped clocks there could be adjusted. He was sure that this was inadequate as unless expensive chronometers were used ordinary watches ran fast or slow. Of course, as on ships, clocks with a pendulum could not be used because of rough roads or rough seas. He thought that electric signals could be sent from London by the new telegraph which had been described and the time taken was as far as he knew instantaneous.
Fraser said he was very aware that in North Britain summer days stayed lighter but the days in midwinter were very short and gloomy. This was most bemusing to us until Winstanley went to the globe standing by Mr Ridley's desk and showed how the angle of the earth's axis changed in relation to the striking sun's rays during the year and produced the seasons. In the winter months, or the further North one travelled, then the Sun's rays were spread at a wider angle. With the approach of Spring so the angle lessened until it was smallest over the Summer months. He said that at the Equator in midsummer the Sun stood directly overhead at midday.
Mr Ridley was also complimentary about my efforts and said I had made my fellows think quite deeply, none more so than when one asked if time at some point in the past had started like a clock being set going and, if so, would it ever stop? I had noted that even Megson had not bridled at this with some reference to Almighty God and the immutable workings of His laws. I felt, that even though I had not answered my original question, I had learned a great deal.
It was at the end of another of Winstanley's demonstrations that he announced he would be leaving School in the summer and was taking a place at King's College in London to study natural philosophy under Professor Wheatstone and his assistants. I think Aubrey wondered why he had chosen there and not his father's College. This time Winstanley had discoursed on the strange properties of different substances, or elements as he called them, like sodium and magnesium discovered by Sir Humphrey Davy. We were entranced and very wary of sodium, which was kept in a bottle of oil, but was soft enough as a metal to be cut easily. Our concern was over the flaring and spluttering which happened quite alarmingly when fragments were dropped into a pan of water. Magnesium nearly blinded us with its bright light when Winstanley set a small coil alight. Winstanley showed us a small dynamo which, if powerful enough, should have provided enough current to produce hydrogen and oxygen from water which he said was a compound of the two. However, even Preston with his muscled arms could not turn the magnet fast enough to produce more than a few tiny bubbles. Winstanley promised he would provide a bigger and better dynamo next term.
Time and electricity were only two of the things which were discussed. Graves, from Carstairs' House, showed us drawings of artefacts which his uncle, a naval captain, had brought back from New Zealand. He had a small shawl of feathers, made by the native Maori people, which he put round his friend Baring's shoulders. Preston had more specimens of fossils and said he had been with his friend Dudley, whose father owned coal mines at Tipton in Staffordshire, for New Year. Between them they had split numerous pieces of coal and discovered within many strange imprints of plants and leaves. Megson held his tongue this time, as he did on another occasion when Dennison said he had been watching the stars and planets at night through their Rector's telescope and showed us drawings of the constellations he had seen. He had explained that stars were suns but at immense distances away and wondered if they had worlds about them like ours. Would there be men and creatures on these worlds? This did produce a few sniggers when we had our food afterwards as Baring said he wagered any of the creatures would look and sound like the inhabitants of Pratt's House who had made more than merry the previous Saturday as it was Castleton's eighteenth birthday. He, like Black Jack before him, was dropped in the midden. However, it was his drunken friends who served him thus. 'Good friends!' was George's only comment when this escapade was related at breakfast the next morning.
George had a triumph in the Hare and Hounds on the last Saturday of term when there was also a Sing-Song in the evening. Robin and I were chosen as the Hares with Radcliffe keeping us company. We decided on a very rough route which we had run over on the Monday before. There were three fences and two hedges and a small ford to be negotiated towards the end which would be for the Senior group only. We had planned well and laid the paper with care as there were two forks in the main path which might lead some unwary runners into a nearby quarry or a horse pond if they did not spy the trail. We were waiting behind the stables as the runners approached. Our George was in the lead and beat Hayden, Preston and even Winstanley who had tripped over a hidden stump and limped a bit. George was presented with the fox's brush after he had sung his first song that evening.
We knew George had most sensibly taken the promissory note he had from my father to Mr Ridley early in the term to use when he really needed it. He confided he did not want for money as his father had increased his allowance after a good report from Mr Ridley. What he had received would be quite sufficient for his needs. His general necessities were extra buns or slabs of cake which either Ham or Japhet collected at his behest from their mother's shop almost every day. These were shared quite generously and were supplemented by additions as there were usually six who gathered in our room for a time before lights-out on most evenings a week. It was rather a squeeze as both Branscombe and Maitland were growing fast, with George boasting he would need more clothing when he returned home at Easter, the bed and chairs creaked with their bulk. Of course, the four hams were shared and slices were kept to celebrate Maitland's and Theo's seventeenth birthdays a few days before term ended.
A rather interesting gift came the week after we had rescued Jopling from his predicament. A bottle of the best brandy was brought over by one of the senior servants from Pratt's House who looked rather askance when confronted by a dishevelled and smelly Pullen as he came to the door of our House. Luckily Branscombe was just returning from a visit to the privy so he intercepted the package before Pullen was able to enquire further what it was, and probably confiscate it for his own use. It was addressed to the Honourable George Lascelles and a note was attached thanking him together with his friends for their assistance. It did not specify the help given but George did say a week or so later that he had heard that Jopling was helping poor Henderson with his studies and there were fewer disturbances in Bartleby's room. Naturally, the brandy was designated 'for medicinal use' and more than a few imagined ailments needed a small tot which cured them magically.
I felt I had learned so much these last weeks. We had not started the Greek New Testament as Mr Martin was insistent we completed more of Homer's Iliad with its wealth of vocabulary and useful constructions. I am afraid his enthusiasm was not matched by us when we were given ten lines or so to construe at a time. Theo, Robin and I worked together well and George was often exiled to study with Branscombe and Maitland. He grumbled that he might as well move into their room as their fag. They said he was welcome to move into the closet at the top of the stairs by their room where he could sit and repeat his lessons by himself. So term came rapidly to a close and I was almost unprepared for the journey home and the excitements to come.
It so happened that Rowley Roberts and Peters arrived with the coach a day prior to the general departure. Rowley had ridden in from the hostelry in Ashbourne where they were staying to tell us we had to be ready to set off by ten the next morning. Our panic was whether we would be packed ready but Theo had chivvied me to arrange all the things in my chest I would be taking home two nights before. Since we were also taking young Freddy Neville back to Careby Theo sent me across to Matron to make sure he would be ready on time. Though Matron could be stern she did say he was a good lad and she would put something in a small hamper for us so that we would not die of hunger on our way! Also what I did not know, until he waved a letter in front of me, was that Branscombe was also accompanying us. His father had thought he might ride with us to Careby and then accompany us to London for the wedding.
Branscombe's response to this news had been twofold. First, that his father was an old skinflint reluctant to pay for his expenses to travel to his home near Canterbury and secondly, he would be pleased to see if Careby Hall and its occupants were worthy of the Branscombe association. Unluckily for him he had said this when only Robin and I were in the room with him and though older, bigger and more senior than us he received a suitable drubbing as we wrestled him over the bed. He received the tickling we gave him with good grace though he threatened us with dire warnings of what would happen to us if his trousers were split like Jopling's. I retorted that as Maitland had promised me his when he outgrew them we might as well remove his forthwith as a gift for Robin. He fairly screeched when I put my hand on his buttons. The reason was quite evident. He had enjoyed our attentions so much he was sporting a complete hardening of his rather considerable-sized peg. I had seen it displayed, but in the confines of his garments it seemed even larger. We relented, or at least I did, and he received a final bout of tickling with a frenzied kicking out which managed to dislodge us. We retreated and stood by the door with, I hoped, quite innocent looks on our faces as he struggled to right himself and stand up straight.
"Beware, the pair of you, I shall repay..." he started wagging a finger.
"...saith the Lord," quoted Robin, "But the Honourable George Lascelles is the nearest to being a nobleman with such a title."
"Boy, I shall take my revenge when you least expect it!" Branscombe said but with a grin as he smoothed down the front of his trousers.
"That is a good tactic my brother Terence said when faced with an adversary. Take your opponent by surprise, " I said, still trying not to grin myself. "No doubt it is also taught in the Navy."
"When will I be free of your tongues?" Cedric said with mock exasperation. "I suppose I shall rue the day you become my relatives."
Without a signal between us we both dropped to our knees. I clasped my hands in front of my face. "I hope to be a good and faithful brother-in-law..."
Robin took my lead. "...and I a faithful and obedient nephew!"
Branscombe smiled. "But remember you have to pass muster with my mother and she is a far greater challenge than me. Now, get up as I have a piece of pie to share with my soon-to-be relations." He laughed as he went to the pie and cut slices. "Why is it that most good families have a couple of ne'er-do-wells in the shadows?"
I was about to ask 'if one might be him so who was the other?' when Maitland returned and demanded why the babes were being fed and where was his share?
"Do not fret, my friend, the babes have but little appetites..." He stopped as Robin and I were now each side of him and he no doubt expected retaliation. However with the even bigger Maitland now present we would not dare. He knew and continued "...they are easily satisfied with a few crumbs." As the pieces he cut each of us were actually most substantial he was forgiven.
Maitland had news of a more than usually discomfited George. He would be in charge of a goodly nine or ten travellers to their homes. As well as Maitland, Radcliffe and Fraser there were at least four or five of the young Pups and Whelps to be delivered, with Farquar also travelling Northwards.
"Mr Pretyman has George with him at present and has appealed to his good nature. We have been promised good lodging at two Houses on our way and there is no hurry. We will be collecting the same ones when we return for next term. Oh, my! I am making time pass too quickly saying that!"
Robin just smiled at me at that last statement. Time again!
I thanked Branscombe for his generosity and excused myself saying I had to finish my packing. This was actually quite speedily done and the chest was roped ready for the men to take it down to the coach in the morning. I then made my way then to the stable to see that Natty was also ready for the journey.
Natty was busy brushing down Silver as I entered. Blaze in the next stall neighed softly as I approached him with the usual carrot. "Oh, Master Tom," Natty said as I went up to him. He stopped. "I do beg your pardon Master Browning." He looked around. "I was roundly told to mind my manners unless I wanted a thrashing when I called you 'Master Tom' last time you were here."
"Who was it?" I asked. "Not Shem or Mr Darlow?"
He shook his head. "No, it were one of those fellows...," his voice dropped to a whisper, "...those in that strange House. I ain't got a name for him or that."
I surmised he meant Pratt's House and one of those of its inhabitants who had high opinions of their own station in life. I smiled at him. "Just take care, but there is no one else here now." I said we had to be ready for ten in the morning but he already knew as Rowley had been to the stable earlier with the news.
"Mister Roberts said the horses here were in good fettle. It made me feel proud... ...though that is a sin."
"Not a sin when you have fulfilled a good task," I said. I passed him a shilling piece. "You must buy something for yourself for the journey." I winked at him. "Tom and Robin will be here in the morning with Master Neville. Young Freddy, that is. I forgot, we shall also have another companion, Master Branscombe. We will have to make arrangements as to who will ride which mount. I fear you may have to share Kerry but he will come to no harm."
Natty smiled. "That is no matter, Master Tom. I have had a good place here and look forward to return but I will be home soon to be with my dear mother."
I smiled back and left him to his task. He was whistling as he was brushing and I was sure Silver was responding with his own gentle breathing.
Although George was charged with responsibility he seemed most relaxed and affable that evening. We met up in the end room after our evening meal having no prep to complete. We did have a small tot of brandy each so as to finish the bottle and to make sure we were primed for our various journeys on the morrow. When we returned to our room George showed me the letter he had received that day from his brother Geoffrey. We knew he had been accepted by my Uncle Billy and here was the news he had been granted the Queen's Commission as a Cornet of Horse and was in my brother Torquil's Troop. His batman would be Trooper Mark Dawson who was proving to be a most diligent soldier with both lance and sword. I said I hoped to meet Geoffrey on my visit to London and would take any messages. George said that would save him a penny or two and immediately sat and wrote a good page but did not show us the contents before he folded and sealed it. Very ornately he addressed it to 'The Honourable Cornet Geoffrey Lascelles' with nothing further but 'By Hand' under it.
I promised to deliver it and placed it ready in one of my saddle bags making sure it would not be soiled by any of the gingerbread already there.
It was quite a throng which gathered in the morning in the stable yard. Rowley and Peters were already there with the coach, along with others also arriving to take home-going youngsters on their journeys. Our steeds were led out and Freddy was ready to mount Prince. He was determined to be seen riding away from School even though I said he would be on the box of the coach for part of the way. We did borrow a mount for Cedric Branscombe and promised the horse would be well-looked after and brought back safely.
George was marshalling all his forces as his father's second-best coach with its coat- of-arms proudly displayed on the doors was also waiting. He did have the grace to say that he would be so happy to show his father the fine mount he had been given and I was to convey his grateful thanks to my father though he had already dispatched a letter.
We started our journey just as the clock struck ten and there was much hollering and hallooing as our merry band set off. We made good time for the roads were now clear and roadmen had repaired many of the bad patches though we had to drive carefully once we were beyond the villages. We did not need to stop at an inn for luncheon as Matron had been more than generous with the contents of the hamper but tarried by a village green where inquisitive youngsters wanted to know who we were. Two plump roast chickens and bread satisfied us as well as the lumps of cold plum pudding. The village lads were given the bones to gnaw which delighted them. However, we did stop later for a tankard each of a fine ale at a rough-looking beer house, and naturally for a piss or two.
Young Freddy rode well and he and Branscombe were constant companions. We made him ride on the box in the afternoon which he enjoyed and Peters was able to ride alongside Robin and me and tell us the gossip from Careby. Yes, Bessie Phillips had been delivered of a fine son and her father now pampered the child and the unknown father was forgotten for the moment. There was news also of more weddings to come and Old Brumby's two truculent daughters had at last seen sense and were placed with Miss Barnes. Two of her 'old ducks' were now in an Almshouse. The footings for the new Almshouses, eight of them, were prepared and bricklayers were now busy. There were trenches ready for pipes from the Hall and these pipes were piled ready for laying. That news meant we would be having our jakes installed quite soon. Peters said there had been much work done so far inside the Hall as all the carpenters and bricklayers in the village were fully employed there and elsewhere. I didn't ask if the cellar had been cleared and if anything had been found. He said surveyors had been seen looking at land for some damned railway which would ruin good coachmen and make money for those already rich. Robin and I kept quiet!
We arrived at a good inn for the night and it was decided we four boys would share a room and a large bed. Rowley, Peters and Natty would be together, too. We fed well and allowed Freddy a reasonable tankard of the ale of the house. It was a merry foursome who climbed the stairs to a well-warmed room.
It was so hot with the blazing fire that Branscombe said he would sleep without his nightshirt. He was joking but he did divest himself completely of all his clothes before he picked the garment up. Freddy was busy undressing but was then almost goggle-eyed as before his very eyes was an almost full-grown young man with a lengthy pizzle, hair around it, heavy cods and... ...He gasped and pointed. Two of us were giggling as Branscombe with such a straight face nonchalantly swung his cods and pizzle to and fro displaying the silver ring.
"Did not your mother tell you it is rude to point, young man?" Cedric said without a smile. "What is wrong? Do I have something you do not?" He reached out and gently lowered the underdrawers which were the only clothing Freddy was now wearing. "Huh, I can see you are a boy. A growing boy I would say and nothing out of place."
This was perhaps a little premature, for poor Freddy's young pizzle sprang upwards ready for action. As a lad just a few weeks from his thirteenth birthday he was growing fast. I was sure there was more length than on our previous journey and his bush was now more than just a straight moustache. Freddy blushed and looked ready to shed tears with embarrassment.
I leaned over to him and held his arm. "Do not be upset. You have seen us naked and we have seen that stiffness of yours before as well." I saw Branscombe smile at this.
Freddy nodded. Of course at least he had seen Robin and me. We were not as endowed as Branscombe yet, but had enough for our age. He was now more settled and the redness of his cheeks diminished. "What is that ring for?" he asked me quietly, "You do not have one." Clearly his inspection of my endowment last time had been quite thorough.
"You have seen neither Robin nor I are adorned in that way though we share the same birthmark on our thighs which we were born with." Freddy nodded and stared again at Branscombe's lower parts. "I am sure Branscombe will explain his addition as I know he was not born with that," I said and let go his arm.
He did, to much more giggling by all of us as we all stood about naked. After the tale about the old sailors Freddy was enjoined not to spread the news amongst his fellows. It was then time to wash in the bowls of warm water which had been placed by the fire. After he had dried himself I asked Freddy if he needed any of my liniment?
"I would be most obliged as, though I rode less today, it is very comforting," he said. I reached down for my saddlebag and the flask I had there. "Perhaps Master Branscombe would like some, too," he added most guilelessly. "Your hands are so gentle!"
He received a sharp slap on his bare arse from me for that and yelped. Branscombe leaned to him and held him around the shoulders. "If Tom was not so kind to share that liniment I would say we repay that slap."
"Please, no," the imp replied. "He does not hit as hard as Matron when she says my tongue runs away with me."
"You are cheeky to Matron?" I asked. Her irritation with him cannot have been of any consequence as she had praised Freddy and supplied us all with ample food.
"Not really," he whispered with a disarming smile, "I said while we were learning that song that when I was a Captain I would marry her as I had heard Mr Pretyman call her Polly."
We all laughed at that. Then while Robin with his rough hands anointed a squealing Freddy I took my time rubbing more than enough of that warming balm on the inner thighs of Branscombe's muscular legs. When I and Robin had finished there were four lads with stiff pegs. There was to be no relief that night for Branscombe donned his nightshirt, bidding us to do the same. So four, now most tired, lads climbed into bed and slept.
I was awoken by a soft stroking of my cheek. It was Robin. As my eyes opened he pointed to my other side. We had shared the bed so that Branscombe and Robin were on the two outsides with me next to Robin and young Freddy alongside me. I smiled. The room was still warm and there were two figures, albeit in their nightshirts but clasped tightly in each other's arms with the coverlet lowered. Both were sound asleep and looked quite serene.
I turned to Robin and gave him a gentle kiss. His arms went round me and the kiss was returned with a quiet intensity. He moved his hips towards me and I felt that familiar stiffness which matched my own.
As our lips parted I whispered "No more". He knew, smiled and nodded. We had experienced no release the night before and I had the greatest desire now. We both knew if we did not move apart there was the danger, nay the most expected, of a spontaneous spurting of our juices. Quietly we moved and crept from the bed and used the commode, for we had taken a most superior room. As it was behind a curtain we were able to relieve our other needs quietly and most effectively together and pulled our nightshirts on again. We shared another kiss and went and perched on the padded settle next the fire. Robin had placed another log and there was now a merry blaze in the hearth.
We whispered together and grinned at the entwined pair still sleeping deeply. We had arranged for hot water to be delivered at seven o'clock so with breakfast after we could be on the road again before nine. A quiet rap on the door announced the arrival of three lads with pitchers of steaming water. The old bowls were removed and in silence new ones were filled. We thanked the silent phalanx in subdued fashion and decided we would take advantage of the water before the others woke.
I suppose the splashing and noise when Robin banged the edge of the metal bowl woke Branscombe. Our chests were heaving as he realised the tangle he was in. His struggles to unclasp both his own arms and the youngster's strong grip woke Freddy as well. We didn't laugh out loud for Freddy, quite unconcernedly, leaned up and kissed Branscombe's cheek. He must then have come to properly and realised that he had made a mistake. He began to sniffle.
"I am so sorry," he whimpered, "I though you were my father."
Branscombe smiled at him. "Do not fret, my lad. Here is something in return for that greeting." He leaned over and kissed the boy on his ruby-red lips as he wiped away a tear from the lad's cheek with a gentle finger. "It's time we shifted now as I see the others have already started washing and I need a piss."
He was out of the bed quickly divesting himself of his nightshirt which he threw at us and disappeared behind the curtain. Freddy slowly slid off the bed. There was a look of peacefulness now on his face.
"He is so kind," he murmured. He then became aware we were standing drying ourselves with the provided towels. He smiled. "And you are kind, too. I must repay." He came up to us and we bent towards him as he bussed both of us on our cheeks. We did the same to him. That to-be-cherished moment passed as he had to wash as well but also needed the commode.
Luckily for Freddy, Branscombe was soon finished and busied himself splashing and sloshing the water while the boy was engaged behind the curtain. Branscombe had said nothing other than indicating Freddy's whereabouts with a nod of his head and a smile.
We had a most substantial breakfast to keep us satisfied until we could eat at the inn chosen by Rowley for the night. We had to endure a shower or two of rain so were glad when Rowley called a halt at around four o'clock. Again there was a room for four and after changing our shirts, and while our cloaks and our leather britches were drying by the fire, we played a couple of games of loo which had forfeits to pay on losing. Branscombe decided these would be to lose an item of clothing each time. Surprisingly only Branscombe seemed to lose and he was soon down to just one stocking and his underclout. It was then he called a halt, to our great disappointment for we were all wanting another sight of that silver ring.
That view was granted when we prepared for bed after a meal including a great game pie and two tankards each of a heavy porter. I think we were a little fuddled as Freddy could not restrain himself and, as a naked Branscombe took up his nightshirt, put out his hand and asked most winsomely if he could touch the ring.
Branscombe laughed. "That you may do and if you kiss it then what you wish for should come true!"
With no more ado Freddy put his hand under Branscombe's cods and set his lips against the ring and, indeed, pressed on the young man's ballock in its sack. There was silence other than a 'psst' sound as the lad pursed his lips and kissed. I think Branscombe was more than surprised that Freddy had taken up the offer. He looked at us with a great grin on his face. We both shook our heads as he pointed downwards. "Have you no wishes?" he mouthed as Freddy finished and looked up at him with eyes open wide and a broad and shameless smile.
Branscombe looked down at him. "And what did you wish for?" he asked with a smile.
"I cannot tell you that or it will not happen," Freddy said shyly and closed his eyes.
"That is so," Branscombe replied, "Now to bed."
There was no argument. We arranged ourselves as the night before and as I kissed my Robin goodnight we heard young Freddy do the same to Cedric.
The tangle of limbs was evident again in the morning. Freddy was murmuring as he slept and was perhaps having some wondrous dream. Branscombe was nuzzling his hair and as he woke stuck out his tongue and licked Freddy's ear. He saw us looking at him. "If I had a son I would wish he were like this lad," he whispered.
I was then sad for Freddy as his mother had seemed to abandon him. We could keep him happy until he went to his grandfather's house and, no doubt, he would return with us to Ashbourne for the Summer Term.
The journey that day was easy as it was just over a morning's slow ride. We were held up more than once by flocks of sheep being shepherded to another pasture and then by more than a dozen steers being herded to the nearest market for sale. The weather was kinder today with Spring sunshine as we bravely rode with no cloaks. Freddy rode all the way to demonstrate he was now accomplished in the skill. I think it was Branscombe who would need another anointing as he winced when we stopped at midday for refreshment and easing of our bladders. If he was to ride more he must get his father to have him measured for good leather britches instead of the cloth ones he was wearing.
There was a great welcome as we traversed the Hall drive and entered the front courtyard where there were grooms ready to take charge of our mounts and the coach. I think Branscombe was impressed by the size of the Hall and even more as the main doors were flung open and there stood Mr Clements, Jackson, Benjy, Eamonn and the twins all in smart grey livery. We were ushered in wondering how they all knew we were arriving. We had not realised but the much faster Mail coach which had passed us earlier had been primed by Rowley and a messenger had been sent from the Varley Arms to the Hall a good hour ago.
We had to wash and change before entering the drawing room where there would be food later. Freddy was both happy and sad. His grandfather was not there to greet him. He was at Moss Hall which was now more habitable but he had a touch of gout which prevented him from travelling. However, Freddy was more than mollified when he was told he and Branscombe would be sharing a room if Master Branscombe was agreeable. Freddy was even more pleased when my mother asked him during dinner that evening when the arrangements for the wedding were being discussed if he would like to come to London with us for the celebration. His face, wreathed in a great smile, was a picture.
"My wish has come true!" he whispered.
To be continued:
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