There was an uneasy silence in the room. The Dawsons had an unexpected visitor in the figure of Lord Jupen, and what he wanted from them the devil only knew.
"I'm thinking of getting married," Lord Jupen announced.
"Ah, congratulation?" Mr Dawson put forward, slightly surprised that he was getting married at his age and that he was bothering to tell them.
He's kidding, Mrs Dawson thought. He'd have to back up a few years to be in his seventies. Would he remember what to do with a woman if he caught one and would he survive the wedding night?
"You're probably wondering what this has to do with you," Lord Jupen said. "Well, to tell the truth Claudia is the woman I have my heart set on. We'll be married as soon as possible."
Mr and Mrs Dawson looked at each other as the penny slowly dropped. Claudia? He surely didn't mean their Claudia.
"Are you speaking about our Claudia? Only just turned eighteen and quite innocent. If you are, forget it. It won't be happening."
"As you wish. It has to be your choice, after all. Very nice farm you have here. It will be hard for me to find a new tenant but I'm sure I'll manage."
"What do you mean? This is our farm. We have a lot of money invested in it. No way we're moving."
"Your farm but my land. I don't have to lease the land to folks who won't do what I want. I will give you a week or two to move on out."
A rather vigorous argument broke out at that point. To sum it up Lord Jupen was right. He was the owner of all the land for several miles around. If he wanted them gone all he had to do was give them formal notice. They weren't even entitled to any compensation.
Mr Dawson finally capitulated.
"I'll talk to Claudia. If she says no then that is final. I won't force her into marriage with you."
"I spoke with the Parson," Claudia subsequently told her parents with a sigh. "He tried to reason with Lord Jupen and was told to mind his own business. Basically either I marry Lord Jupen or we're all walking down the road carrying what we can."
The three of them sat despondently around the table.
"At least, it won't be a long marriage," Mrs Dawson said. "He's already in his eighties."
"And I can make my marrying him contingent on him signing over ownership of the land to you for our farm so it is truly our farm."
"If he manages to make you pregnant then the child will inherit everything," Mr Dawson pointed out.
"If he doesn't I think I would. I haven't heard of him having any relatives who might inherit. That's one reason he want to marry. He doesn't want the estate being returned to the Crown on his demise. He'd rather wed and at least try for an heir."
"But you're such an innocent."
"True, and if I don't remain one until the wedding we can all start walking. It won't be that bad. Lots of women have absolute brutes for husbands."
Grim acceptance stayed with them up until the day of the wedding. The wedding itself was small consisting of the Dawsons, Lord Jupen, and a couple of Lord Jupen's men, namely his solicitor and his valet, his valet acting as best man. The ceremony was brief and only a light celebratory dinner was provided. There was no reception afterwards.
As instructed Claudia had retired to the master bedroom. She was lying on top of the bed, naked, also as instructed. She was tense. She was nervous. She was both scared and furious. While not knowing exactly what to expect she had a pretty good idea. You couldn't live on a farm and not know about the birds and the bees. It was different when it was applied to her.
She almost screamed when Lord Jupen walked in, accompanied by Hatter, his valet. Lord Jupen wore a big smile while Hatter's face was completely blank.
"I'll be with you in a moment, my dear" Jupen called. "Hurry up, Hatter."
