Page 14 of A Spring Dance

“What do you think, Will?” Pa said. “Your taste is more refined than mine. What do you think Mrs Fletcher would like best?”

“She wears green very often, so perhaps emeralds?” Will said. “No, not the big ones. They are a bit showy, unless one is attending something very grand. This demi-parure is very pretty.”

“It looks a bit… well, not very much, to my eyes. I’d not want her to think me a nip-farthing, but if you think so…”

“It is something she can wear every day, if she wants,” Will said patiently. “That huge diamond pendant you bought her as a wedding gift is lovely, but it is too special for regular wear.”

“What do you think?” Pa asked the proprietor. “The large emeralds or these dainty little things?”

“Shall we ask Miss Barantine, sir?” the fellow said. “A lady’s taste is so much more dependable, I feel.”

“MissBarantine. Well, why not,” Pa said.

Will had expected a formidable spinster of middle years, but Miss Barantine, when she was brought down from some upper fastness, was a beauty of little above twenty. She exclaimed over both pieces, agreed with Will that the showy gems were more suitable for special occasions but that the others were pretty too, and declared that she liked them equally.

“Then I shall take them both,” Pa said easily. “Mrs Fletcher will like to have the choice, I dare say.”

“An excellent decision, sir,” said the manager, beaming at him. “Where shall I have the items delivered?”

“I’ll take them with me now,” Pa said.

The manager instantly looked wary. “I am not sure if… it might be better if…”

Will laughed. “Pa, you are not in Sagborough now. No one knows you here, so you cannot just walk out of the shop with valuable jewels. The shop will deliver them to Grosvenor Square, so they know where you live, or else you must pay for it now.”

“Oh, if that’s all, I can pay at once.”

“If I may suggest, sir,” said the manager, “if we are permitted to deliver to your home, then we can open an account for you. That will be much more convenient for you in future.”

“Can you deliver today?”

“It will be there before you are, sir.”

Convinced, Pa handed over his card and left the shop well pleased. “Very pleasant people,” he said. “Look, there’s a pie shop over there. Do you fancy something? I have no complaints about Mrs Fletcher’s fancy cook, but I do like a plain pie now and again.”

The place looked not too disreputable, so Will and his father ventured inside and ordered pies and ale.

“Do you miss it?” Will said, after the first few mouthfuls had reminded him just why he so seldom ate a plain pie. “Sagborough and a simpler way of life, I mean.”

Pa put down his pie, looking thoughtful. “I miss my friends, mostly. And thehabitsof a lifetime living in the same town. The wool market, the Carrbridge Arms, my usual table in the upper parlour. Walking round the corner to a card evening instead of having to order the carriage. Familiar faces everywhere. The Fletcher pew at St Luke’s. It’s surprisingly unsettling to have to get used to a different pew after so many years. But it pleases Mrs Fletcher, it will be very good for Rosie — and for you, I dare say. In time. When we’ve got to know everyone.”

“Yes, but how long will that take?” Will said gloomily. “London is not like Sagborough… or even like Cheapside. I liked your friends, Pa.”

“I’m glad,” Pa said. “I wondered if all this education of yours would make you too grand to mingle with the likes of my City friends. I’m pleased to find it isn’t so. Are you going to finish that pie? I’d like to get home and surprise Mrs Fletcher with a little bit of jewellery.”

But no sooner than they had left the pie shop than they found that Mrs Fletcher was not at home, for there she was with Rosie and Angie gazing into a millinery shop window.

“Mrs Fletcher! And my two lovely young ladies. What a delightful surprise,” Pa said, lifting Stepmother’s hand to his lips, for all the world as if he had not seen her for a month, instead of leaving her at her own breakfast table not two hours since. “Out spending my money, I see,” he said, chuckling, and eyeing the numerous parcels dangling from his daughters’ hands.

“Spending our allowances, Pa,” Angie said at once. “Look at that bonnet in the window. Is it not the mostravishingcreation you ever saw? Except I do not quite like the colour of it. If it were in blue it would be divine.”

“No bonnets, if you please, flower. I’m not qualified to comment on the nature of a bonnet. Once it’s on your head I’ll call it divine or whatever you like, but not until then. Enjoy your shopping, my dears. You may show me all your purchases back at the house.”

He turned to leave and Will made to escape too, but his stepmother was not to be evaded so easily. “Not so fast, gentlemen. Here we are laden with purchases, and we brought no footman, for we never intended to buy so much. It would be a great kindness in you to join us and help to carry everything.”

She smiled winningly at Pa, gesturing hopefully at the door of the milliner’s shop, but he shook his head firmly. “No shops, Mrs Fletcher. I draw the line at entering any emporium that caters to female tastes. I will undertake to relieve my young ladies of their burdens and carry them home for you, and you may have Will’s company in bonnet shops and draperies.”

So saying, he scooped up the strings of all the parcels and set off cheerfully towards Grosvenor Square.

---