Charity Girl Part III

Ashley wonders if he could persaude Miss Fletching, headmistress of Cherrys old school, to give her a home and he would pay an allowance to keep her, but it would look very odd if it leaked out. Meanwhile Cary Nethercott is still visiting Hetta, and Ashley finds himself getting irritated with the man. He is kind and pleasant but rather stuffy. He too feels very sorry for Cherry. Lord Wroxton, his father pays a visit to the Silverdales, to see what the girl is like having heard about Ashley becoming her champion. He can see that she is nothing like her dishonest father or her spiteful old grandfather. He feels some admiration for his son, having thought for a long time that Ashley showed little sign of responsibility but he is now working hard to help someone. He tells his wife that if his son is becoming more sensible and if he would get married and settle down, he would hand over one of his smaller estates to him. Lady Wroxton can see that Ashley is moving from friendship towards Hetta to being in love with her, and she hopes it wont be long before they can marry and move to the estate. Simon Ashley's brother recevies a visitor, who turns out to be Cherry's errant father Wilfred. Wilfred is clearly a selfish outrageous con man. He claims that he had to leave England because of money and legal troubles, and now he is back to look after his daughter. However when he learns that Ashley has involved himself in Cherry's affairs, he begins to make accusations that he is trying to seduce his daughter and that he will insist that they get married. Angry and unsure what to do, Simon tells Steane that Ashley took Cherry to stay with Hetta for safety and because he is engaged to her..... then he has to dash off to Hetta's home to let her know that he has told this fib.