Hargreaves

William Hargreaves was twenty-one and the under-butler to the household of Egbert DeWayne in Cheshire when he was asked to accept the appointment of the butler (and confidante) to Egbert’s granddaughter, Elizabeth, on her marriage to Sir Robert McManus.
It became apparent to him that the marriage was a sham that reduced his mistress’s life to misery. Knowing Elizabeth’s history, his loyalty became more robust with each revelation of inappropriate behaviour. On the death of Sir Robert, gambling debts and scandalised blackmail all but left the whole household bankrupt.
Aware of cannabis plants in a greenhouse cultivated for Sir Robert’s use, he took matters into his control by finding a market where illicit trading allowed his mistress, utterly unaware of his action, to survive.