Yesterday was almost perfect, ruined at the last by the untimely arrival of Damerham. I know what you were about to say, and you know what my response would have been, for my behaviour in the yellow saloon was proof of my feelings.
I am confident that Damerham has returned only for the Christmas period, since it means354no expense for him, and he has revealed that he will not be returning to Oxford but hoping to try ‘his luck’ in Cambridge. It appears that the college that owns the lease of the house in which he conducted his business has revoked it, since they let it out as a dwelling, not a gaming house. He blames you for this, and I do hope he is right. During his sojourn it will be difficult to meet, and I beg you not to come here, for it would be most awkward for Mama. He has no power to forbid me seeing you, but I am thinking of her in this, not us.
You said that nothing has changed, but use this time to consider. I would not see your name tarnished by association. You are not bound, for no offer was made, and allying yourself with my name would link you to a man who seems capable of bringing nothing but shame and embarrassment to his family. He would almost certainly try to get money from you at some point.
If you remain firm in your wish you will find me, dearest sir,
Yours,
Mary Lound
He was torn between delight and frustration. They might meet only at the houses of neighbours for the next couple of weeks, and he felt she was trapped in a355house where she was not happy, for it was clear that she and Damerham were at odds and she was concerned for her mother. At the same time the short letter exuded her love. There was nothing to consider, and all he must do was bide his time.
356
CHAPTER TWENTY
Sir Rowland’s hopes of even meeting upon neutral ground were dashed two days later when he awoke to a sky thick with snow that was coming down in a blizzard, and with already six inches of it outside the house. All thought of travelling was set aside, and the yule log in the great hall that could have warmed a throng, could cheer but the two Kempsey brothers and the servants as they went about their tasks. There seemed no end to the heavy flakes, and for two days the snow deepened until over two feet, and then the wind began to move it into drifts reaching the height of a man’s shoulders. It was bitterly cold. The farmers struggled out to rescue sheep, and Sir Rowland, faced with a siege of snow, gathered the male servants, donned the garb he had last worn for fishing, and led357them out to at least clear a path the width of a horse to the gatehouse. He recalled the prognostication of Old Matthew and saw no reason to think the snow would melt away within days. He warned Tom that returning to Oxford for the beginning of term would be impossible, especially across the tops of the Cotswolds. A total cessation of all movement in the community could not last for long, however. Each household did what it could, and from the viewpoint of the crows scouring the landscape for animals that had succumbed to the weather, little tendrils of cleared pathways spread slowly but surely, linking house to house where neighbour checked upon neighbour, and, after a week, some villages could be reached by a cart pulled by a heavy horse.
Sir Harry Penwood, who had survived the retreat to Corunna under Sir John Moore, was not put off by a couple of feet of English snow, nor wedded to sartorial elegance. He was one of the first to re-establish communication with the dower house, and also with Hazelwood, where his reception was nearly as warm. Madeleine slipped easily from finding him a support to a feeling of reliance. She liked the feeling, and when the weather had kept them apart for nearly a week, missed him. If she was not in love with him, she was aware of increasing affection, and a willingness to love.
Twelfth Night came and went with far less festivity than had been planned, and Mary’s hope that her brother would leave came to nothing. Even she admitted358that this was unavoidable. Travelling long distance was impossible, and there were new heavy snowfalls, but gradually the community began to function a little more normally, despite the white world. Sleds were constructed, wood was brought to old neighbours who could not get about, church services resumed, for the vicar had been unable to even reach the church door from his own the first Sunday, and if the congregation was the thinner, they prayed fervently enough for all. An old man died, and the sexton was unable to dig a grave, the ground being frozen solid, and the vicar was in great perturbation as to what should be done. When Mary heard, she sent a note to him, suggesting that as a temporary measure, the service take place and the coffin be placed in the Lound family vault, if church protocol permitted that it might be moved and interred in the earth when that became possible. The vicar was most relieved, but when Damerham was told what she had done there was an almighty row, for he said she had no right to give permission, and he would not have illiterate yokels in the resting place of the Lounds. Mary replied that something had to be done, since the coffin could not remain in the house, or on view in the church, and nobody knew when the churchyard would be usable again.
‘Besides, illiterate he may have been, but Jethro Fleet was at least honest. I cannot think our ancestors would begrudge him a few weeks in their company. His ancestors were their tenants, and they understood359responsibility as you do not, for all you think of is your rights.’ She stalked off in high dudgeon, and there was a stony silence between the siblings for two whole days.
When Harry called upon them a second time he found Mary at the end of her tether, sharp-tempered even with him.
‘I am sorry, Harry,’ she apologised. ‘It is being cooped up, and with Edmund. I have not been outside this house for over two weeks, nor parted from him by more than a few walls. Mama panics if I as much as suggest riding out. Added to which …’ She bit her lip. ‘Have you been to Tapley End?’
‘No, but I saw Kempsey and his brother two days ago, going to as many of the tenant farmers as they could, seeing the situation for themselves. Has he not come to—’
‘He will not come while my brother is here.’ She coloured, and then told him about Oxford. Harry was horrified.
‘Poor Mary.’ As his own romantic life was showing signs of flowering, he saw that hers had become, like the ground, frozen. ‘Let me see what I can think up to help.’
‘There is nothing that can be done while the weather is bad,’ sighed Mary, resignedly.
‘Do not be too sure.’
Harry was not idle. He went to Tapley End, and then on to Hazelwood, and the next day, as if to confirm360he was doing the right thing, a pale sun pierced the clouds, and as the morning advanced there was even the occasional drip from the end of an icicle. Harry arrived at the dower house in company with Miss Banham, who was otherwise unescorted, which surprised Mary.
‘We need you, Mary, to come skating with us. I know you used to have skates, and, as I recall, you fell over less often than James or I did.’
‘Skating?’
‘Yes. It will do you good to get out. Wrap up warm, find your skates, and be adventurous. Besides, if you do not do so, I will have to escort Madeleine straight back to Hazelwood, for there is nobody else who could, er, act as chaperone.’
‘Harry, really.’ Mary laughed for the first time in days, and noted he was on first name terms with his companion. ‘I just hope my ice skates can be located.’ She left the pair to converse with Lady Damerham, since her brother had slunk off in a huff upon hearing the familiar voice in the hall. He did not much like Penwood, and the feeling was mutual.
Mary dressed in a hurry, with a fur tippet about her throat and a thick cloak over her riding habit, and a fur hat that was not as new as Madeleine’s but just as warm. She felt excited, and was the more so when Harry led them not, as she had vaguely supposed, to the river, but up the drive to Tapley End.
‘We are going to skate on the lake,’ he announced. ‘It is all arranged.’361
They were met at the house by Sir Rowland and Tom, who looked very pleased to see them. Harry Penwood had brought two extra pairs of ice skates, since Sir Rowland admitted to being so thoughtless as to not have ever purchased any.
‘Which means I am very likely to embarrass myself and give you the opportunity to laugh at my tumbles.’
‘You must let Mary guide you, then, Kempsey. She was always very good.’ Harry laughed.
