The Center of the World by Thomas van Essen Page B

hardest to provoke but when provoked it was the most fierce. He had a look of anger I had feared since I was a small boy. This look he directed at me and slammed his Fist upon the desk so hard that I feared for the Greek vase he prized so much. He insulted my Intelligence, saying that he had offered me a decent pretence, but that I was too much a Sheep to see it for what it was and as for Economy I would go to China at his expense if that was his desire. Wrath was also one of his sins in addition to Lechery
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    I was, in short, to vacate Petworth on the morrow and remain in London attending to that business he wished me to take care of until such time as I should be recalled. I knewthere was no gainsaying him when he was in such a mood so I said that I should be willing to oblige him and took my leave. As I made my way to my apartments to give the orders for our departure, I could see more carriages waiting to take guests away. Mrs. Spencer was there bidding adieu to the guests, as was Turner and a young fellow whose name I have forgotten. I thought it odd that these three should be saying good-bye to all the others, but I didn’t devote much attention to it as I had other matters on my mind
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    That night when we came down to dinner, I saw that the Party was much reduced, viz. only Turner and the young fellow plus Mrs. Spencer and my father. Dinner passed tolerably, although my father was in a vile temper and chastised me for not replying to one of Mrs. Spencer’s jests. Most of the conversation was between Mrs. Spencer and the young fellow; Turner kept his face close to his plate and drank a good deal of wine as was his wont
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    The next morning there was much ado as we prepared to depart. The carriage was full with Mary and the children and the nursemaids, as was the cart and another carriage to take servants that would accompany us. Others had gone on before to prepare things. I knew that Mary would be displeased by the disorder we would find when we got there, but there was nothing to be done for it since we had been ordered out so suddenly. My father came out from his study to bid us adieu and a few steps behind him was Mrs. Spencer. She put her arm through his and stood beside him as he gave me some final instructions on the matter he wished me to attend to in London
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    Mrs. Spencer was as gracious as could be, saving especially kind words for Mary and the children and wishing us all a safe and pleasant journey in her very best manner. But I knew that she was doing it to spite and aggrieve me for she knew that I could say nothing in front of my father. As the carriage pulled away she stayed on the walk a moment after my father had already turned to go inside and I could see that there was a wicked smile of Triumph on her face
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    What her scheme was and why we had been bundled off to London I could not guess, although I was sure that there was some debauchery in it. What, I wondered, would those four be doing in such a great house all by themselves and with most of the servants gone too?
    I did not find out the answer until a few years after we returned and it proved that my father’s great sins of Lechery had gone on unabated until he had reached a very old age indeed. He was doing quite poorly—this was about ’32 or ’33, five or six years before he was finally carried off—and I had gone up to his chambers to inquire after him. I was much concerned at this time that Mrs. Spencer would take advantage of my father in what might be his final illness. I also feared she might take as her own certain properties that rightly belonged to the estate
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    In those years that he was with Mrs. Spencer my father was most particular that no one ever enter his chambers without his specific permission. The door was ajar and I tapped on it to signal my arrival. There being no answer and being concerned that perhaps he had been carried off or was in hislast throes, I entered. He was lying in the great bed with the covers all