Adventure 5 Summary
"There will be a marriage…or I will shoot you."

The approach to Hollingdale, Lord Fenworth's estate, is exquisite. As the guests near the house, they are greeted with the scent of lavender. Thousands of plants have been imported from Holland at the request of Sir Henry Kern, the noted Scottish garden designer who has turned his attention to renovating Hollingdale's already fine grounds. Sir Henry has been in the employ of Queen Charlotte and the Prince of Wales in turn, and Fenworth snatched him out from underneath the nose of the Duke of Devonshire, who had hoped to contract the designer next.

Among the guests one finds the Duke of Warrington, the Comte de Chareau, and Mr. Marcus Eldon along with his father, Lord Eldon. They bring with them in their carriage Miss Georgiana DuBery and her maid, for Mr. Eldon and Miss DuBery have spent a significant amount of time with one another of late. Lord Rhys-Davies has been at Hollingdale for two weeks already and has made progress in excavating a burial mound.

Lady Russell, a neighbor of Lord Fenworth's, has been staying with the family for the past weeks. She insists on doing whatever she can to serve as hostess for the party - to make sure propriety is obeyed. She is 38, a tall thin woman who has been recently widowed. Local gossip has it that she's angling for another husband.

Lord Creighton is another guest. The second son of an earl (who uses one of his father's courtesy titles), Lord Creighton has been spotted around London by the Comte gambling quite a bit. He seems very interested in the young ladies.

Lord and Lady Somerset, who hosted the party at Canfield Park, are attending.

Mr. Daniel Hamilton is a London architect. He is in his early thirties and spends most of his time in the library. He has been contracted by Lord Fenworth to make improvements to Hollingdale.

Madame du Motier arrives with her son, Henri-Philippe (the new Chevalier du Motier).

Major Warburton - who accompanied Lady Caro home - is also in attendance.

**

The first night of the house party, 3 July, the guests assemble in Hollingdale's large drawing room. Le Comte, who has brought his violin, plays a rousing dancing tune accompanied by Lady Anna on the pianoforte, and the guests begin to pair up for country dances.

Sir Henry reveals his grand plan for the grounds at Hollingdale: he wishes to demolish the old burial mound (that Lord Rhys-Davies has been excavating) and construct a Greco-Roman ruin in its place. The crowning glory would be a waterfall from the ruin which would flow down into a reflecting pool.

Lord Fenworth says he will think it over.

Later, Rhys-Davies inquires if he is truly planning on demolishing the burial mound, and is told "no." He breathes an audible sigh of relief, and is caught giving Sir Henry dirty looks.

Marcus Eldon (Jack Dorset) praises Miss Georgiana's beauty to the company whilst waving his lace handkerchief around.

Lady Emily, who does not appear to be having a good time, is completely won over by the charms of the Comte de Chareau, enough so that Lady Caro becomes jealous.

After an exchange in which Lady Maria is actively rude to the Duke of Warrington, she is noticed leaving the party. Lord Fenworth asks Miss Georgiana to go after her, but Warrington goes instead. At the stables he learns she has ridden in the direction of the town.

The perceptive Warrington overhears a woman's voice when passing by a small cottage near the vicarage. He sneaks closer, and catches Lady Maria and a handsome young man in flagrante delicto!

Warrington pulls a pistol on the young man and orders Lady Maria to get dressed. The young woman, visibly distressed, blurts that he should be careful for the young man is a highwayman! The man denies this and says he is but an attorney, the son of a tradesman from Surrey and says that the young lady is obviously distressed.

Meanwhile, back in the drawing room, Major Warburton tells Fenworth that in the time he has spent with Lady Caroline, he has come to greatly admire the earl's youngest daughter. He believes she reciprocates his feelings and asks his permission to court Caro. Fenworth tells him that he will have to think about it.

Warrington returns to Hollingdale with Lady Maria and the young man, Frederick Morrison. He sends a stable boy into the drawing room to notify Fenworth that he is needed in the garden. The boy, terrified, flees.

Fenworth and Chareau head for the garden, while Miss Georgiana follows them at a distance. Warrington explains to Fenworth how he found his daughter - and Fenworth faints! After being revived (though to the stable boy's disappointment, not with a bucket of water) Fenworth inquires as to the boy's origins and family. He states that he is an attorney and that his orgins are not noble. But he loves Lady Maria, and she him (which she verifies). He then sends Lady Maria to her room. Fenworth tells Morrison that he is to attend the ball tomorrow night and that Fenworth will have an answer for him then. Yes, you guessed it: He will have to think about it.

Eventually, the gathering winds down.

Miss Georgiana wakes early and goes for a morning ride without Marcus Eldon, for it would never be done for him to be seen by his father up before noon. She stops by and visits with Lord Rhys-Davies at the burial mound before going for a walk through the new flower garden - but in the middle, she finds a body, face down in the lavender plants!

Miss Georgiana goes to Marcus and tells him what she has seen. Together they find Lord Fenworth and return outside.

Chareau, who was awakened far too early by his nephew, Henri-Philippe, hears the commotion outside and comes down. Warrington, also awake (early to bed and early to rise), appears.

The body proves to be that of Sir Henry Kern, the master gardener. In his right hand he is clutching an uprooted lavender plant; there are several dirty coins nearby. He was stabbed in the back with a knife several inches long and he appears to have been killed in the small hours of the morning; he is still wearing the clothes he wore the night before.

Overheard:

"Who had a reason to kill Sir Henry?"
"Lord Rhys-Davies?"

Daniel Hamilton spoke with Sir Henry in the library the night before - that was around midnight.

Fenworth breaks the news to Sir Henry's valet, who is very upset. He reveals that his master had received a message the day before which seemed to upset him. He gives the message to Fenworth, who finds that it is gibberish. He gives the message to Marcus Eldon; Marcus gives it to Miss Georgiana. After a time, she discovers that it has been encrypted using a French cipher. The message reads:

"Tulips, lavender. Give funds to Jackman Friday. Contacts to change."

The Comte de Chareau recognizes the seal. It is a very old seal, the device of a French Dukedom no longer in existence, the Duc du Mechant.

Lord Fenworth arranges to have Lord Creighton and Mr. Hamilton in the same room together and calls the name "Jackman" out. They do not react, aside from appearing puzzled.

In speaking to the gardening staff, Fenworth and the party learn that the lavender plants and tulip bulbs came from a ship named the Owl, which came from Holland. The plants were ordered by Sir Henry himself. He did do much of the planting himself, which the gardeners thought was strange, though Sir Henry was known to be eccentric. In one of the dirty crates, the Comte discovers another coin.

The party sends for a Bow Street Runner from London and begins to investigate the garden further. The Comte is of the opinion that Fenworth should let the Runner handle the investigation so that he can go on with the business at hand: the ball, which is due to start soon.

Fenworth orders an undergardener to uproot the lavender plants. In doing so, the man finds coins under some - but not all - of the plants.

At this point, the group splits up.

Warrington returns to his room to get ready for the ball.

Marcus Eldon and Georgiana go for a walk, during which he expresses to her his "ardent love and admiration" for her. He proposes marriage and she accepts.

Madame du Motier speaks to her cousin, the Comte de Chareau. She apologizes for her haughty manner earlier, and says that everything she has heard about the Comte since arriving in England has been flattering. She thanks him for helping her escape and for his kindnesses to her son. In turn, Chareau says that he admires the efforts she has made in bringing the plight of the aristos to English attention.

Lord Fenworth speaks to Caro and asks what she thinks of Major Warburton. She makes a face and says, "He is so very old!" She says she has no interest in him at all, but what does he think of the Duke of Warrington? Fenworth encourages her.