Page 43 of A Sense of Turmoil
‘Your leg is hurting,’ Flora said when she noticed him wince as he shifted position. ‘You have overdone it and I am to blame.’
‘Cramp. It happens when I sit for too long, but the pain is bearable and well worth it since I feel I have now repaid you in some small way for all your kindnesses.’
Flora assured him that he owed her nothing and they spoke of other matters for the rest of the journey. Archie confided in her about his fear of failing at Felsham Hall.
‘It’s a great deal of work for an able-bodied man,’ he confessed. ‘I am full of admiration for the manner in which my father kept on top of things.’
‘But you will manage to as well. You have always known that one day the responsibility would fall upon your shoulders and are prepared for it. Besides, you are neither lazy nor stupid, and will not permit your infirmity to hamper your success.’
‘Your suggestion of a gig is inspired, and will certainly help in that regard.’
Archie’s personal carriage was waiting for them when they reached Swindon.
‘How can Pawson have arranged for it to be here at the correct time when he could not have known which train we would catch?’ Flora asked. ‘Not that I am surprised to discover that everything works like clockwork and with minimum inconvenience when you are a marquess.’
‘There have to be some advantages,’ he said, flashing a devastating smile and winking at her as they walked slowly in the direction of his carriage. He was obliged to lean heavily on his stick but remained in excellent spirits. He had provided a service for a lady, which had cost him considerable discomfort, but had also made him feel like a complete man again for a little while.
As soon as they returned to the house, Flora thanked Archie again and then ran up the stairs, unable to disguise her concern for the countess’s wellbeing. Archie watched until she disappeared from view, then headed straight for Luke’s library, assured of finding both him and a decent single malt established within it.
‘How was the religious indoctrination?’ Paul asked when he walked in.
‘Very interesting, if somewhat thirsty work.’
Luke laughed, took the hint and poured whisky for them all. ‘Tell us about it,’ he said, handing round the glasses.
‘Latimer was labouring under the misguided impression that Flora would permit herself to be married off to the bishop’s nephew,’ Archie replied, having fortified himself with a healthy sip of his drink.
‘It doesn’t surprise me,’ Luke replied, scowling. ‘There appears to be no limit to that man’s ambitions.’
‘You extricated her from her predicament, I take it,’ Paul said languidly.
‘To a degree, but she didn’t really need my help. I just managed to get her away from their machinations sooner than would otherwise have been possible, and without her actually having to defy her father in front of the bishop.’ He lounged back in his chair and stretched his aching left leg out to its full extent. ‘It was good to feel useful.’
‘Who is this impudent pup? Anyone with whom we are acquainted?’ Luke asked.
‘You probably are not, but he’s a near neighbour of mine. Jacob Yardley.’
Luke screwed up his eyes. ‘I know the name. His father and yours were not on friendly terms, I seem to recall.’
‘That’s right. Old man Yardley was a fellow magistrate and didn’t understand the meaning of compassion. He judged every case harshly and according to the letter of the law, and no mitigating circumstances were ever taken into account by him. Father, being the senior magistrate, was forced to overrule him on several occasions. Yardley felt belittled and his resentment grew accordingly. The son is an idle fellow who struts about like a popinjay and labours under the misapprehension that life owes him a living. The bishop, for reasons that escape me, seems to like him and remains blind to his arrogance.’
‘And Latimer sought to exploit that partiality.’ Luke scowled. ‘I wonder where Yardley first saw Flora. I assume he must have seen her, taken a liking to her and agreed to the bishop’s suggestion of…well, a proposal was his eventual purpose, one imagines. Latimer assured the bishop that there would be no difficulties, despite the fact that he knows his daughter well enough to have realised that there would be.’
‘Perhaps he thought that she would be sufficiently awed by the occasion and the bishop’s presence to agree to walk out with Yardley,’ Paul suggested.
Archie nodded. ‘And Yardley is pompous enough to imagine that she would find him irresistible.’
Luke shook his head. ‘Whatever must Latimer have been thinking to attempt such a clumsy coercion?’
‘I have no idea where Yardley caught a glimpse of her before today, or if he even did,’ Archie said. ‘Perhaps the bishop and Latimer cooked up the scheme between them and Yardley, for some reason or other, felt obliged to go along with it. Flora told me she didn’t know him, but perhaps he saw her out and about in one of the villages nearby. You know how she’s always running around on errands for the countess. She would be hard to overlook.’ Luke scowled as he nodded his agreement, causing Paul to chuckle. ‘Anyway, Yardley now has reason to dislike me as much as our fathers disliked one another.’ He let out a prolonged sigh. ‘I dare say I shall survive his disapproval.’
‘You’ve had enough practice surviving the disapproval of aggrieved husbands,’ Paul pointed out.
‘True, my friend, very true, but those days are behind me now. Jumping out of windows is neither possible nor dignified, and I have too many responsibilities to allow myself to be side-tracked.’
‘The Flemings have settled upon Denby Lodge, but they can’t move in for another two weeks,’ Paul remarked.
‘I won’t outstay my welcome in that case, Luke,’ Archie replied. ‘You have enough to contend with, what with the countess being so unwell. I’ll go home tomorrow and keep myself busy. God alone knows there’s enough to do, but I will come back as and when…well, you know.’
