Even in the dark, and from the distance of the gate, he could tell that the mansion was huge. What the hell had Joe been thinking? Who did the lad think he was, to court a girl who had been brought up in a place like this? Even if her parents didn't get a team of lawyers on it to have the marriage declared null as soon as possible, what would he do with her? What was Oswy street to a lady brought up in a palace? A prison to her now, it seemed, but a palace nonetheless to him.

He hadn't been able to keep up with Joe. Curse his lungs! He had these occasional coughing fits and shortness of breath and running as fast as he could had aggravated it. He had been forced to stop to catch his breath, and when he had risen after resting his hands on his knees and to draw some deep squeaking breaths and cough, Joe had been nowhere in sight.

At least he knew where the lad was headed. He couldn't go home. That brother of Miss Pearl's had been willing to get Joe sacked over merely talking to his sister. God help him if he went there to collect her as his bride. For all he knew his son was being murdered inside there now. 

"Oi!" he called at the gate. "LET ME IN!" 

A man appeared out of the gatehouse, carrying a lantern. "No beggers! Bugger off, you, or we'll get the police!"

"I'm not here to beg! My son is here. He's a friend of Miss Pearl's. Please! Can I talk to someone!?" 

The groundskeeper looked at him up and down critically. Your son, a friend of Miss Pearl's? Well, fine, I'll see if there's someone you can speak to. Mark my word though, if ye're lying, ye'll sleep in a police cell tonight and find yerself in Northallerton tomorrow." He turned to walk to the house, but turned his head after a few steps. "If they don't just shoot ye." 

Bill watched the light of the lantern recede in the direction of the mansion with a sense of dread.

It was an angry father who came out to greet another angry father. Magnus was fuming, not only that is daughter had gone and married the kid when he gave them a chance, and now there was the father of the very kid he tried to help. He did not know it yet that Pearl had been kidnapped, but then, he had been out of the loop for a time as people were starting to think of him as mad. He holed up in his library most of the time, not touching drink anymore, not touching his wife anymore, barely responding to people.

But then his favorite child, the one who he thought had some decency in her, had run off to Gretna Green with that blasted boy.

"I don't know who you think is here, but I have not seen my daughter, nor your son since they ran away to get married. After I gave your son an apprenticeship to make up for what my idiot son did to yours."

It was a gentleman who came out to meet him, followed by a very peevish looking groundskeeper. Oh God, was this Mr. Carrington himself! Bill felt no small degree of shame for what his son had done to the man's daughter. In fact, he was a little worried the man might try to harm him. He knew that if he was in Mr. Carrington's position, he'd be livid.

Bill was livid. But also concerned.

"Sir, my own son is also an idiot. We had no idea what he was up to, believe me, or we would have stopped it. But you must not harm them... It was a Carrington carriage that took Miss Pearl, and it was here that Joe was headed. I do not wish to get involved into your family affairs, but I know Joe is here."

Damnation, could his family not take things into their own hands without even consulting him? Kidnapped? His scowl deepened and he motioned the man in. "I may be angry at our children, but I can assure you I had nothing to do with any kidnapping. All I did was cut her off monetarily. I don't know if you are aware of this but I gave your son permission to marry my daughter in time, but not like this." He led his way into the drawing room, stopping to tell a butler to get some fortification for his new guest.

He was not angry at Mr. Blacke, he was angry at his own brood and his wife, and a lot at himself for the secret he'd been holding onto from the children that his youngest wasn't their mother's child. He motioned for the man to sit down and soon, a decanter was brought over, and a splash of fine brandy was poured into the crystal tumbler before being pressed toward William.

Bill hadn't expected any of this. Here was one of the richest men in Whitby, inviting into his front room a man who shoveled coal for a living, and offering him drink in a fancy glass on top of that. Was it poisoned?

Bill did sit down. He had washed and put on clean clothes after work, but he was still worried about staining the sofa somehow. He held on to the glass, but did not drink.

"We had no idea about any of this until tonight, ser, not about yer offer to 'im either." Was the man speaking the truth? Then maybe the drink was not poisoned. Mr. Carrington had seemed decent to him before. He had made his son work at the railway to punish him for his false allegation against J-, "But God!... sorry... But yer son was right and Joe was in t' wrong. 'e told us 'e was just assistin' Miss Pearl. Yer son 'ad every right to report 'im. 'E had no business courting her."

CW - References to struggles of alcoholism

"You are aware that I am a retired Merchant, yes? That I didn't even have two pence to rub against each other? My family is no more blueblooded than yours. I just happened to get lucky in how my business grew and made investments." He had tried not to pour himself a glass... One would not hurt, would it? His hand started to shake and the man before him seemed to grow two heads, then split from himself as beads of sweat started to form upon Magnus' forehead. Just one... He sloshed a little on his hand as he poured the Brandy. The man did not look well at all.

"Pearl was the only one of my children who doesn't care so much about money. I wanted her to marry for love..." Then he scoffed, "all of my children. I wanted better for them than my own sham of a marriage. I tried many times to remind my brood that the money isn't for enjoyment as much as it is for being alive. If you've met any of my other children, you would see that they are greedy and snooty individuals. Darius, perhaps not as much... I am not sure about that one... But the triplets, and my oldest boy who just got shot and killed and we just buried because he was a monster? And my daughters?"

To his credit, he didn't start weeping. Perhaps it was because he wasn't drunk.

"I saw something in your boy that I wanted for Pearl, the love in his eyes. Poppycock to society if they think it's wrong to love someone."

Bill raised the glass to his lips, but then he noticed that Mr. Carrington didn't have a drink in his hand and was looking at the bottle nervously. He lowered the glass again. Maybe the man was trying to poison him after all! Something was definitely wrong here!

Mr. Carrington did finally pour himself a drink, but he looked nervous still. Bill decided not to drink of his own until Mr. Carrington put the glass to his lips.

But now the man began to overshare about his failing marriage and disappointing children. What was happening? He looked down at his drink. Then up at Mr. Carrington. He wasn't sure if he was pleased that Mr. Carrington approved of the match and of Joe. Something was off.

"Mr. Carrington, I'm glad to hear you at least approve of the match, but the two might be in danger now. I mean no disrespect, but if you had nothing to do with the kidnapping, might it have been one of your children?"

"I wouldn't put it passed them," he muttered. "I know the situation is frightening, that is why I poured fortification." He put the glass to his lips, took one sip, then put it back down. He visibly shuddered, glad that only a small amount made it into the glass. His hands stopped shaking. The butler came in with a maid bearing other fortifications, not food, just hot tea.

He hadn't told the Butler what to do regarding Pearl because the man was loyal enough to have taken care of the matter already. "I've taken the liberty of sending a missive to the constabulary, Master Carrington," the man with the hawk nose and beady eyes said. The man shifted easily to where Magnus had set the glass and he also cast a glance toward the other man, pity in his gaze, not for Bill but his employer. He eased a cup into the hands of the man who paid him. "Shall I notify the Mistress, sir?"

"Why ever would you do that for? I doubt she'd play the doting mother to Pearl now," he said bitterly. It was his own fault. He looked down into the teacup and then sipped at that instead of pouring more liquor. The decanter was smoothly stashed away out of the master's line of sight, Magnus didn't even notice as he was staring off. In fact, he looked rather grey in the face.

Bill noticed the man's hand stopped shaking. Fortification indeed. He had seen this before, back in North Shields, in the Cragg, even in Oswy street.

Then the servants came in and Bill grew even more uncomfortable. The constabulary? Was he getting arrested for trespassing or something? But no, from the rest of the conversation it seemed that this was about Miss Pearl. So the man was indeed concerned at least.

He noticed how the servants tended to their master and Bill looked down at the glass from which he still hadn't drank, because he felt like he was witnessing something private - or something that should have been private anyway. He had half a mind to leave, but then, he wanted to know what would happen. If police came over, he wanted to be there to give evidence. And Joe might still turn up.

And so he sat there uncomfortably, with eyes cast down until he dared to look up again. "Do your children live at home, Mr. Carrington, or should we check other homes?" Staying practical seemed the least uncomfortable way to respond to everything that had just happened.

"Most of my brood is here," he said after a long moment of thought. Even with the little sip he took, he was still not looking well, There was something to be said about the way his eyes looked alone that was indicative of something wrong. The man was suffering at the moment, lines of sweat glistening on his forehead and cheeks. He sipped at his tea sluggishly. "She might be here. Some of her brothers aren't exactly known for being the smartest."

And then the butler said, "I'll round up the footmen and have them search the grounds, sir."

"Good, and don't worry about rounding up the brood until we know and the constable is here," the butler nodded and then moved cooly out of the room.