As they walked back to the parsonage, Ruth said, “Once you’re Lady Dauntry, you’ll be able to put that matter in order.”
“Willingly. I’ll take an active part in the management.”
Kitty kept alert for other neglect but didn’t find any, and she was constantly aware of needing to make a good impression as a sensible, decent sort of woman in case she did make the marriage.
“It’s odd,” she said to Ruth one day as they returned tothe parsonage from the village shop. “If I were a real viscountess, I could be as eccentric as I liked, but as a prospective one I must strive for perfection.”
“You soon will be a real viscountess.”
“But one from low origins. People will be alert for any vulgarity.”
“You could never be vulgar.”
“I pray that’s true, but I don’t intend to be haughty with the people here.”
“True ladies and gentlemen aren’t.”
“I hear the queen is.”
Ruth laughed. “I didn’t mention royalty. Only think—you’ll probably meet her and the Regent. You’ll have velvet and ermine robes.”
“I believe my post is in the country, and I’ll be glad of that.”
“If the king dies, there’ll be a coronation. I think you’ll be expected to attend that. In robes and coronet.”
“Then I wish him a long life!”
“He’s nearly eighty, Kitty, but he might outlive the queen. She’s clearly unwell, which isn’t surprising, given all she’s had to bear. Being royal isn’t proof against suffering.”
“Stop it,” Kitty protested. “You’ll cast us both into the dismals. You, at least, are perfectly situated.”
“Perhaps too perfectly,” Ruth said, looking at the pretty parsonage.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Oh, nothing,” Ruth said, and continued inside. But Kitty wondered.How could anything be too perfect?
She’d thought Ruth perfectly suited to being the wife of a country clergyman, but in the past few days she’d noticed something amiss. She’d caught Ruth in pensive moments and interrupted one serious discussion between Ruth and her husband.
Please let there be no problems there.If she was going to make this marriage, she needed Ruth to be her strong, reliable support.
***
By Saturday Kitty was desperate, and she decided to question Ruth more closely about Dauntry. She searched the house and finally found her friend in the scullery, surrounded by berried stems and a smell of vinegar. “What are you doing now?”
“Pickling barberries.”
“Why?”
“They’re a tasty addition to many dishes.”
Kitty couldn’t imagine the labor worth the result, but she said, “What can I do to help?”
“You could help pick the berries from the stems.”
Kitty put on an apron and set to work. “I wish I knew why Dauntry is rushing into marriage. He’s had months to consider his situation and decide he needs a wife. Months to find one.”
Ruth paused in her work. “No, he hasn’t. He learned he was the viscount only a few weeks ago. I must have said.”
