Mrs Harfield fell on her son as if he had travelled to India and back, instead of trotting round a small portion of Yorkshire. Wreathed in smiles, she led him into the house and it was only with an effort that he disentangled himself and escaped to his room. Within minutes, she was banging on his bedroom door to urge him to hurry downstairs, for she had received a letter from Lady something-or-other with great news which she could not wait to impart.
Edward, naturally, took his time, and Tess had been seated in the Blue Saloon making desultory conversation for some time before he put in an appearance.
“There you are, dear Edward!” his mother cried. “Do come and listen to this for it is such an opportunity for you.”
“In one moment, Mother,” he said, and proceeded to make his bow to Lady Tarvin, seating himself beside her to make the usual enquiries as to health, while his mother squirmed with impatience.
Eventually, she could bear it no longer. “Edward, what do you think! Lady Henrietta is in Durham — there! Is that not fortuitous? She arrived just two days ago and is fixed for at least a sennight, perhaps longer, so if you make haste—”
“I am bound for Myercroft, Mother.”
“Oh yes, but the Petersons will not object if you delay for a few days in such a cause.”
“I have no intention of doing so, however.”
“But Edward, such a splendid opportunity may never again arise. The daughter of a marquess, you know. What could be better?”
He rose and walked across to the fireplace, where a low fire burned unenthusiastically. “Mother, let us be clear on one point. I have not the least interest in Lady Henrietta.”
She raised her eyebrows in delicate disbelief. “No interest? After you pursued her so relentlessly in the spring? Oh — have you quarrelled with her? But that can be remedied if—”
“No!” he said forcefully. Then, more gently, he went on, “No, Mother. Say no more of Lady Henrietta.”
“Oh. Very well, dear. But Lady Anne—”
“Enough! I have no wish to discuss my marriage prospects.”
“But, Edward, you must take thought for the future. You must—”
“I must? I must,Mother? Do not tell me what Imustdo! Neither you nor anyone else has the right to order me so.”
“Not an order, Edward. Heavens, what do you take me for? My only aim is to be of service to you. Since you do need to marry, and sooner rather than later, my only object is to assist you along that path.”
“If you had any care for my feelings,” he said, his anger barely suppressed, “you would not mention the subject. I believe now that I shall never marry. I intend to take an interest in my cousin Tostig, to see that he is properly educated and trained to take my place after my death, so you may forget about Lady Henrietta and Lady Anne and all these other dull, uninteresting women. There is not one of them who has a spark of life about her, and I would rather die a bachelor than marry any of them. Pray do not mention this subject in my presence again. I have letters to write, so I shall see you at dinner, Mother. Lady Tarvin. Miss Nicholson.”
With a sweeping bow, he left the room in haste, shutting the door behind him with some force.
“Oh, dear,” Lady Tarvin murmured.
Mrs Harfield burst into tears. “I suppose he fell in love with one of them and she rejected him,” she sobbed. “My poor Edward! How he must be suffering!”
“He will make a recover, I am sure,” Lady Tarvin said. “Young men are resilient. He will find another young lady before too long. Who do you think it was? I cannot recall that he spoke more of one lady above another.”
This was a happy thought, for it diverted Mrs Harfield out of her tears and into lengthy speculation as to which of the high-born young ladies from town had broken his heart. Neither of them looked across the room to where Tess was quietly leafing through a journal, or suspected that the wayward daughter of a murdered chaplain might hold the answer to the question.
Dinner was a somewhat strained affair, with Edward studiedly polite, his mother silent and Lady Tarvin, not much of a chatterer, struggling to eke out what little conversation there was. Tess would have contributed, but there appeared to be a prohibition on every topic. Apart from asking after her mother — or‘poor bereaved Lady Alice’, as Lady Tarvin put it — and the rest of the earl’s family, there seemed to be nothing left to say. The murder was too dreadful for the delicate female sensibilities of the Priory ladies, and Tess had no wish to discuss her inheritance, for fear of veering off into difficult areas like pretend housemaids, tree climbing barons and embezzling chaplains.
So she and Lady Tarvin talked with great perseverance of the journey north, the state of the roads and, when all else failed, of the unsettled autumn weather. Edward contributed the odd word, but it was so obviously such a strain for him that Tess took far more than her usual share of the conversation to spare him.
When the ladies withdrew, leaving Edward to his solitary port, Mrs Harfield at once burst into voice. “My poor boy! I see it now, his pain and sorrow. How he must feel it! She rejectedhim, no doubt, but in what manner? I hope she was kind to him. Perhaps if he tries again… it must be Lady Anne, I think. Considering all that he said over the last few months, I feel it will be the lady he spoke about the least who has captured his heart, and he seldom mentioned her, you know, after the first time or two. One never talks about matters closest to the heart. That will be it — Lady Anne is the one. My poor, poor Edward!”
Tess said nothing, although the words‘I hope she was kind to him’echoed guiltily in her head. She had not been kind to him at all, and now he was suffering because of her. Was that why he had been so silent on the journey? He had looked so severe that she had assumed he was angry with her, but was he simply hiding a broken heart? Poor Edward indeed. And it was her fault, she admitted uncomfortably. She had never quite taken his proposals seriously, for why would a man like that even look at a contrary girl like her? And then he had protested that she was tormenting him.
She determined that she would mend her ways and be kinder to Edward.
When Edward joined the ladies in the Blue Saloon, he said, “Mother, Jeffries tells me that this Ramsbottom fellow called here again.”
“Oh, I had almost forgotten that in all the excitement of your arrival. I wish you would get rid of him.”
