Sentence of Marriage (37 page)

‘So, have you written the letter yet?’

‘I’ve started,’ Jimmy said. ‘I did a couple of lines before I came out here. It’s not easy, though. I’m no letter writer, and I want to make a good job of it. I’m not going to get much chance to write it, either, what with working in the daytime and sitting in the parlour with Susannah in the evenings.’

‘Mmm. And you can’t write at night, because you’re sharing John’s room. That’s hard.’ She frowned in thought.

‘I’ll get it written, don’t you worry. It just might take me a few days, that’s all.’

‘You should be writing it now.’

‘I know. I’d rather be with you, though.’ He rose from his stool and came to stand behind Amy. He slipped his arms around her waist and squeezed while he planted a kiss on the top of her head. ‘I don’t see enough of you, I don’t want to waste my chances.’

‘You’ll see plenty of me when we’re married.’ Amy tried to ignore his embrace and carry on shaping the butter into pats. But when he slipped his hands higher to fondle her breasts she gave up, wiped her hands on a towel, and wriggled around so that she could put her arms around his neck and pull his face down for a kiss.

*

‘I thought you didn’t approve of people making spectacles of themselves,’ Lizzie said, cutting into Amy’s thoughts as the two girls stood together outside the church that Sunday. Lizzie had grabbed Amy by the hand and pulled her over to a quiet spot under a tree as soon as the service was over.

‘What?’ Amy dragged her gaze reluctantly away from Jimmy, whom Susannah was holding by the arm in her usual proprietorial way. ‘What are you talking about?’

‘Your tongue’s just about hanging out, you’re staring at him so hard. People will notice.’

‘I’m not!’ Amy said , but she felt herself blush. ‘Was I really, Lizzie?’

‘Well, I suppose other people wouldn’t notice as much as I do,’ Lizzie allowed. ‘At least I know you’re mad on him, even if you refuse to tell me anything about what’s going on.’

‘There’s nothing to tell. It’s a secret, anyway,’ Amy said, avoiding Lizzie’s eyes.

‘What’s a secret?’ Lizzie pounced.

‘Nothing. Oh, I’ll tell you as soon as I can, Lizzie, really I will.’
As soon as Pa knows, as soon as he says yes, we’ll be able to tell everyone
.

‘Why can’t you tell me now, Amy? Is it something you’re ashamed of?’

‘No!’
Jimmy says it’s nothing to be ashamed of. We’ve just started a bit early, that’s all. I wish we could get married soon
. ‘Please stop prying, Lizzie—oh, there’s Frank.’

Frank stood just outside the church porch, looking about uncertainly. He glanced at Lizzie’s family, but it was obvious he had not seen what he wanted there. When he caught sight of Lizzie his face lit up.

‘Go on, Lizzie.’ Amy gave her a small push. ‘Go and talk to him.’

Lizzie looked from Amy to Frank, and chewed her lip distractedly. ‘I suppose I might as well, you won’t talk to me.’ She walked briskly over in Frank’s direction.

Amy followed more slowly. She stood close to her own family group, but carefully avoided looking at Jimmy.
I wonder if people really are noticing
. But her father and stepmother had shown no sign of being suspicious, and they were the only ones she really needed to worry about.

Lizzie somehow managed to lead Frank over to her father without actually taking his hand. Amy was glad of the distraction her cousin provided. There was no chance of Amy’s giving herself away by paying any conspicuous attention to Jimmy when she had Lizzie’s performance to watch.

‘Pa,’ Lizzie said very sweetly, ‘weren’t you going to ask Frank to come for lunch today?’

‘No, I wasn’t,’ said Arthur. ‘But you can come if you want, Frank.’

‘I don’t want to be a nuisance,’ Frank said.

‘Lizzie’ll be a nuisance if you don’t—she’ll plague me to ask you next week. Oh, stop looking as though you wish the ground would open up and swallow you,’ Arthur said, but the hint of irritation in his voice was more than balanced by amusement. ‘Edie, have you got plenty for lunch?’

‘Mmm?’ Edie relaxed the tight hold she had on Ernie’s hand. The toddler took advantage of his freedom to rush over to Rachel Aitken’s children, where he was soon involved in a mutual shoving match. ‘Oh, yes, I think there’s quite a lot. Lizzie seemed to want to get an awful lot ready yesterday.’

‘Well, isn’t that fortunate?’ said Arthur. ‘So you think we could make room for Frank today?’

‘Oh, he’s always welcome,’ Edie said. She beamed at Frank. ‘He’s almost one of the family now.’

‘Almost,’ Arthur echoed. ‘Well, you’d better come and help us eat all that food, Frank.’

‘Thank you, Mr Leith. I’ll see you later, then.’

Lizzie walked him over to the horse paddock, and flashed a triumphant grin at Amy as she walked back. When she caught sight of her father looking at her, she replaced the grin with a poor attempt at a detached smile.

*

Amy noticed a loose thread hanging down under her petticoats when she was changing into a work dress after church. She recalled that she had caught her finger on the hem of her drawers that morning while dressing. She hitched up her petticoats to check, and saw that the hem of one leg was trailing, with ripped stitches for several inches. At first she decided to ignore the tatty hem for the rest of the day; after all, no one was going to see it. Then the thought struck her that someone just might. Just maybe she and Jimmy would manage to slip away today, and if they did… well, it was best to be prepared.

She pulled off the unsatisfactory drawers and put them in her washing pile, then rummaged through her underwear until she found the prettiest pair she owned: extra-fine lawn, with three deep layers of lace around each leg and two rows of ribbon above the lace. They felt soft against her skin, and she knew they looked pretty.
Is this shameless?
Is it shameless to hope Jimmy will like my underwear, Mama?
she asked the photograph. But her mother smiled out of the frame at her, and Amy felt comforted. For the first time, she was glad she did not have a photograph of her grandmother.

Friday’s drizzle had disappeared as though it had never been, and the afternoon was fiercely hot, drying the last of the rain from the paddocks. The family ate early, and after dinner the heat of the day subsided into a soft warmth without a breath of wind.

‘That was a good meal,’ Jimmy said, pushing back his chair. ‘I could just go a nice walk to work it off a bit. Does anyone else want to come?’

Amy looked up at him, then looked away quickly to hide her surprise at his open invitation.
Doesn’t he want us to be alone?

‘Oh, yes, I think that would be very nice,’ said Susannah. ‘I’ll go for a little walk with you.’

‘Yes, you and I haven’t had a walk together in a long time,’ Jack put in. ‘We’ll take the little fellows, that’ll help them sleep a bit better.’

‘Oh. I was going to leave them with Amy.’

‘Amy can come with us.’

‘I thought she could do the dishes, I’m rather tired this evening.’

‘Leave the dishes, Amy, we’re all going for a walk,’ Jack said firmly. ‘They’ll still be there when we get back.’

‘All’ did not include John and Harry, who showed no disappointment at being left behind. Jack carried little George, and Amy led Thomas by the hand, while Susannah looped her arm through Jimmy’s. They walked down to the Waituhi, then a short way along its bank until they reached the spot where the Waimarama ran into the larger stream.

‘It’s such a clear day,’ Jimmy said, looking up at a sky guiltless of clouds. ‘There must be a wonderful view from there.’ He pointed to a bush-clad hill that rose away from the right-hand bank of the Waimarama.

‘Haven’t you been up there yet?’ Jack asked. ‘Amy, I thought you’d shown Jimmy round the place.’

‘Not up there, Pa. I’ve only taken him to a few places, really.’

‘That’s the best view on the farm. We’ll go up there right now, you won’t get a better day for it.’

‘Oh, no, Jack,’ Susannah protested. ‘It looks terribly steep, and I’m so tired.’

‘It’s not as steep as all that, Susannah,’ Jack said. ‘We could take our time. Are you really tired?’ He looked puzzled.

‘I’m always tired!’ Susannah snapped at him. ‘You know perfectly well I’m worn out from having to feed this baby, and I’m not very well anyway. James, wouldn’t you like to go back now?’

‘Well, I really would like to see that view,’ Jimmy said. ‘But if you’re not feeling up to it—’

‘If you don’t feel well, I’ll take you home now,’ Jack cut in. ‘You young people go on by yourselves.’

‘Perhaps I should—’ Jimmy tried.

‘You should go and look at that view,’ Jack said. ‘Take your time. Come on, Susannah.’ He tucked George into one arm and attempted to take Susannah’s arm, but she snatched it away and started walking in the direction of the house. Jack held Thomas’s hand and set off after her.

‘Well!’ Amy said when Jack and Susannah were safely out of earshot. ‘You’re not going to be very popular with Susannah now.’

Jimmy shrugged. ‘It doesn’t matter. I’ll make it up to her. Come on, my girl, do as your father tells you—let’s see this wonderful view.’

They stayed a discreet distance apart until they were among the trees, then slipped their arms around each other’s waists and walked on, more slowly but more companionably. A fantail flitted back and forth across their path as they walked.

‘Wasn’t that lucky, Susannah wanting to go home just then?’ Amy said. ‘I thought we weren’t going to get the chance to be alone.’

‘Lucky? You didn’t really think Susannah would want to walk far, did you? I knew she’d want to go back as soon as the going got rough.’

Amy stopped in her tracks. ‘You mean you planned all that, about coming up here and Pa taking Susannah back by himself?’

‘Yes.’ He smiled smugly

‘Oh. You really are very clever, aren’t you? At getting people to do what you want, I mean.’

‘Am I? Will you do what I want?’

‘You want to see this view, don’t you?’ Amy smiled mischievously, and tugged at his hand until he started walking again.

‘The baby seems all right now,’ Jimmy said.

‘Yes, Georgie’s fine. The doctor must have been right. Susannah’s not very pleased, though, she doesn’t like feeding him that way.’

‘She’s strange sometimes. Well, I’m glad the little fellow’s well, but I don’t think I’ll sit him on my lap again. I haven’t got all that many shirts.’

‘You should, really, Jimmy, he is your nephew. He’s a lovely baby.’

Jimmy pulled a face, then smiled at her. ‘You’re very fond of Susannah’s children, aren’t you?’

‘Well, they’re my little brothers, you know.’

‘And my nephews.’

‘Oh!’ Amy stopped suddenly as a dreadful thought struck her. ‘Oh, Jimmy, do you think it’s all right for us to get married?’

Jimmy laughed softly and pulled her close to him. ‘You’re a funny little thing, aren’t you? Most people, my darling, would say it’s not only “all right”, it’s just about compulsory—not to mention overdue. What are you going on about?’

‘No, listen—we’re sort of related, because Susannah’s your sister and she’s my stepmother.’

‘Hmm, I hadn’t thought of that.’ Jimmy looked pensive for a moment. ‘No, I’m sure it’s all right. There was a fuss a few years ago over whether a man should be allowed to marry his wife’s sister if his wife dies. They changed the law to make that legal, and that’s much closer than you and I are. So it must be all right for us to get married.’

Amy gave a sigh of relief. ‘That’s good. I got a terrible fright for a minute.’ She laughed. ‘Isn’t it complicated, though? Susannah’s my stepmother, but when we get married she’ll be my sister-in-law.’

‘And your father will be my father-in-law as well as my brother-in-law.’

‘Tommy and Georgie will be your…’ she stopped to work it out ‘Your brothers-in-law as well as your nephews. Does that mean they’ll be my nephews, too? Oh, and our children will be Susannah’s nephews and her grand-children! Or will they? No, that’s too complicated.’

‘You know what else it means, though, Amy?’

‘What?’

‘I’m your uncle!’ He laughed. ‘You’d better do as your Uncle Jimmy says, my girl, or you’ll get in trouble.’ He wagged his finger at her.

Amy wriggled out from his grasp and pulled a face at him. ‘I don’t think I like you as an uncle. You’re too bossy. I think I’ll just have you as a husband.’

She squealed as he made a lunge at her. She hitched up her skirts to run faster, but he caught her in a few strides. He swung an arm around her waist and picked her up off the ground, then he sat down suddenly and Amy found herself upside down across his lap. ‘What are you doing?’ she gasped out through her giggles.

‘Teaching you a bit of respect for your elders,’ Jimmy said sternly. He lifted her skirts and gave her buttocks a slap, making Amy shriek, then giggle even harder.

‘You’re a horrible uncle!’

Jimmy rolled her over till she was lying on her back beside him. ‘I don’t think I can do this to my niece, so you’d better just be my wife. You still have to do as I say, though.’