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“That is so, and you are financially independent, but you are also a dutiful son. I hope you would not marry against the express wishes of both your parents.”
“No, Father,” he said sadly.
“Do not look so crestfallen. As soon as Michael is safely married and has an heir, there will be no harm in it. You can wait a little while longer, surely?”
“Yes, Father.”
“I will do my very best to find a bride in town this year,” Michael said. “There is bound to be someone who will suit me.”
“Of course,” James said, but his words were hollow. His brother had been looking for a bride for years without success, and why should this year be otherwise? All his hopes were destroyed, and he could not see any possibility of marrying Julia within five years. And would she wait? That was the question.
~~~~~
It was a very different James who presented himself in the saloon at Chadwell Park that evening. It was not merely the rumpled and disordered clothing which had vanished, but so had his buoyant spirits. When he had left Julia that afternoon, he had been happy, excited, sparkling with energy and enthusiasm. Now he was dejected again, the icy hand of fear clawing at his insides. He was going to lose Julia after all, and he could not see what to do about it.
“Whatever is it?” Julia whispered to him. “What has happened?”
“I must talk to your father,” he said heavily. “I have a letter for him from my father. Perhaps this can all be cleared up very speedily, but if not, then I fear this must be a very long betrothal.”
Pa took them both into his office, and read the letter from Sir Owen carefully, before showing it to Julia.
“Well, this is a setback, true enough, but it need not deter you, surely, James? You are of age, and not beholden to your father for income or position.”
“No, sir, but you would not have me marry in the face of his explicit disapproval, would you? I am not the heir, but since Michael is as yet unmarried, my own marriage is a matter of some interest to the family, and if thereislunacy in the bloodline, you can well understand my father’s hesitation.”
“But it doesn’t deteryou, does it?”
James could not at that moment think of any circumstance which would deter him from marrying Julia. “Heavens, no! And if Michael fails in his quest for a bride yet again this spring, then I am quite prepared to defy my father and marry Julia anyway. It would be better, however, if he could be convinced that Isabella is not quite howling at the moon.”
Pa chuckled. “You may see her behaviour and judge for yourself, for we dine as a family this evening, with no ceremony. Bella will be there, and so, possibly, will Dorothea.”
“The legendary Dorothea,” James said lightly. “I look forward to making her acquaintance.”
They returned to the saloon, and everyone was there, excepting Will, whose manful struggles with his cravat always made him late. James bowed politely over Bella’s hand and asked her how she did.
“I am very well, thank you, Mr Plummer,” she answered composedly.
“And Dorothea? She is well, too?”
Her eyes narrowed. “Are you mocking me, sir?”
“Not in the slightest. Did she like the picture you painted of the primroses and daffodils?”
She smiled then, her face lighting up. He had thought her a solemn child until then, not plain, precisely, but with no animation to her countenance. When she smiled, however, he saw at once the resemblance to her elder sisters. “She liked it very much. She said she thought it was one of my best paintings ever, for I am not a great proficient in water colours, but it came out very well. I put leaves around the edge, just as you suggested.”
“I believe the idea of that was entirely your own, Miss Fletcher,” he said gravely. “I merely put the thought of leaves into your mind.”
“It was a happy thought,” she said.
Will arrived at that moment, some ten minutes after the hour, and Keeble, with an air of relief, announced dinner at once. James sat at Mrs Fletcher’s right hand, as the guest of honour, but he had Julia on his other side, and across the table sat Bella and the empty chair for Dorothea. The footman gravely held the chair for the non-existent girl, and slid it towards the table, just as was done for every other lady present. When the dishes were passed around, Bella laid a little from several dishes on Dorothea’s plate.
James watched it all without comment. He could quite see why his mother was so unnerved by such behaviour, for he found it a little disturbing himself. Yet the most chilling part was that no one else in the family seemed to think it at all odd. They would ask Bella if Dorothea would like to try the larded sweetbreads — “For I know that is one of her favourites,” Angie said — and the footmen even poured wine to set before the empty chair.
And yet it seemed harmless enough. In every other respect, Bella’s behaviour was irreproachable, that of a perfectly well brought up young lady who, if she were only to leave her imaginary friend behind, would blend seamlessly with the gentrified world her family now inhabited.
When the ladies had withdrawn, James and Will joined Mr Fletcher at the foot of the table, and Mr Fletcher showed his son the letter from Sir Owen.
“Lunacy!” Will said. “Bella is… a little odd, I grant you, but she is as inoffensive a creature as ever breathed. What harm does it do to go along with her little fantasies? Mama was always insistent that we should accept her as she is, and not try to make her conform to society’s norms.”
