Page 65 of A Sense of Misgiving
Paul shook his head. ‘Luke didn’t push him on it, because Redfern wanted to gloat and Luke wasn’t about to play into his conniving hands.’ He gave a rueful smile. ‘I’m sorry. I know it’s important to you.’
Flora offered Paul a reassuring smile as she tamped down her frustration. ‘I still cannot think how his path crossed my father’s, or why he would take the trouble to tell him something so potentially damaging even when it did. How did he even know that I was employed here? I did not make his acquaintance until after the damage had been done.’
‘Mary might have mentioned you to Lucy. She is very attached to you, you know.’
‘Even so…’ Flora spread her hands.
‘Perhaps Lucy decided that she wanted you out of the way,’ Paul suggested.
‘Me?’ Flora sent Paul an astounded look. ‘What is any of this to do with me?’
‘Luke listens to your advice. Mary might have made some idle remark that gave Lucy cause to imagine she had a rival for his affections living beneath his very roof.’
Flora laughed aloud. ‘That’s absurd!’
Paul appeared amused by Flora’s forceful denial. ‘Or perhaps Lucy decided that you were too good an influence over Mary, and that she would be easier to manipulate if you were out of the picture.’
‘That is far more likely.’ Flora felt uncomfortable with the turn the conversation had taken. ‘But now, if you will excuse me, I have best go and see if Mary needs anything.’
‘Of course.’
Flora found Mary sitting alone in front of the fire in her private sitting room, freshly bathed and wrapped in a robe. She glanced up when Flora put her head around the door, her expression vacant.
‘Am I disturbing you?’
Mary shook her head, and Flora noticed an errant tear running down her cheek. She opened her arms and Mary threw herself into them.
‘Oh, Flora! What a mess I have made of everything.’
‘None of this is your fault. I am just glad you are all right,’ she said.
‘I was a fool, and would only have had myself to blame if…well, if Luke and Paul had not arrived in time.’ Mary disentangled herself from Flora’s arms and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. ‘I hear I have you to thank for that.’
‘Don’t cry,’ Flora said, leading her back to her chair in front of the fire and forcing her to sit. Mary complied with little persuasion. ‘Your family saved you, which is all that signifies.’
‘What is it about me that makes horrible fortune-hunters think I will be pathetically grateful for their attentions?’ she asked, her anger drying her tears.
‘Don’t let it put you off men, my love. They are not all dishonourable. You have just been unlucky. The same thing happened to Miranda, as you are aware. Some men—especially the handsome ones, I find—seem to think that their looks set them apart and that they can simply take what they want and…’
‘And we pathetic women should be grateful.’ Mary lifted her chin and harrumphed. ‘I have decided to take a vow of chastity. Men are simply not worth the trouble.’
Flora laughed. ‘You will feel differently once you have recovered from your ordeal.’
Mary sniffed. ‘Paul hit Redfern, you know.’
‘Paul?’ Flora smiled. ‘He did not tell me that, but it doesn’t surprise me. He is very protective of your interests.’
‘I didn’t realise quite how much I’ve come to depend upon him over the years,’ Mary remarked. She leaned her chin on her clenched fist and her elbow on her knee, her expression contemplative, as if she hadn’t really stopped to consider the nature of her relationship with Paul before now. ‘He is like another brother to me, but I can talk to him about things I would never tell my actual brothers without fear of a scolding. I rely upon his sound common sense.’
‘I am perfectly sure that you do,’ Flora replied, thinking that it wasn’t the time to point out that Paul certainly didn’t look upon himself as her surrogate brother. ‘You could do better than spend some time sketching with him over the next few days. It will relax you and help you recover from today’s ordeal. You have remarked often enough that Paul possesses the ability to make you laugh at life’s absurdities and that his company is not demanding.’
‘Yes, perhaps I shall do that. I need to thank him properly for what he did. I wasn’t quite myself when I left Lucy’s, and probably didn’t express my gratitude.’
‘No one will blame you for that, least of all Paul, I’m sure.’
‘When I think of how she deceived me, just so that she could get close to Luke, whom she was convinced would find her irresistible. And her a married woman, too.’ Mary’s expression turned scandalised, reminding Flora just how young she actually was. Flora was only a few years older, but her life had been very different to Mary’s and she had been obliged to face reality at a much earlier age. ‘It seems she had always thought that Luke would propose to her. She’d made up her mind that they had reached an understanding, which of course they had not.’ Mary shook her head. ‘Why did she marry Mr Arnold if she was so sure of it?’
‘Lucy Arnold has always been indulged. It is my experience that women who are accustomed to getting their own way in everything seldom accept defeat graciously. And as to marrying in haste, it was either through financial expediency, or because she feared being left on the shelf, I expect.’
