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That was confusing. Was Dorothea the governess, then? Or was there another child hidden by the trees? It was strange, but he did not quite like to pry, so they continued on their way to the kitchen door, where he left Julia and went on to the rectory.
He found Thomas busy in the parish room, writing and humming. The parish room, filled with the dusty records too unimportant to be kept in the church and a collection of battered chairs suitable for the accommodation of all shapes and sizes of parishioners’ rears, was too dreary a room for James to venture into, so it had been left to Thomas to use as he pleased. In James’s memory, however, it had not ever been a place of happiness. No one, he dared suppose, had ever actuallyhummedin there before.
“Are you quite well, Thomas?” he said, putting his head round the door.
The curate looked up with a wide grin on his face. “Indeed I am. Very well indeed, for I have been invited to a card party at the Miss Williamsons’, and who do you think will be there?”
“Miss Williamson?”
Thomas tutted.
“Miss Ariadne Williamson? No, let me see… Mr Frye, Mrs Frye and the Miss Fryes?”
“Mrs Reynell!”Thomas said in a dramatic whisper. “This is my opportunity to charm the lady and her eight hundred pounds a year.”
“And the house, Thomas. Never forget the house, directly opposite the church — so convenient for you! But why does she deign to join in a mere card party at the Miss Williamsons? It is not her usual style at all.”
“No, but she is being enticed by the hope of your presence, I suspect. Your invitation is on the hall table. Since you contrive to avoid every other engagement where she might encounter you, I suspect she may be growing desperate. It is my hope that she will therefore be susceptible to someone more appreciative of her good qualities.”
“Thomas, the house and the eight hundred pounds a year are theonlygood qualities she possesses. She would make you miserable, you know it perfectly well.”
“Only slightly miserable, with so much money in my pockets. Will you come, James?”
“To a card party involving Mrs Reynell? Not likely! But I wish you good fortune, my friend. Here, take some coins with you, for she likes to play high. It will not aid your cause if you have to decline the chance to join her table.”
He opened drawers until he found the object he was looking for, a purse heavy with coins, withdrawing a number of them and placing them on the desk in front of Thomas.
“Fifty guineas?” the curate said, counting the coins. “You expect me to lose half my salary in one evening?”
“No, I expect you to win a few guineas to your own benefit, and return my fifty. And if you should lose some of this, it is of no consequence to me.”
“You are the best of good fellows, James. But how went your day? Was the hunt enjoyable?”
“Very, for a multitude of reasons. An excellent, fast ride, for one thing. I also had the pleasure of watching Mrs Reynell thrown into deep mud, and Sir Hector bested by a slip of a girl. And the fox escaped his fate, which I cannot but feel a fitting end when he has given us such good sport.”
“He will be caught next time, or the time after that, I dare say.”
“Perhaps, but I respect his stout-hearted defence of his life. You do not enquire as to the identity of the slip of a girl.”
“Judging by the brightness of your eye, my friend, I may make a guess. Miss Julia Fletcher?”
“Indeed. Enchanted by the passing of a fast-moving fox, she had climbed upon a gate, the better to observe him. It was unfortunate that most of the hunt had already decided to jump that particular gate. There was a degree of confusion and alarm, Mrs Reynell’s mount reared at a most unpropitious moment, Miss Fletcher was startled and both ladies ended up in the mud. Sir Hector was most unchivalrous. He called Miss Fletcher a‘stupid gel’, whereupon she told him he was very rude man and should learn better manners.”
Thomas’s jaw dropped. “She did not!”
“She did. It was glorious, utterly glorious, Thomas. A moment to savour. And so I was able to be the chivalrous one, and escort her to the hut to warm herself after her dousing.”
“Alone? Or had she a maid or footman with her?”
“Neither. Ah, you disapprove, but remember that I am a man of the cloth, my friend. Surely I may offer aid to a parishioner in distress without raising any question of impropriety?”
“You can spin that story if you like, James, but her father may not see it that way. She may be a lady of great independence of mind, but if her father hears of this, he may insist on a wedding.”
“Which is precisely what I want, Thomas.”
The curate looked at him thoughtfully. “Truly? You are serious about this, then?”
“I am perfectly serious. The more I consider the matter, the more convinced I am that marriage to Julia will materially improve my comfort.”
