“No. Although you would be very good at it, if you were to do so.”
“Do you truly think that? You must think me a cod’s head if you do. I am not at all devout, Winnie.”
She smiled and shook her head, pushing the swing a little harder. Despite the rain, it was sultry today and even so slight a breeze was welcome. “It is not at all necessary to be devout. Allthat is required is to be in church at certain times and days, and to speak in suitably ringing tones from the pulpit, and you could do that perfectly well. You are an excellent speaker, when you turn your mind into the proper channels. Most of the time, you are too lazy to do much thinking.”
He gave a shout of laughter. “Mouse, you know me all too well. Preaching sounds far too much like hard work. Mr Franklyn suggested I become a land steward, or if that does not appeal, he can arrange for me to be apprenticed to an attorney.”
He pulled a face, making Winnie laugh. “There are worse jobs. What about the government? Uncle Alfred can help you there. He was talking about it only last night. That might suit you.” Although it would not suit her at all. She held her breath awaiting his answer.
“Perhaps. At least I would feel I have not strayed too far from my original path in life. When one has been raised from birth to expect a seat in the Lords and the right to help shape the kingdom, it would be unbearably distressing to settle for life as a country attorney. Now, Eustace thinks I should find myself an heiress. Prance around town for a few weeks and then marry some wealthy merchant’s buck-toothed daughter and live in comfort for the rest of my life. I confess there is a certain appeal to the idea.”
“Must she be buck-toothed?” Winnie said. “Do wealthy merchants not have pretty daughters now and then?”
“No, never. It is an invariable rule. Look at Bea, if you want proof.”
“Bea is not buck-toothed!” Winnie cried, scandalised. “That is a horrid thing to say, Walter, especially since you were about to marry her.”
“Not precisely buck-toothed, but she is notpretty, is she? All that bouncy hair and pert manner… and she is positively uglywhen she says she will not have me now, but will marry Bertram instead.”
Winnie’s jaw dropped. “She did not! That makes her seem so… so…” Her foot shot out, stopping the swing so abruptly that she nearly slid off the seat.
“Avaricious? Selfish? Mercenary? Grasping? Hateful? Despicable? Greedy? Rapacious? Yes, all of those.”
“Then it was her! I wondered, you see, if you had chosen to step aside now that your prospects had changed, which would have been very honourable and just what one would expect of you, but shejiltedyou! And all because you are illegitimate.”
“No, it is because I am not going to be an earl, and therefore cannot make her a countess. But Bertram can, so she has decided she will marry him instead.”
“But he is nothing like you! You could not be more different! To throw you over forBertram— it is unaccountable. Oh, poor Bertram! Does he know yet?”
“Franklyn sent a note across straight away, to warn him. But I think you need not worry about him. He is a much stronger character than he appears. As for me, I want no more heiresses, for not only are they buck-toothed — or have too much hair and pert manners — but they want nothing to do with a penniless bastard like me. So it will have to be one of Mrs Phipp’s comely daughters after all.”
14: A Guest
Winnie was aware that Uncle Alfred had been very much engaged at Corland, talking to Walter about a possible government post. Even so, it was a complete shock to return to Birchall House one afternoon, weary and muddy from a visit to a sick farmer’s wife, to find a pile of boxes in the hall labelled‘Viscount Birtwell’.
“Viscount Birtwell!” she exclaimed.
“We’ve been instructed to refer to the gentleman as‘Mr Atherton’, Miss Winnie,” Maynard said.
“Oh yes, very proper, but what are his boxes doing here?” A sudden flutter of excitement. “Is he staying here?”
“He is, madam. Mr Alfred has taken the young gentleman under his wing, so to speak. They are all in the drawing room.”
Winnie was hot, windswept and dusty from tramping across the fields, but the burning desire to see Walter overcame any instinct to make herself presentable, so she marched straight into the drawing room. The room was full, the children rolling on the floor in some unfathomable game of their own,the women sitting about decorously with teacups, while the men stood beside the open window, drinking Madeira, Walter amongst them… and there as usual were the internal butterflies that made her feel awkward and stupid.
With an effort, she forced herself to her usual cheerfulness. She spoke loudly, to be heard above the hubbub of the children. “Walter! What a pleasant surprise.”
He turned, he saw her, he smiled… and her heart turned over in the most violent way.
The room quietened suddenly, and Mama set down her tea cup with a distinct rattle. “Really, Winnie, have you no manners? Look at you, coming in here in all your dirt.”
“I thought it a courtesy to our guest to—”
“Time enough for that when you are respectable.”
“Yes, Mama. I beg your pardon. I shall go and change at once.”
She curtsied with dignity and left the room, but no matter what Mama said, itwasa courtesy to greet a guest at once. Besides, she was not so very disreputable and not at all muddy. Still, she must do as she was bid.
