Chapter 2
The next day, Kitty entered the parlor and found it empty. John and Sarah had driven out to visit friends who were celebrating the healthy birth of a child. Kitty could imagine how fearful the parents must have been with such a prominent example of the dangers. Lady Cateril must have been going over the household accounts with the housekeeper, for mourning had not led her to loose the reins of management. Lord Cateril would be in his office, where he spent most of his time when at home.
Kitty settled by the fire, Sillikin at her feet, to seek escape of another sort—in the delightful adventures ofLove in a Harem. She’d enjoyed novels when young, but they’d become a precious escape during her marriage. The unlikely adventures had transported her far from the Moor Street rooms in London that she and Marcus had called home. Marcus hadn’t liked her to leave him alone, but as long as she was in the room with him, he hadn’t minded her reading. In good times she’d read to him, and they’d chuckled together over the most implausible parts.
He would have enjoyedLove in a Harem. The heroine had been plain Jane Brown when she’d set sail from Plymouth, but her ship had been captured by Barbary pirates and she’d been sold into the harem of the Sultan of Turkey and renamed Pearl of the North. She’d narrowly escapedbeing ravished by a number of men, including the captain of the ship, but now, trembling and dressed in the skimpiest silks, she awaited her lord and master. The harem door opened....
“Silent reading, Kathryn?” Lady Cateril asked, coming in. “You know I don’t approve.”
Suppressing some salty words she’d learned from Marcus, Kitty did her best to be pleasant. “Would you like me to read to you, Mama? You might enjoyLove in a Harem.”
She heard her own words only as she spoke them and had to fight the giggles. “Fulminating” was exactly the word for the look she received. Kitty was saved from another unwise remark by Becky, the housemaid, coming in with a letter.
“His lordship’s sent this for Mrs. Marcus, milady.”
She looked as if she might give it to Lady Cateril, so Kitty held out her hand. “Thank you, Becky. It will be from my friend Ruth Lulworth,” she told her mother-in-law, for Ruth was her only correspondent.
“Ah.” Lady Cateril’s expression lightened a little. Ruth was a clergyman’s wife and thus approved of. She sat. “You may readthatto me.”
It was revenge for that mischievous offer to read from the novel, and probably for Kitty’s putting off mourning, but not worth fighting over. Kitty and Ruth were long past their school days, when they’d shared all the anxieties, dreams, and longings of their silly hearts. The letter would contain news about Ruth’s home and family, and of her work in the parish around the Gloucestershire village of Beecham Dabittot. Kitty broke the seal and unfolded the letter, but was startled to see that Ruth had written a great deal. To save the cost for the recipient, she’d kept to one sheet of paper, turning it sideways and continuing the letter crossways. There were even a few lines on the diagonal. Asense of dramatic doings rose from the jumble, especially as one crosswise phrase stood out, because Ruth had underlined the “Yes!”
Yes!I’m sure your astonishmentequalsmine.
At least that didn’t sound like tragedy.
Kitty needed to read the astonishing news in private, but Lady Cateril was waiting. The beginning of the letter seemed to be normal news and she didn’t think Lady Cateril could see the crossways writing, so she’d make do.
My dear Kitty,
It’s been a long time since I wrote, but we’ve been very busy here in Beecham Dab. Such terrible news about Princess Charlotte. All around put on some mark of mourning, and we tolled the bells at the time of her interment. The tragedy is a reminder to us all to be mindful of our brief lives and the judgment to come.
Sadly, we have been visited by death more frequently than usual here this year. In August a sickness carried off ten souls and weakened many others, even at harvesttime, so Andrew went out when he could to help in the fields.
“Andrew is Reverend Lulworth, Mama.”
“So I remember. A charitable act, but not, perhaps, suitable for a man of the cloth.”
Kitty was tempted to debate how any charity could be unsuitable for a clergyman, but she returned to the letter.
By God’s grace, we are all well. Little Arthur is babbling very cleverly for three. Maria is still quiet, but that makes her an easy babe.
Kitty remembered that Ruth’s second birth had been difficult, but she and the child had survived, unlike poor Princess Charlotte.
She continued to read more descriptions of the children, the work of the parish, and about a pair of clever cats they’d acquired who were keeping the vicarage completely clear of mice.
At that point she invented a farewell and folded the letter. She longed to leave the room immediately to read the rest, but that could stir suspicion, so she used Ruth’s comment about the cats to introduce a subject she needed to discuss with her mother-in-law. The housekeeper had asked her to try to persuade Lady Cateril to allow some cats in the house.
“Mice are causing problems in the kitchen area, Mama. A cat or two would control them.”
“I could tolerate catsthere, Kathryn, but cats do not stay in their allotted space.” Kitty had no answer to that. “I’m pleased you see for once that I am right. It’s a pity that your dog doesn’t kill mice. Dogs do generally obey orders.”
Sillikin half opened her eyes, as if commenting on that.
“I’ve never known her to kill, Mama.”
“If she weren’t fed, perhaps she would.”
Preferably kill you!
