The Carlisle Diamond

By Peter Lawler

This is the third and final novel of the Carlisle Trilogy, titled The Carlisle Diamond. Warwick Lachlan, the eighteenth Marquis of Cumbria and Galloway married and brought his bride, Lady Marguerite Balfour, home to Kilmorgan Castle against the wishes of her family. Marguerite Balfour was not only beautiful and petite but possessed a will of steel when she chose Warwick over objections.

Nicola Waltham, daughter of a Texas cattle rancher, grew into a stunning red-headed beauty. She and her parents were ignored totally by her mothers De la Sale family. The murder of Nicolas parents and the loss of all she owned was devastating. To survive, she became singer-dancer in the saloons of the USA. Nicola married James Lachlan, son of Warwick, in Carlisle Cathedral after a tempestuous relationship to become one of the finest ladies of England.

James and Nicolas daughter Countess Danielle Lachlan was kidnapped as she drove to her wedding to Regan Meagher in Dublin by French criminals and well-paid members of the then IRA.

Andrew Lachlan, son of James Lachlan, saved the life of a French-born seductress, Chantelle De Leon. She and her mother, separated from her fathers family, used their charms to live off what they could extract from the wealthy men of Europe. Andrew knew nothing of Chantelles life. When she deserted him, his heart was broken. She became a spy for the British during the Great War. At the wars end, because she had consorted with Germans, she was considered to be a traitor to France and this meant death if she was found. She sought out Andrew, the only man she had ever truly loved, even though she knew he would likely reject her. Andrew had two thoughts, choke her or take her to bed, for he still loved her.

Nicola, gun in hand, rescued her daughter with the help of a man who had infiltrated the small group of IRA activists. Chantelle married Andrew and, like the two ladies before her, became the Marchioness of Cumbria and Galloway.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris AU
• Release date: May 18, 2017
• ISBN: 9781524519094

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Copyright © 2017 by Peter Lawler.

ISBN:  Softcover   978-1-5245-1908-7

             eBook        978-1-5245-1909-4

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

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Rev. date: 05/17/2017

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Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1: The Ladies of Carlisle

Chapter 2: At Home in Carlisle

Chapter 3: Happier Times at Kilmorgan Castle

Chapter 4: Giles Huntley-Granville

Chapter 5: Kilmorgan Castle in Chaos

Chapter 6: The Visiting Americans

Chapter 7: The Servants Ball

Chapter 8: The Marriage Game

Chapter 9: The Queen is Dead

Chapter 10: A Second Chance

Chapter 11: Danielle in Geneva

Chapter 12: Rescue in the Atlantic

Chapter 13: Rescue, Decision and Regret

Chapter 14: Hilda Shultz in Europe

Chapter 15: The Three Loves of Andrew

Chapter 16: The Russian Adventure

Chapter 17: The Key

Chapter 18: Andrew Lachlan at War

Chapter 19: The Boat Named Lefroy

Chapter 20: USB 21

Chapter 21: The First Command

Chapter 22: Lachlan in His Majesty’s Intelligence Service

Chapter 23: The Arrival of a Stranger

Chapter 24: Renewal and Danger

Chapter 25: Andrew Investigates

Chapter 26: The Past is Always With Us

Chapter 27: Lachlans in Peril

Chapter 28: Peril Peace and Love

Chapter 29: Kidnapped

Chapter 30: The Approaching Confrontation

Chapter 31: After the Kidnapping

Chapter 32: An Irish Wedding

Chapter 33: Danielles Time

Chapter 34: Christmas 1921

Finis

Glossary

Carlisle Trilogy Prologue

This is a love story named, The Carlisle Diamond and it follows, Lachlan of Carlisle and the Return to Carlisle which were the first and second novels of the 19th and 20th Century Trilogy concerning the lives of four generations of the Lachlan family of Kilmorgan Castle in Carlisle in northern England. In the 19th century one rule, in hindsight an imaginary rule, was that before a man and a woman could be together without a chaperone they had to be engaged to be married. This was an objective was the gentry trying to ensure people married only within their own class and suitable marriages would be arranged. In England the class society in the 19th century still existed in the early 20th century and as a goal marriage within one’s class was still actively maintained. In the past centuries in England, France and other continental countries hypocrisy allowed a noble to have a number of mistresses including serving wenches but his servants were forbidden to marry each other and a servant’s pregnancy meant dismissal irrespective of who was the father.

In England and Europe in general there was a largely agrarian society outside the city including royalty and landed gentry. Those favoured by the King and/or parliament normally lived in the cities close to the King. The huge bulk of the population had little say in anything of importance that affected their lives. The industrial revolution disturbed this structure by its very existence. Entrepreneurs and Trade persons who by dint of their and their employee’s hard work became rich and allowed them to appreciate how society worked and so they logically adopted the airs and graces of the landed gentry. These were the Nouveau riche, the new wealthy, the industrialists, the traders, the opportunists who unlike the gentry were mostly cash rich and/or land rich. At the same time country people were also leaving the estates to work in the cities where mills were operating, where furnaces produced equipment of all types, where mines and the accompanying towns grew and prospered.

In England it was expected that the son of a Duke would marry a suitable female of his own class or, somewhat less favourable but more practical, marry the daughter of a wealthy man who would keep the family in the style of living to which the family was accustomed. The combination of these parties would have been financially but probably less socially advantageous but almost always advantageous. There would always be exceptions because many of the lower classes could read and write but often not with a great deal of expertise until the mid to late 1800’s.

Education started to become a more important factor for those persons who would wish to make the attempt to rise up the social ladder and there was also a small but important factor in the professions because of what they did for a living, e.g. Doctors of Medicine because even the gentry became ill. Consequently a small but increasing movement between classes was occurring albeit creating a large degree of opposition from the upper class families. A Gaiety girl or an actress could possibly ensnare a member of the gentry without the gentleman being disinherited but it would be a significant rise in class for her and her road of acceptance would be difficult because she was not one of them. Many sons of the landed gentry of that time were not expected to actually work but simply were young gentlemen with great expectations.

The story of James Lachlan, the current Duke of Wetherall and Nicola Waltham, Duchess of Wetherall was one of the exceptions recorded in the first book of the Carlisle Trilogy [Lachlan of Carlisle]. James at that time was the second son of Earl Warwick of Cumbria and Galloway whose family history and therefore his expectations traditionally lay first with education at Eton college and Oxford or Cambridge universities followed by stint or even as a career officer in the armed forces of the Queen followed by a suitable marriage consistent with his father’s position preferably bringing wealth to the family. By contrast Nicola Waltham, James’ wife was the educated daughter of a well off but poorly educated American cattle rancher in the Mid-West of Texas.

The event which will affect the Lachlan family is in this third book of the trilogy and occurred in 1902 when the first major character Warwick the 14th Duke of Wetherall died. The main character of this the third novel of the trilogy is Andrew James Richard Lachlan, the Duke of Wetherall’s son and who accepted the title of Marquis of Cumbria and Galloway. Andrew like his father studied at Eton and Cambridge, earned an engineering degree and was currently a lieutenant on the cruiser Intrigue in the Royal Navy. His nemesis will be Chantelle Gabrielle DeLeon, a German/French woman of mystery. A most unlikely event, his saving of this young woman from drowning in the Atlantic Ocean and the consequences would materially affect his life and that of his family.

Externally the British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas possessions and trading posts established by England between the late 16th and early 18th centuries. It is at this time the largest empire in history and, for over a century, had been the foremost global power.

British and German navies were powerful and Britain claimed to rule the waves. Victory early in the 19th century over Napoleon left Britain without any serious international rival, other than Russia in central Asia. Unchallenged at sea, Britain adopted the role of global policeman, a state of affairs later known as the Pax Britannica and a foreign policy of splendid isolation. Alongside the formal control it exerted over its own colonies, Britain’s dominant position in world trade meant that it effectively controlled the economies of many countries, such as China, Argentina and Siam, which has been characterised by some historians as Informal Empire. As the British expanded so other countries sought to do so.

Germany had traditions of foreign sea-borne trade dating back to the Hanseatic League; a tradition existed of German emigration (eastward in the direction of Russia and westward to the Americas); and North German merchants and missionaries showed interest in overseas engagements. The Hanseatic republics of Hamburg and Bremen sent traders across the globe. These trading houses conducted themselves as successful independent colonizers and concluded treaties and land purchases in Africa and the Pacific with chiefs or other tribal leaders. These early agreements with local entities, however, later formed the basis for annexation treaties, diplomatic support and military protection by the German Empire. Governments actively involved in expansion were suspicious of each other so we had peace but major European countries controlled many smaller countries and so they used government organisations analysts and non-government investigators [economic spies?] to supply information about the faster moving ever changing world. Chantelle was and Andrew became one of these investigator/analysts always wherever possible unknown to those being investigated. Peace would turn to war and both Andrew and Chantelle’s lives were affected by the decisions of their countries.

The Lachlan family of Carlisle, England, is the centre of the Carlisle Diamond, the four corners of which consist of,

•  the Tucker family of Wexford in Ireland,

•  the del Croix de la Fayette family of St Louis, USA

•  the families of Doherty, Waltham and Redman in Texas, USA

•  and the de la Sale family of Boston, USA

In the 17th and 18th century’s major cities and towns excepted, roads were a series of tracks between bog holes and these roads severely limited movement of people and the products they produced. The 19th century brought the Iron Horses, the trains and railroads crossing nations and opened up the huge USA countryside to people, goods and services never before envisaged and joined countries in Europe increasing movement between them. Thinking people were beginning to realise that changes to their lifestyle as they entered the 20th century were occurring and were having an effect on society and that they were entering a new age of communication. Now in the early 20th century aeroplanes, balloons and dirigibles no longer anchored people to the ground but were yet to impact hugely on people and product movement. Roads were being constructed that lasted, hopefully in the image of the old Roman Ways and trains could move large numbers of people quickly and timely. The British Isles previously immune from attack except by sea would have to rethink its military strategies and realise it was possible that it could be attacked from the air via aeroplanes as they were being improved from their original lava state and engine driven guided hydrogen and helium gas balloons. Many laughed but as is usual the case history would prove them wrong.

England still was the best equipped navy in the world used to police the British Empire’s governance of its lands and territories throughout the world and it was said the sun never set on the entity that was the British Empire. It was thought that the Empire should always be ready to meet any threats but there was a degree of self-satisfaction with the status quo but then information gathering was improving and getting back to London more quickly than ever before. The British Admiralty was part of the process and when approached to join the intelligence section of the Royal Navy Andrew James Richard Lachlan Lieutenant, Royal Navy thought it would not harm his naval career but only assist him in eventually becoming a senior officer in her majesty’s service. Europe was much closer to England than ever before and therefore more dangerous. The English would do well to distrust its earlier adversaries on the European continent. Andrew and Chantelle their lives dictated by circumstance and turmoil, love and hate and yet they came to realise their only hope was to forgive and fight to be together when the worlds of government and crime were set against them. Chantelle became the most recent member of the Ladies of Carlisle. It is time the Ladies of Carlisle were introduced to readers. There are others in the trilogy not included in this select group. My heroines in the Carlisle trilogy as with most of my novels usually come from an unfortunate environment. The ladies were generally religious but not necessarily practising their religion at every moment and even the most meek and submissive of them would dig in her heels and rebel if deeply felt family practices are challenged. Sometime in the course of a story, the heroine meets a man who is often a relative or a near neighbour. He is a bit of a rake or a thorough gentleman but never in between. By the end of the story, the heroine has reformed him or she has been reformed by her man because in the end they both possess an inherent if not battered goodness which results in love and marriage. The Carlisle Diamond continues with stories of the love of the members and friends of the Lachlan family.

(1)

The Ladies of Carlisle

The Lachlan family has controlled Kilmorgan Castle in Carlisle for 600 years but it was not only the men that exercised that control. Kilmorgan required regular insertions of new blood to maintain that strength and the Lachlan women, wives of those men who lived in the 19th and 20th centuries as with their ancestors were both formidable and dangerous. In summary over the three Carlisle novels the more important ladies are listed below in chronological order.

Marguerite Helene Balfour, dowager Duchess of Wetherall, a beauty much sought after, chose to marry the gentle Warwick William Lachlan, the then Marquis of Cumbria and Galloway, against the direct wishes of her parents and she provided the backbone of the Lachlan family and its businesses in the 19th century.

Elizabeth Jane Mitchell, educated mother of sisters Siobhan Doherty and Nicola Waltham, ostracized by her Boston USA family for marrying beneath herself to John Wyatt Waltham, a wealthy but barely literate cattle rancher from Texas. This decisive event was in addition to her previously bearing an illegitimate daughter Siobhan to a West Point Army Officer. The child was taken for adoption. No one was going to deter Elizabeth from enjoying the life she had made for herself until she met an untimely death.

Lachlan, Sarah Emily, [nee Sheffield]; wife of William Lachlan [Dec] the eldest son of Warwick [Dec] and Marguerite Lachlan, Countess; Second married to Sir Richard Hannay. Sarah was the only typical English lady of the women who brought not only strength but peace and tranquillity into the Lachlan family in the late 19th century.

Nicola Charlotte Frances Waltham, a red headed, green eyed singer and dancer from the saloons of Texas surviving against all odds to become the current Duchess of Wetherall. She saw her parents die at the hands of renegade North American Indians when she was fifteen. She was raped by the white men who rescued her from the Indians and lost her mind. She was rendered penniless by thieves and robbers who were supposed to work her father’s ranch while she was recovering from the previous events. She was left to fend for herself in the saloons of the old west, was subsequently kidnapped by a lawman and shot him to escape his clutches. She lifted herself out of the mire and in doing so completed a USA college degree and after a tempestuous relationship married James Fortescue Alfred William Lachlan, the current Duke of Wetherall in Carlisle Cathedral initially against the strong wishes of his parents. Now she is much loved by the dowager Duchess. She is a crack shot with pistol and rifle.

Siobhan Caitlin Doherty, the red headed green eyed half-sister to Nicola Waltham. She is the illegitimate daughter of Eliza Mitchell. On learning she had not been told that she been adopted by the Doherty’s, spurred by the thought she was being treated unfairly by her parents compared to her naturally born sister she left her home and became a counterfeiter and bank robber. She was being chased by a USA Federal Ranger Tarquin Matthew Redman. He had known her since her adoption. Redman refused to shoot her in the back when she defied his order to stop because of their earlier close friendship. He, on principle for this action, submitted his resignation to Federal authorities but before it was accepted he was committed to one last case in Tregear. Siobhan saved his life in a shootout that followed in this final task as a Federal ranger. She subsequently married the ranger Tarquin Matthew Redman and is now a practising lawyer in California. Her husband is a circuit court judge in that state also. She as well as her husband and sister are crack shots.

Chantelle Gabrielle DeLeon, hazel haired, dark eyed French seductress, trickster and thief who worked with her mother to relieve people of money and assets at the direction of a man called The Hawk. She was born in Alsace-Lorraine her father was a German nobleman and she was known as Chantelle Von Stieglitz. The Hawk’s men tried to kill her for being falsely accused of stealing diamonds from the Hawk’s group by setting her to sea in an open dingy but she survived. She was saved from drowning at sea by Andrew Lachlan, the then Marquis of Cumbria and Galloway and treated by him for her associated injury with setting her to sea. He immediately fell in love with her during her period of recuperation on his yacht and she with him. A poor decision by Chantelle meant she continued her dubious ways rather than marriage to this man. That he was a Marquis was unknown by her. Prior to the start of WW1 she worked for the German secret service as a paid mercenary both in Russia and North Africa. During WW1 she worked for England as a spy based largely in German controlled territory. She is wanted by France authorities as a traitor due to being reported by one of the Hawk’s men, Jacques Renaud, as responsible for the death of several English and French resistance fighters to the German authorities. Evading capture she finally arrived at Kilmorgan Castle at the end of WW1 in an attempt to rekindle her lost love with Andrew Lachlan, the only man she ever truly trusted. She always carried a derringer for personal safety and had cause to use it.

Danielle Charlotte Lachlan, elder sister of Andrew, red headed, green eyed, mirror image of her mother Nicola, obstinate and along with her brother a Martial Arts expert. An attempted rape in the changing rooms of her finishing school in Switzerland left the perpetrator with serious multiple injuries and the wish to get even if it killed him. She met Regan Sean Meagher an Irish nationalist through her father’s best friend Patrick Murphy of Wexford Ireland and hell or high water she was going to be Regan’s wife despite being a titled English lady and hated by many Irish on principle. She was kidnapped and recovered from Irish Nationalists. She was devastated with the sacking of Balbriggan the birth place of her husband by the British Black and Tans.

Antoinette Fleur del Croix de la Fayette, the daughter of Patrick Murphy and Annabelle del Croix de la Fayette, the enduring best friends of Nicola and James Lachlan. Her first husband Pierre Matrice Colbert was a professional gambler and she aided his illegal activities and eventually became a dubious dealer herself. The marriage ended in divorce her husband moving into a USA jail. She met and married Giles Huntley-Granville, Baron of Brentwood following her visits to Kilmorgan Castle. Giles was a friend of Nicola and James and loved by Andrew and Danielle Lachlan as an Uncle. Giles and Antoinette’s relationship was fiery which was typical of the ladies we call the Lachlan women.

Penelope Faith Meagher, the first child of Countess Danielle and Regan Sean Meagher entering life just before her twin Damian Peter Meagher.

(2)

At Home in Carlisle

Nicola Charlotte Frances Lachlan, the Marchioness of Cumbria and Galloway was very unhappy as she indicated to the footman to move aside as she helped her mother in law, Marguerite Helene Lachlan, the Duchess of Wetherall into the solid black carriage to join the Marchioness’s husband James Fortescue Alfred William Lachlan, the Marquis of Cumbria and Galloway already seated therein on this very sad occasion for Warwick William Lachlan, the 15TH Duke of Wetherall was dead. He passed away in his sleep four days ago in Kilmorgan Castle on June, 10th 1902 and fortunately or unfortunately Marguerite the dowager Duchess was in Edinburgh visiting her cousin but had hurried home to the arms of her family. The Duke was found by Stuart, the butler who had been asked to go upstairs when the Duke did not come down for breakfast. This sad picture was added to for in front of the carriage was the Duke’s hearse, drawn by four white horses waiting to move to Carlisle Cathedral for the Duke’s funeral service. Marguerite’s two sisters and their children were also there to support the Duchess at this sorrowful time.

Four days earlier word of the Duke’s death had spread quickly around the Castle. His body had been cleaned and dressed by Beatrice Duplesee the wife of the butler and Nicola’s companion and the Marchioness herself and laid carefully on his bed creating a sense of repose. They refused to have any other person do it apart from the servants providing the items necessary to complete this unenviable task given the dowager Duchess was initially absent and she would be too grieved to carry out the task. Beatrice Duplesee always answered to Belle her stage name when she worked with Nicola.

The now Dowager Duchess arrived back at Kilmorgan on the third day after her husband’s death with her family members. Nicola thought given the acceptance she had gained from the Duke and Duchess for a Texas ranch girl, she had to carry out the primary cleaning task herself in some small return for the Duke and Duchess treating her as a lady and more importantly their son’s wife with the duties it bore. The deceased Duke and Duchess’s bedroom curtains had been partly drawn and all persons, family and friends other than James and Nicola had now retreated from the room. James and Nicola being the last to leave stood alone at the bedside, silent, and were still hardly able to believe what had happened for the Duke had not been in ill health. The doctor said it was a heart attack. Nicola at that time was trembling and James could see the tears streaming down her face. James thought, Despite these dreadful days, I will always remember the love that my mother and father have shared, a love that had enveloped him, his beloved Nicola and their children and had provided them at all times with a cocoon of reassurance and safety and it also spilled in a way to a number of the servants particularly Belle. James as he stood there also had tears in his eyes. James said not necessarily to Nicola but to anyone in earshot, I loved him, he was my father. He thought back to when he was informed of his father’s death. What will I tell mother? How will I tell her what has happened.

The way of informing his mother seemed to be a harsh and inconsiderate method because James shortly after had phoned his mother in Edinburgh telling her that his father, her husband Warwick was dead. He also had to get his mother home and it almost broke his heart when he saw his mother looking dreadful and beside herself with pain due to her loss when she arrived home. It was possibly emphasised more painfully because she had chosen Warwick from a number of suitors many of whom seemed to possess far greater attributes than he and yet simply it was love at first sight according to his mother as she told him after his marriage and had made the same admission concerning Nicola himself. The next two days had been quiet and sombre and now there was the funeral. Nicola hated black but she decided she would wear it on this funeral day but not the extended period thought appropriate for a daughter in law in the current English environment. She during those last days told the Duchess about her thoughts and said had said, Mother, I want to celebrate your husband, my new father’s life, his love for James, me and the children. I cannot do that in black for days or weeks. Please forgive me. The Duchess had then said, "Nicola, you know you are right and so do I yet I think I should conform to what is considered appropriate mourning by my society.

However in my heart I totally agree with you. God shined his light on me the day I saw Warwick and I was from then on somewhat wilful for I was determined to get him whatever my parents’ thoughts about him were. Your James has the same heart. God bless you my dear. James wanted you despite all your trials and tribulations. You can leave me with my thoughts and I will see you at dinner. Tomorrow is not going to be a good day."

The new day arose, work continued as always but much subdued and then it was time to leave. The housekeeper, the cook, three maids and two footmen currently attending Carlisle castle were all at the foot of the stairs in the entrance hall to the Castle as James, Nicola, with Belle and Stuart a couple of steps behind descended the stairs, obviously upset. The children had left earlier for the cathedral. The servants’ faces were no longer shocked but much saddened for they knew of the terrible loss not so much of the Duke of Wetherall as their employer, but because they felt closer because the Duke, unlike the master of most of titled houses, knew them all by name and treated them well. He was respected by all. There was a quite pause while James and Nicola recovered from their thoughts concerning the task ahead of them. Stuart the butler as well as being Belle’s [Nicola’s companion] husband entered the drawing room where the Duchess was waiting and simply said to her, My Lady, it is time.

James waited and the Duchess said, James you go ahead. Nicola, stay by me. I want to look around the Kilmorgan entrance hall before I leave. She continued, William our son is laid to rest in the old parish church near the top of Whiteness hill which is as Warwick wanted also the Kilmorgan family chapel. Warwick will lie next to William and wait until I join him. She looked at James, As in the past it will be used by all of the family and from now on all of those who have worked and died at Kilmorgan should they wish to be so buried. We go now. Help me down the entry steps my beautiful daughter as she placed her arm around Nicola’s arm." With that Nicola burst into tears. The women proceeded arm in arm down the steps to the waiting carriage. Stuart and Belle entered a cab that would form part of the procession of vehicle and not strange Stuart felt uncomfortable but apart from being the Kilmorgan butler he was married to a principal mourner, his wife Belle, Nicola’s best friend and companion.

Reverend Charles McNamee, in the absence of the Bishop of Carlisle in London, conducted the service in a packed Carlisle Cathedral. He said the usual words but the congregation was surprised when Countess Sarah Lachlan, the wife of the Duke and Duchess’s first son William Lachlan [Deceased refer Lachlan of Carlisle] told the minister that she wanted to say something about her father in law. It had never occurred before, as a woman was not considered strong enough to take such an action at a funeral service. Sarah’s voice choked now and then and tears were on her cheeks but she was marvellous, talking about their childhood including William, James and Josephine of how much William loved his father and how much he Warwick loved to be with his children. Sarah looked at the family and said, Mother, which she always called the Duchess. I am so sorry. Then she said, Mummy, Dah" to her parents. She slowly made her way to her own parent’s, fell into her father’s arms and cried, the sobs echoing throughout the Cathedral and eventually she fell silent.

Countess Sarah’s parents comforted her and her second mother and mother in law was the Duchess of Wetherall and the names Warwick and William Lachlan were so close. James took Sarah’s place and Nicola for the first time saw her husband shaken by this tragic event for he expected his father to live for much longer if not forever. James was subdued through his speech and when he finished went over to his mother and she stood as he hugged and kissed her. His tears fell as he then did the same to Nicola and they stood there in the aisle of the cathedral for all to see unashamedly and James did not portray the stiff upper lip of an English gentleman.

He at last straightened and turned to the congregation and said, My father will be interned at the Kilmorgan Chapel also known as the Old Kirk. Family and friends are invited to join us at the Castle after the internment. Thank you all for coming.

The trip between the Cathedral and the Kilmorgan Chapel was sombre and the mood was not going to improve because there was more to come. While family and friends were to return to the castle for what the Irish would call a wake only a few close friends and family were invited to the actual burial. There was to be some formality for James army regiment would be present as he was still a reserve army officer although he thought he would probably be considered past it if another conflagration broke out. The members of the regiment carried the coffin to the site next to William where the Duke would be put to rest. The burial service was brief punctuated by tears and muted crying. Stuart and Belle unusual for those times were friends of the family and also represented the staff. Kilmorgan close to the Scottish border meant that it would be inevitable bagpipes were to be played and the tune being Amazing Grace to be selected. The pipes ceased and were then replaced by James company sergeant major calling out, Attention. James in his formal Major’s uniform replete with sword stood out as he snapped to attention. Andrew Lachlan, son of James Lachlan, now a Naval cadet and soon to be a midshipman in her majesty’s royal Navy, adopted the same stance and then the bugler commenced the sounding of the last post. The Dowager Duchess crumpled slightly at the knees as she heard the plaintive wail of the bugle and Nicola on one side and Sarah on the other gently held her as she seemed to sway with the breeze. Danielle Lachlan, Andrew Lachlan’s sister and the daughter of James and Nicola who had begged to be present despite the opposition of her parents thought that it was a marvellous funeral if you can say that about a funeral.

They had taken Warwick up the hill, first in a carriage and then by hand to lay him to rest. There was a gentle breeze blowing through the chapel grounds. The old parish church still stood and its graveyard was surrounded by family. They had watched the coffin lowered into the ground and then expressed their sympathy to the Duchess Lady Marguerite, James and Sarah. James thought it was only the second time I have ever seen Stuart visibly upset and this reflected closeness between the Lachlan family and the butler seldom evident in English society. James hired a catering firm from Carlisle for the wake however Un-English that might seem and as in the past it was provided by the old firm of Brown and Brown and when the cortege arrived back at the castle all was prepared. The family retreated to the first floor of the castle to change their clothes. Soft music was being played by a group of six players. Nicola thought back to her wedding when Annabelle, Josephine and Antoinette were put on show as her friends and bridal attendants. Today was different. People were speaking in whispers as if talking in the normal mode would be considered inappropriate.

Then the Duchess, Sarah, James and Nicola descended the staircase and entered the castle ballroom where their guests were gathered together. The bolder of the guests came over and wished the family the best and stressed their condolences to the family for the loss of a gentleman. While logically people knew that such wishes were of little real use people seemed compelled to do so. But then after a reasonably short time the noise from those assembled became louder. Things that young men do even young gentleman with perhaps an eye for the ladies perhaps too much imbibement of the nectar of the gods, perhaps just devilment but out came the past stories that once embarrassed the Duke and his friends of the humorous events in his life and the Duke’s enjoyment of living. The noise redoubled and with the alcohol consumed with the food provided it was becoming more like an Irish wake. The Duchess and Sarah returned upstairs while the other family members stayed in the crowd. It was the next day. James and Nicola were in bed the servants having being told not to disturb the family who would call the servants when they were ready for breakfast. They lay there in bed and James turned to Nicola and said, "I’m glad we asked people to come back to the castle after the funeral was finished. Somehow some of the stories, the rousing laughter lifted the day as people remembered the good things about my father and mother. They weren’t very stuffy after all.

I will remember feeling a little ashamed for enjoying myself at after the funeral particularly as it was my father’s. Nicola replied, It is good that for a while people forget the sadness for it will return as the loss manifests itself fully in the hearts of our family. We have to remember we are so blessed even your mother because she loved your father deeply and had him for over 50 years." That afternoon James and Andrew took themselves off horse riding but rather it was a way to get out of the Castle and its current relative grimness and they both had fishing gear although while Andrew was a dab hand at fishing James was not. So they headed off to a spot in William’s creek that flowed through the castle property where they would be unlikely to be disturbed and the water slower flowing. James remembered Josephine and her father when they holidayed and fished from the same waters when he was a child and then a young man. They were good times. James was in the middle of the creek while Andrew was off to the right in an associated pool. Few words were spoken between father and son for few needed to be. If one or the other could read thoughts they would have found remarkably similar thoughts within the other.

There was some peace for the green trees were soft to the eyes, the slowly moving water sufficient to have an accompanying soothing sound and the needed isolation completed the picture of outward peace and tranquillity not the same as the degree which inner their turmoil crept in from time to time for they were a close family. Yet it was what they needed. The fishing helped James with his grief arising from his father’s death.

James now sought Nicola’s presence. The next morning the weather was pleasant so at the breakfast table he broached the subject of needing her. Nicola had spent much time with the dowager Duchess and was about to say no when Marguerite interrupted, Go with him Nicola. He loved Warwick dearly and he has spent enough time on his own. Are you sure mother? Nicola replied. Sarah is with me and will be for another week. Go with your husband. It will be a break from the sorrow that had prevailed the castle since Warwick’s death. Two horses were prepared by Jimmy the stable boy and James, and Nicola in side saddle, rode slowly away from the Castle and James indicated the way for them to follow. About an hour later they came to a wooded part of the Kilmorgan estate. James as an engineer loved his estate but his bent was towards practicality, durability and strong lines of appearance, e.g. the bridge over the river Eden whereas Nicola was inclined towards the artistic which was in part why James had shepherded her towards the wood land and the silver oaks that existed there. From an engineering viewpoint wood was a poor engineering construction product compared to the old stone and more modern steel products. However he felt different towards the silver oaks even though they were an inferior natural product. The silver oak had a sheer beauty. It was densely grained, superbly coloured and had extraordinary patterned wood. Its dark cherry colour interspersed with a silver colour deep inside the grain and he some years ago had one wall of the castle library lined with silver oak. At times it gave the room a gentleness that allowed him to relax and read in peace and quiet. Sitting there also had to some degree peeled away his anguish. James and Nicola entered the wood and shortly after came to a clearing, a grassed spaced set aside by one of his forebears he believed to give the family a place to go and it had an added benefit of a small creek running nearby with a track leading to the water. There were two large tree trunks in the clearing one made up as a table top and the other shaped like a large lounge chair.

It had seated James many times over the years firstly as a child and then as an adult as the worries of the world also disappeared and his imagination took over remembering back to those childhood days and the slaying of knights trying to destroy the realm of King Arthur of the Saxons. Ignoring the lounge chair James and Nicola sat on a blanket on the grassed area their arms around each other and another blanket around them for the 13 degrees centigrade was not actually very barmy weather. They had brought some sandwiches with them and they spent precious time with each other not talking much for the closeness of their bodies said what words did not and they quietly munched away at the sandwiches and otherwise just thought. The loss of Warwick just then at this quiet time meant for a short while Warwick’s death did not seem so important. James explained to Nicola that the wooded silver oak stand came initially from County Londonderry in Northern Ireland and latterly from County Kildare. [Kildare in the Irish language was Cill Dara which meant The Church of the Oak or Oak church].

For some reason an Irish connection was important to James. Perhaps he remembered his earlier smuggling days that removed him from England and allowed him to meet his very beautiful Texas wife. [Lachlan of Carlisle] This idyllic picture stayed for another hour and then the sun started to drop. As they rode home James thought it had been a good day to be alive. They as yet had not thought about the future although it would close in on them for as from the death of his father James was the Duke of Wetherall and inherited the lands and business associated with Kilmorgan Castle Estate. There would be taxes but James knew that it would not be a problem. His mother was fully cared for and would never have to worry about her financial solidarity and the possibility of the Kilmorgan Estate might have become bankrupt or subject to a sale of the Castle in total or in part. James because of his father’s and his financial acumen unlike many other nobles had not relied on the estate property for an income and Kilmorgan was not asset rich and cash poor. At present they had a deal of both and diversified business activities to minimise risk. A young man had written an interesting paper on business diversification when he submitted it to Cambridge as part of attaining degrees in economics and classics. His name was Mark Stratford and Warwick and James thought it was excellent because it addressed risk and was bold to say what type of businesses would survive many of the depressions that had occurred over the last two hundred years. To begin, not all was doom and gloom during depressions. They were times when those who were smart and knowledgeable made big economic strides and the very nature of a depression was an economic boon for them.

Generally speaking the paper concluded that those companies which not only survived but thrived during times of depression were those that continued to act as though there were nothing wrong and that the public had money to spend. In other words, they advertised. The simple fact that they continued to advertise meant such companies created an impression that they were sound. While the public might not purchase the advertised product the public was more likely to purchase another product advertised. Advertising cutbacks caused many customers to feel abandoned. They associated the brands that cut back on advertising with a lack of staying power. This not only drove customers to more aggressive competitors, but it also caused financial mistrust when it came to making additional investments in the no-longer-visible companies. The paper looked at the last six recessions and found that spending on direct marketing actually grew during all six recessions. In general, it appears that direct marketing will benefit the most or, at least, will suffer the least in a tough economic climate. Warwick never forgot this paper and he as far as possible continued to act as if there would never be a depression. One thing was obvious was that the wealthy did not change their spending habits. The poor spent all their money on necessities so the necessities market was sound, reduced but sound. The market that suffered was with middle class that no longer purchased durables and non-essentials at their previous levels but even then the reduction was not massive. Business is like a cycle and different businesses have a different cycle which means if a business diversifies it is less likely to suffer a massive hit when one segment is hit hard. Kilmorgan would always survive when the family adopted sound economic bases for its operation.

The other thing in regards James’ son was to when James passed on the title of Marquis of Cumbria and Galloway which would mean an increased solid income for Andrew. James didn’t worry too much about Danielle. She was like her mother, strong and independent and would do exactly what she wanted to do in the future and that would include marriage to a person rich or poor that she had chosen just like her grandmother. She did have a trust fund adequate to meet her needs for the foreseeable future which normally meant marriage to a suitable man preferably with substantial income although as said before Danielle would do what she wanted. As with Nicola life with Danielle would always be interesting. Life at Kilmorgan would in time follow its usual pattern and not much happened of note for the remainder of the year of our Lord 1902. Nicola however had plans for 1903.

(3)

Happier Times at Kilmorgan Castle

It wasn’t intended but it was as if the sadness of 1902 when Warwick the 25th Duke of Wetherall died was to be replaced by a joyous 1903 year. There had been no plan but it seemed to have taken a life of its own and Kilmorgan was now in the pre preparation for the Servants’ Ball, the Kilmorgan Hunt, the Kilmorgan ball and the Shoot. Invitations had been sent out as in previous years under the signatures of the 26th Duke of Wetherall, James Lachlan and Nicola, the Duchess and wife of James Lachlan and very few had not been accepted. Nicola felt particularly good because members of her American family and her American friends were coming and also Patrick Murphy’s family from Ireland. In most noble families all the Duke and Duchess would have done was arranged to have invitations sent out and the servants would have done the rest under some direction. This Duchy however was different because both James and Nicola like to more involved with the setting up of these events and the servants worked under their direction and James and Nicola accompanied by the formidable trio of Stuart the butler, Mrs Thompson in charge of the Kitchen who was also the housekeeper and Belle, Stuart’s wife and companion and best friend of the Duchess but in the final analysis the Duchess was the final arbiter of control of all social events at Kilmorgan castle.

The person under less stress was the Dowager Duchess and she had to some degree recovered from the death of her husband. This left her with the time to think, to engage in quiet recollection of the past, to read, to embroider although her eyesight was not as strong as it was when she was younger resulting in embroidery activity being limited. Unlike her family she was no longer able to participate with walking and riding around the estate although she considered this no great loss because while she had always been able to do both her interest were of a finer nature as befits a senior member of a noble household and yet still people did not disagree with her as to do so was at their peril. Age may have diminished her physical ability but her mind was as sharp as ever and she was never short of pulling up James particularly but of any member of her family who had done or said something she considered inappropriate. Danielle particularly was boisterous and had a tendency to not act as a young lady should and her table etiquette always left something to be desired. She was also argumentative. Yet for all that she was her grandmother’s favourite.

The Duchy of Wetherall was different to most others in England. For centuries the titled families had arranged marriages within their own class and this led in a small island a degree of inbreeding not so much physically but mentally and spiritually. There was a tendency to think alike and being few in number relative to the population they sometimes failed to appreciate the bulk of the people of England who were not so luck and often the lives of the general population were short and solely aimed for survival. Kilmorgan under Warwick had started the movement away from this tradition. Marguerite thought back on her courting days. Warwick was not a young man favoured by Marguerite’s parents and because of her beauty she would have her card fully filled at any ball while other young ladies sat on chairs around the ballroom. It was her that started the rebellious streak which has since pervaded the members of Kilmorgan Castle. While her parents were away in London she arranged to meet Warwick at her home without a chaperone. She questioned Warwick why he did not dance with her found out he was a young man who was initially shy, but on talking was much stronger and as far as Marguerite was concerned Warwick was the man for her and nobody including her parents would stop her. Warwick and she stuck it out until her parents finally agreed to their marriage. She had been happy and contented with her lot ever since. Warwick was a true gentleman who loved, trusted and respected her and her likewise for him. The day she met Warwick was the second best day of her life, the best being their wedding day.

She came to Kilmorgan Castle in Carlisle after being married to Warwick in Carlisle Cathedral which itself is unique because it was and is the smallest Cathedral in England and exceptionally beautiful and while the Castle has its own chapel it was frequently where the Lachlan’s attended church services and had done so since there was a Cathedral and since there were Lachlan’s at the Castle, many hundreds of years. She recalled the horrible group of four. Firstly William, her first born son, died in a riding accident. Secondly Sarah who eventually became his wife but now is Countess Sarah and married to her second husband Richard Hannah. Thirdly and fourthly James and Josephine who Marguerite once thought would marry and become the wife of James, the current Duke of Wetherall. Josephine was living in London and very happy with life. The four were terrors always into everything but ultimately a joy to watch and they have all turned into excellent human beings. Then another woman came to the Castle in 1880, this time an American who was tall 5'10" had flaming red hair and the most beautiful green eyes. She was nothing like the type of English girl that she and Warwick wanted for their son. A singer and dancer with a less than reputable reputation she was totally unsuitable. However she and Warwick had been wrong. Nicola was strong, independent, educated and she and James were like a fresh wind had blowing through the Castle. She remembered she was shocked when Nicola sang and danced at the Servants Ball. However it subsequently resulted in her having all the staff eating out of her hands and her joy seemed to extend to the staff but most importantly her son was in love. It became even more apparent as time passed that her son was deeply in love and that love was so deeply returned. It was good for James for he had had to come home when his brother William was killed to take over the business of Kilmorgan Castle with his father. William was to run the Castle when he grew up. James was to make the military his life as many of his ancestors had done but that never eventuated and it was sad for the family. William’s wife Sarah remained at Kilmorgan Castle as she continued to take her place as a member of the Lachlan family. Over the next 20 years there was a pattern as Warwick gradually handed over the reins to his son for all the Kilmorgan Estate business and the external change. Marguerite was not sure she would like it. But then there were Danielle and Andrew her favourites making their way in the world, her grandchildren and James and Nicola were still fit and well and encouraging each other to live well. There was Stuart and like his father and grandfather before he was the Kilmorgan butler which was reassuring in her world but even then he was now married to Belle, her daughter in law’s companion in the USA and now in Britain. She was assuredly Nicola’s best friend something that in her life before Carlisle would never be allowed to happen if the English gentry knew about the facts. If servants married, e.g. Stuart and Belle, one or both left the service of the Castle or at the very least one of them was required to do so. It was different for both were special. Stuart wanted to remain as butler and James and Nicola wanted him to be for as long as he wished. Whether he agreed or not with this concept he was considered a friend of the family and not only a servant to the Lachlan’s being their butler. The Lachlan’s were proud of their history and the history of Carlisle as they were often intertwined.

Marguerite thought back over those times. The Castle study gave much information about the times and lives of the people who live at the Castle and in Carlisle itself. "Before the Lachlan’s arrived in Carlisle it had been a Roman town called Luguvallium when in 78 AD Agricola built a wooden fort at Carlisle. A civilian population grew probably with a market place and naturally it would include the Roman baths so they could socialise. Two hundred years later the Roman soldiers left Hadrian’s Wall and it could be argued Carlisle was abandoned and its building fell into ruin. Nominally Celtic which gave the name to the town of Carlisle change took place when it fell into the hands of the Saxons in the 7th century. This did not last for the Vikings sacked Carlisle in 876 AD and they held the town until the Saxons retook it in the 10th century. King Rufus revived Carlisle in 1092 AD and built a wooden castle which was replaced by stone in around 1180 AD. Cumbria then was a poor part of England but with a population of approximately 1,500 Carlisle was then a fair sized market town. Close to the border between Scotland and England it was a strategic town and it was surrounded by stone walls. In 1133 AD Carlisle was made the seat of the Bishop. The Scots took the town in 1135 AD and relinquished it in 1154 AD. Subsequently in 1173 AD the Scots attempted to retake the town after a 3 months siege but failed. A distant part of the Rufus family, the Lachlan’s ancestors, came to Carlisle and built Kilmorgan Castle over the ensuing two years. In 1223 AD Dominican friars arrived in Carlisle. The town flourished and wool and leather product were woven, dyed and exported to Ireland. Things went well for the Lachlan’s ancestors until 1292 AD when a fire effectively destroyed Carlisle. Carlisle and Kilmorgan were replaced this time in the case of Kilmorgan by a sandstone building. The rebuilding of Carlisle led to proper organisation and the trades were arranged into guilds for the protection of member’s interests. There were 8 guilds; merchants, butchers, skinners, shoemakers, tanners, tailors, smiths and weavers.

Bad luck hit Carlisle again for in 1349 AD the Black Death hit the town. It took until the 16th century for Carlisle to recover. The principal buildings however remain largely the same to this day. So Carlisle residents and in this case Marguerite Lachlan, the dowager Duchess at Kilmorgan Castle were proud of the people who had overcome their trials and tribulation to reach that point in time. Then more trouble as the plague entered Carlisle in 1597 AD and by 1600 AD there were only 2,500 inhabitants. It was a wonder that the Lachlan’s had not died out but they were a pretty tough family and they did not. In 1642 AD came civil war. Soldiers on the parliament’s side ransacked the town and the Carlisle Cathedral after a two year siege. By the mid-18th century Carlisle had a population of 4,000 people. Yet war continued and in 1745 AD after a short siege Bonnie Prince Charlie took the town however the town was soon retaken by superior English forces. Carlisle gained its first bank in 1787 AD, a famous person the novelist Sir Walter Scott was married in Carlisle Cathedral in 1797 AD and its first newspaper was formed in 1798 AD. By 1801 AD the population was 10,000 people and by 1850 AD it was 25,000 people. While people don’t talk about such matters in 1870 AD sewers were first put in place in Carlisle and minimised any future outbreaks of cholera because of dirty and unsanitary conditions that existed there. Finally the last major item she could recall was the installation of the first telephone exchange in Carlisle in 1885 and as stated before since then life had been very content until her husband died last year. Her mind dropped back to the present. Cumbria was such a beautiful area in northern England. She thought of Cockle Creek or its official name of Kilmorgan Water. She remembered the white rushing waters of the creek until they disappeared from view while you stood near the bank of the creek.

Meanwhile Danielle and Andrew were taking after their parents being very happy as they tramped around the estate getting dirty, getting wet via rain and paddling of falling in the creek during the time they were walking quietly around the property.

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Marguerite thought about her grandchildren; Danielle was the spitting image of her mother, tall, red haired, green eyed and according to her father possessed a filthy temper just like her mother yet Danielle was James’ little girl even when he was chastising her. Then there was Nicola’s step sister Siobhan Redman who with her red hair and green eyes looked like Nicola’s twin although she was older. The thoughts continued. What did I see when she visited Kilmorgan? Danielle was sliding down the bannister from the first floor followed by Siobhan her aunty. Both of them were laughing their heads off. But she thought I have missed a step, the step that is Lady Sarah Sheffield who was also a tearaway when she James, Willie and Josephine were at their peak at young boys and girls’ often undertaking unauthorised activity and then as teenagers when they were worse. The four were inseparable. Sarah’s mother had worried about her because she was showed little inclination of becoming a young lady. Sarah lied on one occasion Marguerite remembered. She and Josephine were in the kitchen at Sarah’s home. They had found a butter churn and by using a long springy knife were lobbing butter on the ceiling of the kitchen where it stuck. When later asked by their parents the two girls their faces so innocent claiming they had no knowledge of such an event but then reluctantly revealing much against their wills that it had been James and Willie who had done the deed. The boys who were outside at the time were summarily dealt with by their fathers despite the parents having only the girls’ word against the boys who of course claimed their innocence to little effect as they had often transgressed before if not in the same manner. Marguerite acknowledged that those sweet girls had got away with it to use the crime books vernacular. What she and Warwick later found out the boys were innocent but they had stolen Josephine and Sarah’s favourite dolls and taken them out to the barn, placed nametags on the dolls, attached rope around their necks and hanged them from the rafters. Revenge was sweet. The girl’s efforts along these lines continued when Sarah pushed Willie off a wooden bridge and into the water and thought she had killed him. She was about fifteen years old at the time. She raced down to the creek worried and cradled Willie’s head in her arms and genuinely stated her sorrow at what she had done but later claimed she had saved his life when he accidently fell from the bridge. This event was a trigger point for Sarah started to act more like a young lady and less like a larrikin. She started looking at herself in the mirror,