A Country Marriage (48 page)

Putting her arms tightly around him, she rested her head against him and sighed.

‘Well, after that, perhaps it should be
me
asking if there’s anything
I
can do for
you
!’

*

As the Summerleas cart reached the edge of town, George turned the horse into Abbey Fields behind a long line of other carts and then, on foot, the little party joined a straggle of folk from other outlying villages that were all heading in the same direction. Drifting across on the night air, exotic aromas made them look at each other and sniff, and when they turned the next corner their ears were assaulted by the clash of music against music and the cries of stallholders trying their best to outdo their neighbours with tempting claims about their wares. In his astonishment, James tore ahead of the adults, only to be reprimanded by his mother.

‘James, I’m warning you now, do that again and we’re all goin’ home.’

Stopping dead, the boy waited stiffly, but as the small group turned the final corner into the square, the adults came to a stop beside him, temporarily blinded by the amazing brightness and shock of colour, the cacophony of noise and assortment of smells. Gas lamps and flaming torches were burning gaily, luridly painted billboards extolled the wonders of several theatrical shows and other not-to-be-missed attractions, and all manner of gaudy stalls were squeezed cheek-by-jowl into the normally sober market place. Already, the square and side streets were filling with people, and as they resumed walking George felt a hand on his arm and turned to see Robert standing beside him.

‘George, I was wondering whether I might show Lottie about by meself?’

Seeing his brother’s eyes cast towards his boots, he fought back the urge to tease him.

‘Aye, I should think that’d be all right, but just think about the proper behaviour and don’t do anything that could get back to Ma and cause trouble for either of us.’

‘Oh, no. Course not, George.’

‘Well all right then, let’s meet back at the cross at a half after eight?’

‘Yes, yes. Thank you, thank you.’

As his brother turned on his heels, he saw how he hesitated before eventually approaching Lottie and apparently offering to show her around. At the sight of them both blushing, he held his breath, surprised by how relieved he felt to see Lottie give the slightest nod.

‘Thank the Lord for that,’ he remarked in a whisper when the pair of them set off awkwardly, side by side.

But, paying no heed, Annie was calling after them, ‘Look here, you two.’ Startled, they turned in her direction. ‘When a gentleman escorts a lady someways, he got to take her arm just so,’ she was saying and in response to her elbow in his ribs, George swiftly proffered his arm, to which Annie smiled graciously back and brought her gloved hand to rest upon it. ‘See, like this,’ she said. ‘Don’t want everyone thinking you’re graceless farm folk.’ Pressing his lips against a smile, he watched as, reddening again, Robert self-consciously offered his arm, and glancing back to Annie, Lottie copied her pose, and with Robert seeming to glow with pride, they set off once more, heading sedately towards the attractions.

‘I well remember how it feels to be that age,’ he remarked aside, following with Annie at what felt to be a tactful distance.

‘Well, at least that’s helped him past the first hurdle,’ Annie whispered back and squeezed his arm. He frowned. ‘You know – the part where he has to actually touch her.’

‘True.’

‘But
now
I’m set to wonderin’ who’s going to help
you
?’ Smirking, he looked away and continued to lead her onwards, but as the square opened out before them and they stood to take in the scene, he felt her tug on his arm and draw him sharply to the right. ‘This way, if you don’t mind.’

With a frown, he followed the line of her eyes to the left, where he saw a group of men gathered in the doorway of The Three Tuns, and, recognising some of their number, remarked, ‘Ah.’

‘Aye. ’Tis them Sharpe boys, among others, and it would be real nice, just this once, to pass an evening away from talk of riot and protest.’

‘Then I give you my word that tonight, Widow Strong, my fetching little rick-burner, not a single mention will escape my lips.’

‘Good thing too, since I got in mind a
much
better use for
them
,’ came her quick reply, which she accompanied with one of her less-than-ladylike laughs.

Ahead of them they saw James shoot a withering look back in their direction, but within no time at all he was pronouncing the fair marvellous, insisting on trying every amusement and pleading to be allowed to buy everything that caught his eye. In awe of the stallholders and their colourful costumes, he darted back and forth, unable to decide where to spend his precious coins, lingering first at the penny-toy stall and then at the wooden soldiers, his eyes wide, and never more so than when they reached the fire-eater and discovered it to be a woman.

‘Can
you
do that, Ma?’ he asked loudly, causing much mirth from people nearby. And so entranced was he by this apparently magical female that only George’s eventual promise of some gingerbread could persuade him to move on.

‘Feels good,’ Annie commented as he steered her to the side of a man in a scarlet coat and top hat beseeching them not to miss the opportunity to see the wild and ferocious tiger.

‘What’s that?’ he asked, looking about over the mass of heads for the stall he had seen earlier.

‘This,’ he heard her answer, feeling at the same time how she squeezed his arm, ‘being here with you an’ both of us with James; family.’

He gave a careful smile. It was a thought that had passed through his own mind already that evening; not that he had any intention of admitting to it. Despite the obvious and considerable dangers, he felt at ease. It was enjoyable being here with her, almost as good as husband and wife; certainly more enjoyable than he could have imagined it being with Mary. At the thought of his wife, though, he bristled, as he so often did when she came to mind when he was with Annie.

‘Aye,’ he answered in such a way that he could have been agreeing with almost anything.

‘I feel so proud on your arm. I feel more wed to you than I ever did to Tom, and you ain’t never even been in my bed.’

‘Stop it,’ he said when she leant across to kiss his cheek, recognising, though, that he did so to cover his discomfort with her admission. ‘We don’t need James telling folk at home how he saw you kiss Uncle George.’

‘No, that’s true enough, ’specially since when I was getting ready to leave, your ma asked me whether Mary was coming with us tonight.’

Somewhere in his chest, something quickened.

‘Why would she ask you that?’

‘I ain’t the least notion.’

‘Hmm.’ He didn’t particularly like that she sounded so unconcerned, but determined then that for once he wasn’t going to let such worries spoil his evening.

Eventually, having paused to watch the skilful jugglers in their striking oriental dress, tossing convoluted and gravity-defying patterns with everything from batons, canes and knives to hats stolen from the heads of unsuspecting passers-by, they reached the stall they had seen earlier.

‘Sweet treats for your son, sir?’ the stallholder asked him.

‘
He
ain’t my Pa, he’s my
Uncle
,’ James wasted no time in informing the stallholder.

‘If you say so, son,’ the man replied, as George saw him look quickly again between the two of them before raising his eyebrows at his supposed mistake.

*

Elsewhere in the square, Robert was also finally beginning to feel at ease and was pleased with Lottie’s obvious delight – especially when she laughed and applauded the puppet show – although he was still troubled by his desire to find a gift for her. He slid his hand into his pocket to feel the coins – smooth and cold now – that his mother had pressed on him earlier, lamenting that he knew so little about girls. His sister had been of no help whatsoever, and it occurred to him now that he would have been better served asking Mary, since Tabitha was hardly a normal girl. Lottie was far and away daintier but although she seemed easily impressed, deciding what would make an appropriate gift was mired in difficulty. He didn’t think she was the kind of girl to adorn herself with jewellery, and he couldn’t risk something being too cheap, so he was pinning all of his hopes on spotting something pretty for her to treasure.

Almost at the end of their circuit of stalls they reached the far corner of the square, where in front of the beerhouse they came across a stall displaying a collection of trinkets. For a while, Lottie stood shyly admiring the brightly coloured objects before singling out a wooden-handled hairbrush with cornflowers painted on the back. Grateful that she had seen something she liked, he pounced to buy it for her, although, blushing at his generosity, she at first politely declined to accept it, before finally – and much to his relief – giving in. For a brief moment, her reluctance made him wonder whether his feelings for her were reciprocated or whether he was just making a complete fool of himself, rapidly coming to the conclusion that it was always far too difficult to tell what she was actually thinking. She may as well have been a cosseted lapcat and him the yard-dog for all he seemed to understand about her.

With a feeling that the agreed meeting time must be looming, though, and anxious to avoid any misunderstanding with George, he was just about to suggest that they turn back towards the cross when, from the shadow of a doorway, a dark-haired young girl in a shimmering cape stepped into their path.

‘Pretty lady, sir,’ she remarked as her eyes darted from Robert to the ring-less finger on Lottie’s left hand. ‘Would she like to know her fortune?’ Feeling Lottie’s fingers pressing tighter onto his arm, he quickly brought his other hand over the top of hers. ‘Cross a gypsy’s palm with silver, sir and have her luck foretold?’

‘Grateful to you but I don’t think so,’ he replied and, surprised by his own decisiveness, moved to guide Lottie around the girl, only to be alarmed when she stepped further into their path.

‘But maybe the lady wants to
know
, sir,’ she persisted.

In the knowledge that he didn’t
have
any silver, all he could do was hope fervently that she didn’t.

‘I d-don’t,’ Lottie came to his rescue. ‘Th-thank you all the same, though.’

As the girl retreated, Robert seized the chance to steer Lottie around her and head quickly onwards.

‘Good luck to you anyway,
sir
,’ the girl called after them, her tone making him prickle. And, panicking that they would now be late meeting George, he strode in the direction of the cross with little heed for the fact that Lottie had to skip to keep up with him.

As it transpired, they were still in good time, and whilst they stood rather stiffly side by side, he was pleased to see her running her fingers over the painted cornflowers, looking away in embarrassment when she told him that she would use it every night. And when, in an unlikely burst of confidence, she stepped towards him to kiss his cheek, he could only stare at the ground and curse his awkwardness.

*

From inside the blanket where they were cocooned like a pigeon pair, Mary exhaled slowly, reflecting that on no other evening had the dreary little room felt so cosy, its drab corners and surfaces seemingly gilded by the glow from the flickering firelight.

‘What’s the matter?’ Francis asked gently, lowering his chin to look at her face.

‘Nothing,’ she answered with a shake of her head.

‘Sounded like summat of a big sigh to be on account of nothing.’

‘Oh, well, I was just thinking how nice this is.’

She felt him squeeze her tightly.

‘Ain’t it just?’

Before them, in the hearth, with a brief gasp and gentle sigh, one of the logs, its core little more now than a blinding mass, finally gave in to the fiery onslaught and collapsed inwards until all trace of it had disappeared. And, running her finger around in circles on his chest, she gave another sigh of her own.

‘Francis, you would tell me if I got too… well, you know… too much.’

‘Too much?’

‘Aye, you know, too much of a burden—’

‘Why ever would I think that?’

From his tone, she realised that he did seem genuinely perplexed.

‘Well, I can’t say for certain, but I suppose I werret that one day you might find all this skulking around to be too much of an effort.’

‘Mary,’ he said, holding her face away from him to look at her properly, ‘what’s all this about all of a sudden? I look forward to our time together. I like how you’re kind an’ gentle an’ warm. I’d be here every eve if I could, no matter the effort.’

‘You would?’

‘Well I can’t think of a nicer way to spend an eve than like this, can you?’

‘No. I can’t.’ She shook her head. How had she become so fortunate? ‘When I’m with you, I feel like
me
, you know; not George’s wife, Jacob’s mother, Hannah’s daughter-in-law, next mistress of Summerleas or one of them other dutiful people but just
me
. And I like the way that feels. But I couldn’t bear for you to get fed up.’