“It was a near-run thing,” Constance said ruefully. “I was too eager to finish this case for personal reasons. But your sermon today was forus, too, wasn’t it? Perhaps partly to discourage anyone else from sending similar letters, but mainly to convinceusthere would be no more, that you had it all in hand and we might as well leave.”
“You could not stay forever,” Raeburn said apologetically.
And possibly, Solomon thought, the vicar was eager to have him removed from Mrs. Raeburn’s vicinity. In truth, Solomon was not averse to that either.
Raeburn drew a deep breath. “Look, my friends, I will gladly admit that I should have been more open with you from the outset, and perhaps I should have acted sooner to stop the letters. In truth, I thought Ogden had seen the error of his ways already, for he is not a stupid man, and I have never known him to repeat a mistake. Only then there was Mrs. Chadwick’s letter. But I truly believe there will be no more. I shall speak to him, of course, to be sure he understands…
“There is no malice in Quintin Ogden, you know,” he added. “He is a good and caring man, as well as being the cleverest teacher we are ever likely to attract to Sutton May. He just reasons differently from you or me. By nature, he is honest, disastrously so on occasions, and he has learned by hard experience that such honesty can offend and work against him and against whatever he is trying to achieve.”
Raeburn spread his hands in a gesture of helplessness. “As far as the letters are concerned, he merely thought he had solved every problem of offense and danger to get his point across, without realizing the havoc he would cause.”
Constance nodded as though she understood. “To him, it made sense.”
“He had to speak to defend the children,” Solomon said, “but he could not risk his position, his livelihood, by offending those who had appointed him, namely you and Miss Mortimer. Nor could he defend the children at all if he was dismissed from his post. So the letters seemed a perfect solution at first. Especially, I suspect, when you toned down your sermon in response. He decided his method was successful and tried it on Nolan and the Keatons.”
Solomon shook his head because he still could not quite grasp Ogden’s reasoning. “Yet from what you say, he is clever enough to have realized that those letters to Nolan and the Keatons had no effect at all. So why then trouble Mrs. Chadwick with one? Was that not unnecessarily cruel when she was already punishing herself? She is a kind woman who has no hold over him. Couldn’t he have spoken to her instead?”
“Not when he wants to marry Sophie,” Constance said. “He couldn’t risk alienating her parents further.”
“Doeshe want to marry her, though?” Solomon asked.
“Oh yes,” Constance said, “though he might not be fully aware of it just yet. The question we have to answer is, what do we do about our knowledge?”
Raeburn met her gaze. “Are you not all for second chances, Mrs. Silver?”
Solomon tensed. Was that a jab at Constance’s past? He would not have her insulted by anyone.
But she smiled. “I gather Miss Fernie has been talking to you.”
The vicar grimaced. “Miss Fernie is one of those I was addressing on the subject of self-righteous judgments. I make no charges against you, Mrs. Silver. Nor would I. I merely point out that wealldeserve a second chance. At least in matters that do not break the law of the land.”
“Will Dr. Chadwick agree?” Constance asked. “Especially if Ogden and Sophie want to marry in the teeth of parental disapproval. And the doctor is clearly upset about the letter on his wife’s behalf.”
Raeburn steepled his fingers under his chin. “I understand you have an obligation.”
“And we also believe in second chances,” Solomon said. “But we have to lay the truth before Chadwick and see how he wishes to proceed. This is not a matter of the law; it is a matter of village respect. And I suspect few would understand or forgive Ogden. But Chadwick is not a vindictive man, and I believe Ogden could put matters right with an apology.”
“To everyone concerned?” Raeburn asked doubtfully.
Solomon met his gaze. “Does everyone concerned care? Nolan doesn’t. Nor do the Keatons, or not beyond gossip rights, in my opinion. Providing Ogden understands his error, I don’t see why a doctor and a vicar—those most given to confidentiality—cannot make things right with Miss Mortimer and let the matter of the letters sink into the annals of village folklore.”
“Mr.Mortimer must not be told,” Constance said at once. “He hates Mr. Ogden and would cause trouble if he could.”
“Then we shan’t let him.” Raeburn rose from his chair. “Are you going to the Chadwicks’ now? Perhaps I should accompany you.”
*
Dr. Chadwick lookedforward to a rare Sunday meal with his family. Barring emergencies, he thought he might just have the day to himself.
For once, they all gathered by the fire in the parlor after church, with warming drinks to hand—why were churches always such wretchedly cold places?—and he thought again how lucky he was. Emmeline was smiling faintly, her trouble over Jenny Gimlet’s death and the letter eased, at least for the moment. Edgar was laughing over some banter with his sister. Sophie…
Sophie was looking particularly happy. She was quick to smile these days, and today her eyes positively sparkled. His daughter was a beautiful girl, but one with her feet on the ground and kindness in her heart. Like her mother.
Chadwick felt an ache in his heart, a happy, appreciative ache, for his family was precious to him. He wished he had more time to enjoy with them. Sophie would surely marry in a few years and be gone. Edgar was growing up so fast. There should be more days like these.
The sound of the front door knocker interrupted his thoughts and his heart sank. Everyone heard it, though they all pretended not to. They carried on chatting while Nora’s footsteps sounded hurrying up the passage from the kitchen…and back again.
Nora’s head appeared around the door. With a sigh, Chadwick rose to his feet to deal with the inevitable medical emergency.
