Chapter Text
Harry looked up from his book at a knock on the door. “Come,” he called. Wallace opened the door and entered. “My Lord, Mr. Dudley Dursley and a young lady to see you.”
“Dursley?” Harry frowned. “Did he state his business?”
“No, my Lord. I had him wait in the Hall. Shall I tell him you are not at home?”
“No, Wallace, that won’t be necessary. I’ll be down presently; ask him to wait where he is.”
“Yes, my Lord,” Wallace bowed and left the room. Harry, Viscount Potter, sat for a moment pondering what could have brought his cousin here on St. Nicholas day, of all days. The house was topsy-turvy preparing for his mother’s ball opening the Christmas season. Dursley was probably lucky not to have been mistaken for a tradesman and sent around to the kitchen door. Shrugging into his coat and checking his cravat (which remained stubbornly misaligned), Harry left his room and descended the main staircase to the Hall to find his cousin Dursley and a young woman – more of a girl, really – awaiting him.
“Dursley. How are you?” Harry greeted him.
“I’m getting on, thank you, my Lord,” Dudley replied with such deference that Harry blinked in surprise. “May I introduce my daughter, Daisy?” Dudley reached toward the girl and tried to draw her forward by the hand, though she was obviously hesitant to draw Harry’s (or anyone’s) attention to herself.
“I’m pleased to meet you, Daisy. I must confess, I had no notion of another cousin. It’s been such a long time since we’ve met, Dursley.” Harry shook the girl’s hand politely.
“Yes,” Dudley said. “You might recall our last meeting, when I was still an active pugilist – it must have been ’11 or ’12.”
Harry nodded, though he didn’t recall the meeting. “I saw you win a match, did I not?” he asked.
“Aye, you did that. We spoke briefly afterwards. I believe you and your friend were attempting to persuade a young lady not to make a scene.” Dudley snorted, then remembered the girl standing next to him and controlled his countenance.
Harry frowned theatrically for the girl’s benefit, then nodded to his cousin. “Let’s not recall that part, eh?”
“Of course, my Lord. I see your mother still keeps that awful vase from my mum,” Dudley smiled with a gesture to the corner, where shadows failed to disguise a horrid ceramic felony. Harry laughed outright in reply, shaking his head, “she does indeed. My father has tried to argue, trick or bribe her into getting rid of it for as long as I can remember. Alas, all to no avail -she will not part with it.”
For perhaps the first time in their lives, the two cousins laughed together. As their laughter faded, though, the two looked at one another without any particular expression. Finally, Harry cleared his throat and said, “So, Dursley, aside from a reminder that my mother has retained the ugliest vase on the planet for nearly thirty years, what brings you here today?”
Dudley suddenly looked far more nervous than he’d appeared a moment before. “I’ve come to ask a favor, my Lord,” he said quietly, staring at the floor. “Would there be someplace you and I could talk in private? Or could Daisy wait in another room, maybe?” Dudley looked at Harry with an expression that Harry was certain had never rested on his face before. He was as near to begging as a man could be without actual groveling. Harry was surprised again, and without thinking said, “Of course. A moment.”
Harry walked back to the staircase and shouted. “Creevey! Would you come to the Hall, please?”
Harry’s valet appeared at the head of the stairs and walked down briskly. “My Lord?” he said.
“Creevey, this young lady is my cousin Daisy Dursley. Would you be so kind as to take her to the dining room and find her some refreshment?”
“Of course, my Lord. Miss Dursley, if you would come with me.”
Daisy looked up at her father. He nodded and gave her a small smile. She dropped a not-very-well-practiced curtsey in the general direction of her father and cousin, then followed Creevey to the dining room.
“Thank you, my Lord.”
“Dudley, you’ve addressed me as my Lord more times in the past five minutes than you did in every meeting we’ve had since we were born. Whatever is the matter?” Harry asked.
“Well, you and I haven’t been the best of cousins, but Daisy is my whole world and I’ve realized I can’t do for her as she deserves.”
Harry looked at his cousin curiously. “Didn’t I hear that you’d set up a school when you stopped prize fighting? That the gentry and even the noble families from all over Hertfordshire were sending their sons to you so you could teach them the manly art of pugilism?”
Dudley nodded, “Yes, indeed, it’s been a right good business for me, and I’m well set up as far as money is concerned. If money could buy respectability, I’d be all right. I want my daughter to have a better life than what I’ve had, though, and no one who looks at her as a pugilist’s child will think she’s worthy of respect.” Dudley looked as miserable as though he’d lost his last friend.
“What would you have me do, Dudley?” Harry asked quietly.
“I can pay for a decent education for her, my Lord, if I could get a school to accept her. It’s me that’s not good enough, of course. I hope, my Lord, that you would introduce her to a school as your cousin. That would make her respectable enough for any of them, and I would pay her fees and all. Then she would learn how to behave herself in good company, and perhaps enough practical things like sums or French to allow her to make her way in the world as a governess or in a shop.” Dudley brought himself up short, having said more than he had at first intended. He looked up at Harry and sighed, “I don’t want to put all my faith in some man to take her to wife and do right by her; Lord knows I didn’t do right by her mother until it was nearly too late.”
Harry paced slowly a few steps up the Hall, then turned back to Dudley. “I apologize for making you stand in the Hall all this time, Dudley. Please, come along to the parlour, won’t you?” He extended an arm towards the open door to his right and waited for Dudley to pass, then followed him into the parlour.
Harry pulled a tasseled cord before indicating an embroidered settee and suggesting Dudley have a seat. Wallace, the butler, responded to the bell. Harry turned to him and asked, “Wallace, would you please ask my mother if she can spare a moment to greet my cousin here in the parlour?”
“Of course, my Lord,” Wallace replied, and turned to deliver the request.
Dudley looked up at Harry, his eyes crinkled in concern. Harry smiled, “I think a request like this should be approved by my mother. After all, she is your aunt, and for all that she and your mother have not been on the best of terms I believe she still harbours warm feelings for your family. Can I offer you refreshment? Brandy, perhaps?”
Dudley shook his head. “No thank you, Harry. Since I stopped the prize fighting I find my taste for spirits is mostly gone.” Dudley is just full of surprises today, Harry thought as he sat in a wing chair across from his cousin. The two of them exchanged comments on the weather, the décor, Harry’s horses, and anything else they could use to avoid further discussion of the topic at hand until the door opened again and Lily, Countess of Buckston, swept into the room with her usual flourish.
“Harry, why didn’t you tell me sooner that Dudley was come to visit!” she exclaimed as both men shot to their feet. She crossed the room, ruffling her son’s hair in passing before offering her hand to Dudley, who awkwardly bent to kiss her knuckles. “What brings you after so long an absence, Dudley?” She seated herself in her favorite chair and watched Dudley attentively.
“I came to ask a favor of Lord Potter, my lady. I hoped to impose upon him in the spirit of the season.” Dudley responded quietly.
“A favor? What favor could my son supply that you might not ask of me, Dudley?” she asked as a teasing smile emerged on her lips.
Harry spoke up to rescue Dudley, who was beginning to splutter, “Dudley has asked me to provide an introduction for his daughter. He hopes to have her accepted to a school for young ladies so that she might better her prospects. He is concerned that his reputation might tell against her.”
“I do not believe any keeper of a school for young ladies can possibly fault the reputation of my nephew so far as to deny admission to his daughter,” she said simply. “Have you met the girl, Harry?”
“Yes, mother, I have. She is waiting in the dining room; Dudley asked to speak privately so I had Creevey provide her with refreshment there.”
Lily rose to her feet abruptly. “Do not be alarmed, gentlemen. I shall return shortly.” With that, she strode quickly to the door, opened it, and departed. She did not bother closing the door.
Dudley looked at his cousin and started to rise, but Harry waved him down. “Don’t worry, she’s just gone to rescue Daisy from tea and biscuits alone in the dining room. I’ll get a lecture on my bad manners after you leave.” Dudley tried to chuckle but froze and Lily reappeared with Daisy in tow.
“Who is responsible for leaving this child alone in a house where she knows not a soul, with nothing to keep her company besides those awful biscuits that Creevey eats?” Lily demanded, glaring at her son.
“Erm, I’m responsible, mum,” Harry said in as repentant a voice as he could muster while laughing. Dudley, once he could see that Daisy was smiling as well, slapped his knee and laughed as well.
“Harry, ring for Wallace, please,” Lily said to her son. Turning back to Daisy, she asked, “Won’t you make yourself comfortable, Daisy?” Daisy blushed extravagantly before seating herself on the settee. Lily settled herself in her chair again, and the men took their seats.
Wallace opened the door and entered. “My Lady?”
“Tea, please, Wallace, and make certain Creevey does not select the biscuits. Thank you.” Lily winked at Daisy, who giggled.
“Now then,” Lily said as Wallace closed the door, “Daisy, I’m given to understand that you and your father would like for you to attend a school for young ladies. Is that correct?”
“Yes, my Lady. Daddy says it will be a good thing for me, and I think I would enjoy learning new things.”
Lily frowned theatrically. “Daisy, you must call me Aunt Lily, or Auntie, when it’s just the family.”
“Yes ma’am. I mean Auntie.”
“Good, now, tell me what you really think, not what your Daddy told you to say to get us to introduce you. We would do that anyway, if you desire it.”
“Yes, Aunt Lily. I think I would like school very much. I like reading, but I don’t have many books. There are so many things I’m sure I know nothing about. Besides, I … I don’t think I’d like trying to make my way in the world as a poor girl with no education.”
“How old are you, Daisy?”
“I’m twelve years old.”
“Dudley, you’re a good man. Most raised as you would have Daisy working, or worse, by the time she was twelve. I don’t recall your father being so sensitive to the needs of your mother or women in general. Where on earth did you learn it?” Lily asked.
“Well, my Lady…”
“Aunt Lily, Dudley,” she scowled.
“Yes, Aunt Lily, sorry. As you know, when I left my parents, it was to become a pugilist. I travelled the country for several years – Harry saw me in a contest or two.” Harry nodded. “I saw how many blokes like me wound up crippled or dead before they’d had time to get old, so when I was lucky enough to attract the attention of a couple of patrons, I set up a school to teach young men the art – just sparring with gloves, you know, not the London rules fighting that leaves a man looking like me.” Dudley laughed at himself for a moment.
“It appears from your clothing and Daisy’s that your school is profitable,” Lily said to bring him back to his story.
“Yes, Auntie, very profitable. For the past few years, I’ve had twenty or more students each year, and one or two poor boys like me that I trained to be professionals. I make a bit on the professionals with careful wagering.” Dudley smiled a little more broadly this time.
“I see. You want Harry to represent Daisy to a school that wouldn’t be so impressed with your initiative, but you plan to pay her tuition. Is that it?” Lily asked. Dudley nodded. “And what of Daisy’s mother? Does she agree to all this?”
“My wife passed on nearly three years ago. She made me promise to see to Daisy’s education.”
“Oh dear, and so you shall. We will find a school that will suit and make sure Daisy is accepted,” Lily said in a tone that brooked no argument. “Dudley, have you and Daisy travelled far to visit us today?”
“We took the mail coach from Baldock to Watford and then walked, Auntie,” he told her.
“Then I shall have Wallace find you rooms and you shall stay the night. This child cannot travel so far twice in one day,” Lily declared as she stood and reached for Daisy’s hand. “Come along, Daisy, let’s see what my seamstress can do about a dress for you to wear tonight.”