A Dinner Of Herbs (74 page)

been just too late to secure the cottage, for the owner, who now resided in Corbridge, had let it to a local

Haydon Bridge family.

Her mother and Hal too were concerned that Ben should still be living up in the wilds, but she knew that

he spent many a night at Rooklands now that the builders and decorators had gone. There was one

room in the house that he had really made comfortable with the furniture that they had stored there. This

had been another bone of contention between her father and Ben, the storing of the

furniture.

They had made several trips into Newcastle and to house sales, and had secured some

very good pieces

of furniture. When she had first intimated to Hal that Ben was going to store them at the farm, he had

again become irate, saying he would clear the loft. But, as they all knew, the loft was already stacked

with the residue of his own visits to sales over the years, and so, reluctantly, he had to realize the

inevitability of this, at least until they were able to decide on the house in which they would be going to

live.

A dispute, too, about their future home had arisen.

There had been a farmhouse and land going quite near, which Hal had been

wholeheartedly for their

taking, but Kate had had to point out to him it wasn’t exactly what Ben wanted. And

when he had

demanded, “What does he want, I’d like to know?” for the first time she had snapped

back at him, “Not

a little farmhouse on your doorstep,” which had silenced them both and caused a rift

between them for

days.

Her marriage, as was Florrie’s, was set for the spring of the following year, and so over the past weeks

every spare minute of the day and the long evenings was taken up with the sewing of

bedding and gowns

to fill each of their several chests.

It became an added irritation to Kate that every time she went out to meet Ben, Hal would say to her,

“You’re not going near that house now, are you?” And she would promise him that she

wasn’t going

there, at the same time knowing that that was where she would find Ben.

The same would happen when Ben came to call to take her out.

“You’re not taking her near that house now, are you?” Hal would say, and Ben always

had to swallow

deeply before answering. Once, when all he answered was, “Don’t worry, sir,” Hal came

back at him,

yelling, “I do worry. She’s not to go there. Do you hear?” and when Ben, not only to

Hal’s but also to

the surprise of the other members of the family, had replied in much the same manner, “I hear, sir; as yet I

am not deaf,” before walking out, there was revealed to them that the American was not all soft-spoken

geniality, and that he was perhaps becoming a little tired of being dictated to.

It was noted, too, that Kate was losing weight. Hal put it down to too much horse riding.

“Gallivanting around the countryside would shake the flesh off anybody,” he said. But

Mary Ellen had

different ideas.

As she herself knew only too well, it was worry that stripped the flesh off your bones.

And her Kate

was worried; all the time she was worried. It seemed that since she had met this

American she had never

stopped worrying. But what about? Bannaman’s farm had been sorted out; they were

going to get

another place. And that was something else. There must be dozens of houses round about that would or

should have suited him, but he always found something wrong with them. She wished she

could get to

the bottom of it . the bottom of him. She still wasn’t sure about him, although she

wouldn’t voice her

thoughts to Hal because he was on constant edge as it was about Kate’s going.

Kate was standing now in her bedroom tying a long scarf around her bonnet. It had been freezing hard

for the past week, but yesterday a slight thaw had set in, and although today wasn’t so cold there was a

high wind blowing. She picked up her gloves from the dressing—table, then went out and down the

shallow stairs to the hall. Tom was crossing it, and he said, “There’s a smell of snow in the wind, you

might get caught.”

“It won’t be the first time.” And she smiled at him.

“Brr!” He pursed his lips. The for the fire. We’ve got the last of the sheep down. Aye’—

he paused

‘that fellow of yours must be tough. Up on those hills would freeze the backside off a bull. I don’t know

how he stands it; he doesn’t seem the rough type. “

“Never judge the man by the suit, Tom.”

“Aye, there’s something in that,” he laughed, and went on towards the sitting-room.

In the kitchen she was surprised to see Maggie also ready for the road, and she looked at her. But

Maggie did not give any explanation, it was Mary Ellen who said, “She’s taking some

patterns for

embroidery to Betty Boston, and carrying some butter and cheese from me. They

appreciate home

stuff.” It was as if she was apologizing for Maggie going visiting. Then she added, “Lass, you’ll be blown

away up on those hills.”

“I’m well wrapped up.”

“Does he know you’re coming?”

Kate hesitated for a moment before she said, “Yes, in a way, it being Wednesday.”

“But what if he’s not there? He could be in the town seeing about a house again.”

“Well, if that’s the case, I’ll only have to come back.”

Mary Ellen stared at her for a moment, then said, “Well, time yourself. You don’t want to be caught up

there in the dark, and there’s snow in the air.”

“I’ll be back before dark, Mam.” She nodded towards Mary Ellen, then went out.

And Mary Ellen, looking at Maggie, said, “That goes for you too, mind.

Don’t get chattin’ too long. And take the trap gently, we don’t want an axle broken. Go on now, and

give Mrs. Boston my regards. “

Maggie said nothing, but lifted the parcel from the table and went out.

Terry already had the trap into the yard and as he gave her a hand on to the seat he said,

“Go careful,

Miss Maggie, and don’t rush him;

he’s been out once the day and he’s a bit fractious. “

Again Maggie said nothing, but she cast a disdainful glance down on the man as he

handed her the reins,

which she jerked and put the pony into a trot whilst still in the farmyard, all the time asking herself why it

was that everybody was getting at her, hiding the fact from herself that for the past five days she had been

in a state of irritation. And the knowledge that the whole family knew the reason didn’t help.

A month ago when Andrew Boston had been home for the week-end and hadn’t called on

her, she

accepted the excuse from his mother that he had only been able to stay overnight and had to leave early

the next morning because of pressure of work in the office. Then on Saturday, on the road into Hexham,

they had passed him on the brake accompanied by his father; she had waved to him and

he had

answered her salute.

And after returning home she had waited for his visit, and again all day on the Sunday.

But he hadn’t

come, and she had been filled with indignation that touched on rage. She had felt

humiliated.

When on Monday, her mother had taken her aside and asked if he had spoken in any way

and she’d

had to admit truthfully that he hadn’t, Mary Ellen had said, “Well, as I see it, it’s your own fault. You act

too bold, it puts them off.” And this had caused her to retort angrily, TheI act too bold.

You don’t say

that to our Kate, who’s the talk of the place running over the hills to that fellow every minute of the day.

How often does he come here, I ask you? Too bold? My goodness me, Mam. It’s well

seen who you

are for and who you are against. “ And her mother had become angry and retorted that

she’d never

made flesh of one and fish of another, and that she should be glad Kate was going to find a little

happiness.

Kate! Kate! Kate! It was all Kate. Even Florrie and Charles were thrust into the

background. Not

that it seemed to affect Florrie, she was too slow to take in anything. Sweet natured, they called it. She

jerked hard on the reins, but the pony did not respond and she cried at it, “Get up! there.”

At the crossroads, she turned her head and looked into the distance to where she could see the hills

mounting upwards, but she caught no sight of Kate, and she thought, Terry would not tell her not to

gallop Ranger because he had been out already today. Oh no, she could fly to her

beloved. And she

almost spat out the last word. She was a disgrace. Now, if it had been herself doing that, even

attempting to do it, her father would have locked her up. But not so his Kate.

The horse slowed down at the steep hill at the top of which the Bostons’ house was

situated behind a

barrier of trees, planted to shelter both house and garden from the winds that swept down over the hills

beyond. It was as the horse slowly reached the top that she happened to glance to her left and was

about to look ahead again when her head jerked round and she pulled the horse to a

standstill. There,

where the land sloped away to a valley bottom before rising again to the hills, was a

treeless road, and on

it was a figure on a horse, and unmistakably she recognized Kate. She’s not going up into the hills, she

thought;

she’s going to that house. And she said she never went. The big sly two-faced thing.

Well! . It had

been her intention to stay at the Bostons’ and enquire delicately when Andrew would be coming home

again. But once more things did not go as she had intended, for Mrs. Boston received her in a manner

that held some reserve: she seemed surprised to see her, but thanked her most warmly for the gifts she

had brought from her mother, while stating that Betty had gone to spend the day with

friends in Haydon

Bridge. Then without any prompting, she gave Maggie the information for which she had

come: she did

not know when Andrew would be next home, because he was spending most of his spare

time now at

the Quigleys’.

Mr. Quigley happened to be a dear friend of Mr. Boston. She was so glad that Andrew

was going

there, it saved him the long journey home, and at the same time provided him with a

family atmosphere,

for they had three sons and a daughter, and Andrew had known them since they were all

children

together. And, she had ended, she would be pleased to see Maggie on the usual day for

their sewing

hour.

She had been snubbed! Her teeth were clenched and her anger and humiliation were such

that she

wanted to lash out, and literally she did when she turned the horse in the direction of home.

But it was when she again reached the crossroads that she drew the horse to a standstill and sat thinking

for a moment before, with a “Get up! there,” she turned it on to the narrow path along which she had

seen Kate riding a little over half an hour ago.

There was only one thing clear in her mind, she wanted to confront Kate and tell her to her face that she

was a liai and was deceiving them at home.

She did not drive the trap right up to the gate of the farm but led the horse on to the wide grass verge

and linked the reins over a low branch of tree. Then cautiously she moved alongside the wall and to the

gate, which she noted was a new double one, half of which was open. She noted, too, that all the yard

was paved, whereas their own was only half done in this way;

also that all the outhouses looked spruce with new stone tiles on the roof here and there.

And in the row of horse boxes one half-door was open and she saw Ranger. She was

actually amazed

at the size of the house. It was the first time she had seen it, for since she was first allowed to go out on

her own she had been told never to go near it; and in consequence it always appeared like the ogre’s

castle. “But now she could not help the materialistic side of her being impressed. She looked along to

where the front of the house showed the door sheltered by a stone-pillared porch, but she did not go

towards it. Going quietly, she went further into the yard and, keeping close to the wall, she passed two

windows with iron bars across them, then a closed door, then two more windows, one of

them looking

into what appeared to be a large pantry, and the other just a small bare room. There was another door

ahead, but before that there was a window, and standing to the side of it, she slowly

turned her head and

looked in. It was a kitchen, but it was empty even of furniture.

She moved on to the door which was ajar. She pushed it open, her head making small

wagging

movements the while as she thought of the shock her sister would get, that’s if she was alone. She had

caught sight only of Ranger, which would suggest that she was alone, and, also, that she had access to

the house by a key. Oh, the sly individual.

Just wait till she got home and told them.

Almost boldly now she walked up the room towards a far door. But here she paused

before opening it

quietly. And now she was looking into a hall, the size and decoration of which amazed

her. Slowly and

still quietly she went in and she had almost reached the middle of it when the sound of voices brought her