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“You don’t feel I have to marry him… that I’m compromised in some way, just because I was alone in the rectory with him?”
“Lord, no. I don’t hold with such nonsense, forcing two people to marry if they’re not inclined for it. If he’d been leading you astray, I’d have something to say about it, but he hasn’t and you have enough good sense not to get yourself into difficulties, puss. I’ve never worried about you in that way, and it seems he’s not here from any guilty conscience. He appears to want you for your own sake, and I like him the better for that. Now, if you won’t have him, that’s an end to it, but I think you owe it to him to tell him so to his face. With Rosie… well, I might intervene because she’s soft-hearted and might be swayed against her better judgement, but you’re a sensible girl, Jules.”
“Must I see him?”
“When a man has wound himself up so far as to humble himself before the lady of his choice, he likes to see her face when he makes his pitch for her hand. It’s a nerve racking business, I can tell you. It’s only civil to hear him out. All you have to do is let him say his piece, then you thank him for the honour, much obliged and so forth, but you’re not minded to marry. Be polite, and don’t quarrel with him, puss, because we don’t want any breach with the Plummers. And I shall be right here if you need reinforcements. Understood?”
Glumly, she nodded. There was no escaping it now.
14: A Dinner Party
James looked very smart, that was Julia’s immediate thought. He stood beside the fire, gazing thoughtfully into its flames with one foot resting on the fender, and she had never seen him look so elegant. That brought an unexpected burst of pride — he had done this for her! Even though his attentions were unwelcome, yet it was gratifying that he had gone to so much trouble on her account.
He looked up and smiled, deepening the creases round his eyes.
“Julia!” He crossed the room towards her, hands outstretched.
“Mr Plummer.” She dipped into a formal curtsy, then swiftly thrust her hands behind her back, out of his reach.
He only smiled the more. “You want to be formal, do you? Then so be it. Miss Fletcher, you know why I am here. Your father will have told you. I had hoped to give you more time to grow accustomed to the idea, but your father and mine got together and there we are. To speak plainly, I am by no means loath to settle things at once, so here I am. My dear Julia, you said yesterday that you thought we were friends. I thought so too. Indeed, I believe we have been friends from the moment we met at the High Field gate, and it is not merely my fancy, I trust, that we have only become better friends since that day. We get on so well, perfectly matched in every respect, that it is surely but a small step to become a perfect match in truth, as husband and wife. You know that I can keep you comfortably, and you know what your home will be. I have explained all of this to your father, and he is satisfied on these points. It would bring him great pleasure to see you established here, taking on the Plummer name, which is an honourable one and not to be despised. He tells me that Mrs Fletcher, too, would approve the match, and my own father would be glad to see me settled. So you see, it is a match with everything in its favour and nothing against. What do you say? Will you honour me with your hand, Julia? Will you be my wife?”
The smile had never faltered. There was not the smallest sign of anxiety in him, so he was in no doubt of her answer. Even as he waited for her to respond, he was still smiling. Why was he so sure of her? Perhaps centuries of aristocratic certainty infused him, making him sure that a mercer’s daughter would not dare to refuse a baronet’s son.
Well, he was wrong about that.
“I thank you for the honour you do me, sir, but I have no wish to marry.”
Even then, the smile remained. He was so sure of himself! “Take a little time to think about it.”
“I don’t need time! My answer won’t change. I don’t want to marry anyone, and certainly not a clergyman. I’d make a terrible clergyman’s wife.”
“And I am a terrible clergyman, so once more we are well matched.”
Julia huffed in annoyance. “You shouldn’t joke about such things! It’s not something to be proud of. I don’t want to marry you — I don’t want to marry at all! I am content with my life just as it is, and nothing you say will make me change my mind. I should be glad if you would leave now.”
He made her a formal bow, respectfully low. “It shall be as you wish, and you need not worry that there will be any awkwardness between us, for we shall continue as friends, just as we have always been. Nevertheless, I shall continue to hope that one day you will appreciate how perfectly we are suited. I do not yet despair of winning your hand. I bid you good day. Pray give my regards to Mrs Fletcher and your sisters. I shall call again to see them soon.”
And with that he was gone, leaving Julia torn between irritation and admiration for his insouciance.
~~~~~
Julia’s proposal was the wonder of the day, and the only topic of conversation amongst the ladies of the household.
“I do think you should have married him, despite him being an impoverished vicar,” Angie said, dancing around the parlour with excitement, “for just think how cosy you would be with your fourteen children, squeezed into that little parsonage. We would bring you baskets of food, you know, to rescue you from starvation.”
“Nonsense, Angie,” Mama said briskly. “Mr Plummer may be a clergyman, but he is a rector, not a vicar, and has a very good income, with the prospect of more. He can keep a wife very well, I assure you.”
“Are you disappointed, Mama?” Julia said.
“I am certainly disappointed for poor Mr Plummer, who must feel your refusal acutely, and it would have been a comfort to have you so well settled, and so near to us. It would have been a very good match, Julia.”
“She will not get another offer as good as this, not if she waits a month of Sundays,” Aunt Madge said darkly. “But that is how she is, always going her own way and not a thought for anyone else.”
“I can’t marry a man just to please other people,” Julia said. “That would be foolish indeed. I don’t want to marry at all.”
Mama laid down her needlework. “I do not quite like to hear you speak so decidedly on the subject, Julia. Mr Plummer may not be the man to excite your admiration, but there will be plenty of other men who will appreciate your good qualities and you should not turn your back on the very idea of marriage, not at your age.”
“Very well,” Julia said demurely. “I shall wait a little longer before I don my spinster’s cap.”
