“Well,” Harriet said, “I told you that he did not really defend me from the rudeness of that dreadful Mr. Carverwhen we were in Wraxby. And at the ball the otherevening he danced the last set with Miss Susan Langbournewhen everyone knows that he is my suitor.”
“But, Harriet,” Rebecca said, “he had already danced two sets with you. It would have been considered improperfor him to solicit your hand for another.”
“Nonsense!” Harriet said. “Country manners are not so strict, Rebecca.” She seemed to see no contradiction withher earlier charge that Christopher was not a perfect gentleman. “Besides,” she added, “Mr. Bartlett told me somethings about him that I did not very much like.”
“Oh,” Rebecca said, and frowned. What had he said? She did hope that he would not talk too freely aboutChristopher’s behavior in London. She could see why hehad done so to her and even to Harriet. He was trying toprotect the girl by opening her eyes to the truth. YetRebecca was not very confident of Harriet’s discretion.She hoped that no word would reach Mr. and Mrs. Sinclair. They were so obviously proud of their son that itwould hurt if they discovered the true nature of his relationship with his wife.
“Of course,” Harriet said, “one likes a man to be interesting, and one expects one’s husband to have outsideinterests. It would be mortally dull to have him hangingabout one’s skirts for the rest of one’s life. I shall have toponder the matter.”
Rebecca, thinking back over what her cousin had said,drew the conclusion that Harriet was more disgusted by Christopher’s slowness in coming to the point than bywhat she had found out about him. Her pride was piqued.She had been fully expecting some sort of declarationduring the evening of the Langbourne ball, and none hadbeen forthcoming. Perhaps she was beginning to fear thatshe would after all be unable to snare him. Hence she wasbeginning to withdraw gradually herself so that her pridewould be salvaged if she failed to bring him up to scratch.It would be she who had rejected him, not the other wayaround.
Rebecca’s hopes that perhaps some of the Sinclair family would be from home were quickly dashed. When the butler showed them into the sitting room, a buzz of conversation stopped, and she could see that they were allthere. The buzz resumed, and the two visitors were welcomed into the group.
“Young ladies,” Mr. Sinclair said, “you have arrived just in time to save the young people from tearing oneanother to pieces. The question is what to do for theduration of the afternoon, and the argument has gone onfor a half hour or more.”
“Julian and I want to walk down to the bridge,” Ellen said. “It is a perfect day for a walk. It is too hot and dustyto ride, as Prim wants to do.”
“Mr. Carver is willing to ride too,” Primrose said, “but he wishes to go into the village to make somepurchases, and I would prefer to ride in the oppositedirection.”
“And I am quite neutral,” Christopher said with a grin. “And perhaps it is as well that we did not make up ourminds before now, or we would have been from homewhen the Misses Shaw arrived.”
“Oh, you must all ride home with us for tea,” Harriet announced. “Maude and Mr. Bartlett have gone to theFarleys and will not be back forever. Rebecca and Papaand I would merely get on one another’s nerves if we hadno other company.”
“Oh, good,” Primrose said, “I shall get to exercise Peter after all today, then.”
“And you must all keep the afternoon of Wednesday next free,” Harriet said. “You too, if you please, Mr. andMrs. Sinclair. It is my birthday and we are to go on anouting. Even Papa has said he will come provided that theweather is not too uncertain.”
“How very delightful, my dear Miss Shaw,” Mrs. Sinclair said. “Are we to go to the river again? I always did think that the perfect site for a picnic. Though you reallymust not be so naughty this time and worry your poor papaalmost to his grave by walking along the wall of thebridge.”
“No,” Harriet said, “I have decided that we will drive farther afield than that. We are going to go to CenrossCastle.”
Both Rebecca and Christopher turned their heads to look sharply at Harriet. Their eyes met over the top of her head.
“Harriet,” Rebecca said, “Cenross Castle is ten miles away. It would take us almost the whole afternoon justgetting there and back. There are many pretty and suitableplaces a great deal closer.”
“Oh,” Primrose said, clasping her hands to her breasts, “I love Cenross Castle. Mama and Papa took us there twoyears ago. It is an old ruin, Mr. Carver, but a person canstill climb to the top of some of the old battlements and seefor miles in all directions.”
“And one can still go down to the dungeons,” Julian added. “Ellen got stuck on the stairs last time.”
“Well,” Ellen said, “it is hardly surprising. They wind round and round in a tight spiral, Mr. Carver, and are verynarrow even on the outside edge. And many of them arebroken. And they are very dark. I was terrified. Theremust have been thousands of them.”
“One hundred and sixty-four,” Julian said. “Prim and I counted them.”
“Uncle Humphrey would never travel such a distance, Harriet,” Rebecca said.
“He will,” her cousin said airily. “When he complains, I shall threaten never to talk to him again if he does notcome.”
“I would be delighted to see this old structure,” Mr. Carver said amiably. “But don’t expect me to climb battlements or descend to dungeons, Miss Shaw.”
“Oh, I will not, sir,” Harriet said, such ice dripping from her voice that Rebecca felt ashamed.
“Perhaps it would be wise, Miss Shaw,” Christopher said, his voice expressionless, “to start early since thedistance is quite great.”
“What a good idea!” Harriet said, flashing him her most charming smile. “We shall leave in the morning, ofcourse, and take a picnic luncheon with us. Oh, it is goingto be a splendid birthday, I know.”
He smiled back at her and for a mere second his eyes met Rebecca’s again.
On the ride home, Harriet immediately singled out Julian for attention. It seemed very obvious to Rebecca that she was deliberately ignoring Christopher, trying to prompthim into jealousy, perhaps? The rest of the party rode in aclose group. Rebecca stayed as close as she could to Ellen,terrified that she might become paired off in an undesirableway. However, it was Mr. Carver who finally drew herattention.
