Tenacious Trents 02 - A Perfect Gentleman (32 page)

No, they couldn’t. If he was relieved of his
duties she would march right to his superiors and explain the
truth, if any of them would listen.

In the meantime, she must no longer associate
with Vicar Trent because that was best for him. No matter how much
she missed him, and she missed him deeply for only knowing him for
such a short time, and it had only been a day since she had seen
him, she would not visit or talk to him. She must learn to face her
problems on her own and not seek him out. She had gotten by before
he moved to town and she would do so again. The only time Grace
vowed to see Vicar Trent was on Sunday mornings for services.
Nobody could fault her for going to church and if she did not speak
with him then he would escape from this unscathed.

Banging on the front door drew her out of her
thoughts and Grace wandered into the foyer. Elizabeth rushed from
the kitchen, a hand in her pocket. John began down the stairs. It
was as if they were here to protect her. In a way they were, but
she couldn’t see how much help they would be except someone would
be less likely to try and get to her or her father with more people
around.

John paused in the middle of the stairs and
nodded to Elizabeth. She opened the door and before anyone could
utter a greeting her uncle stormed inside the house.

“What is the meaning of this?” he
bellowed.

Given her uncle was the one given to fits,
Grace had a moment of wondering if perhaps he should be the one in
Bedlam, she couldn’t begin to guess what he was angry about this
time. “You will need to be more specific.” Unless he had heard
about Vicar Trent spending the night in this house twice. He had
been livid when she rode in the carriage with him. The latest might
bring on an apoplexy.

“I will fight Crew over guardianship. He has
no right to take what should be mine.”

Grace stiffened. “Yours? This is my father’s
home, and mine. He is the one who worked for it, turned it into the
home he wanted.” She had intentionally kept her voice calm and low
as she had no wish to argue with the man.

“As his brother what is rightfully his should
go to me. It is a right of inheritance.”

“Inheritance flows the opposite direction,”
John said as he sauntered down the stairs. “As a lord you have
little choice in what becomes of your estate and title. As the
younger son, Mr. Cooper can name anyone he chooses as guardian over
Miss Cooper, and you would have the right as well if you were her
father, but nobody can dictate who inherits upon his death.”

“You, you…,” Stillwaite blustered, his
face turning red with rage.

“And, my father is not about to die,” she
added in a quiet tone.

Stillwaite wheeled on Grace, wagging his
finger in her face. “I will fight this. I know what is best for
this land, your father and you.” With that he wheeled around and
marched out the door, slamming it behind him.

Elizabeth rushed forward and turned the
lock.

“Do you think he will be successful?”

John chuckled. “By the time Stillwaite
manages to get through the courts you will be married and probably
have a child or two.”

It was unlikely those things would come to be
but it gave Grace some peace in knowing her uncle would be
unsuccessful.

Matthew stared out at the congregation. Two
weeks ago there were barely enough seats for everyone. The second
week it had still been full. Today there were barely two dozen
people. Miss Cooper sat with Jordan and Elizabeth. John must have
remained at the house with Mr. Cooper and Perkins. The sermon he
had begun preparing last week lay on his desk in the parsonage.
Given everything that had occurred, he had written a new one, but
it was no longer necessary either. The people in the pews already
knew this lesson or they wouldn’t be here. The ones who truly
needed to hear it were at home or attending church in the next
village.

Miss Montgomery sat toward the back, her
mother was absent. Of all the people who needed to be taught it was
Mrs. Montgomery but he doubted she would change. Matthew closed his
eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. He should not be
judgmental, not in a church, but he was angry. Not so much for
himself but for Grace. If the parishioners did not attend services
because of what they had heard, how were they going to treat her?
Even Mrs. Phillips was absent so there would be no music today
either.

Matthew closed his Bible and looked over the
faces once again. Grace’s was drawn and pale. He prayed her father
hadn’t suffered a setback, but feared it was because of how she had
been received and the lack of attendance this morning.

“I was going to speak on the damage of
gossip,” he began. “But most of you already know the repercussions
or you wouldn’t be here right now.” He felt a smile pull at his
lips. “I had a great sermon prepared and it is a shame that those
who need to hear it most won’t. I will not deliver it today.
Instead, I will ask that we each pray for those who did not join
us. Ask God to show them the error in their thinking, to see behind
the deceit, to understand and see the truth.”

Grace looked down at her lap. Matthew
wondered what she was thinking.

“I fear that my actions this week have caused
harm to this church and the community, and for that I
apologize.”

She looked up and opened her mouth as if to
protest. Matthew knew she would not. At least not here in the
church. “Some of you know what I am about to share, others do
not.”

She closed her mouth and a contemplative look
came upon her face.

“I am the third son of an earl. Before I
could read I was told I would be a vicar. My father demanded that I
be a
perfect vicar
, not just any vicar.” Matthew felt
himself warming to this new topic, as if he were about to free
himself of a burden. “I studied hard and received excellent marks.
Nothing else was acceptable. I never allowed myself to consider
doing something else. My father would have never allowed it even if
I had. I would have only been wishing for the impossible and become
unhappy. So, I accepted my lot in life and worked to become the
best vicar I could be.”

Jordan began smiling, as if he understood
what Matthew was about to impart.

“However, I never felt the desire to be a
vicar.”

There were a few gasps in the room.

“If a man is to serve God with all of his
heart, preach and counsel, shouldn’t that desire burn deep within
him? Most of the vicars and ministers I have met in my life had
that passion or need. I have never possessed it. Does that make me
a bad vicar?”

There were a few that shook their heads.

“I love God and I pray, and my faith is
strong, but I don’t have that deep burning need to get up before
you each Sunday morning, to spend all my hours writing the perfect
sermon, to call on the parishioners because I am concerned about
their soul. I want to become friends with those whom I share a
community, converse and share their life, not simply be present
when there is a crisis, or I noticed they weren’t attending
services. Few people wish to truly befriend a vicar because they
don’t wish to be judged.”

There were a few surprised looks. “Look to
yourself and you will understand. Do you behave the same, use the
same words, and discuss the same topics with friends as you do your
vicar?”

There were a few sheepish looks shared
between husbands, wives and friends. They knew he spoke the truth
as well as he.

Grace’s eyes grew wide and she was the only
one who did not look away from him, other than Elizabeth and
Jordan. He had shocked her, of that he was certain. Would she think
poorly of him after he finished. Would she reject his offer of
marriage in the end, because of this?

“Frankly, I don’t want to be a vicar.”

A few more parishioners gasped. Lord Crew
began to smile, which helped relieve some of Matthews’s concern
about his future with Grace.

“I could work to fix the concerns that have
risen over the past few days. I could visit each member of this
community and explain my actions until I brought everyone back to
the church. But it angers me that I should have to do so. Miss
Cooper has been a member of this community since birth. There was
an attempt on her father’s life. While he lay in his bed, close to
death, I remained by her side as her minister. The only other
person in the house was Perkins, Mr. Cooper’s valet. I did not know
if anyone would come back to the house and try to kill Mr. Cooper
again, nor was I sure he would live through the night. What kind of
minister would I be if I had left the family alone? It never
occurred to me that Miss Cooper’s reputation might suffer because
of my actions. She was barely aware I was there because she would
not leave her father’s side.”

A few of those in the pew sat forward, as if
listening to every word, taking it all in.

“Early in the morning she had finally fallen
asleep by his bed and I dozed in a chair across the room while
Perkins did as well. When she woke the next morning she set about
her chores of milking the cows and gathering eggs. I helped her so
that she might return to her father quickly, and because she was
exhausted and fraught with worry.”

His voice was rising, but he didn’t care.
Those before him needed to know the truth and hopefully they would
tell others and Grace’s reputation would be repaired.

“It was upon leaving the barn that a certain
member of the community, whom shall remain nameless, came across us
and assumed the worst and wasted no time in telling others what she
believed. In truth, given our appearance, most would assume the
same since neither of us had repaired our appearance before seeing
to the cows.”

He paused and looked at them. They still
listened with rapt attention, more so than any sermon he had ever
delivered.

“I did not leave the Cooper household that
day. I feared I would be needed as Mr. Cooper had not yet recovered
enough to be certain he would live. It wasn’t until later that
night that I realized I should have sent into town for someone to
stay with Miss Cooper so that I was not in the house another night.
Thankfully Mr. and Mrs. Thomas visited and decided to sleep in a
room down the hall from Miss Coopers.”

There were a few murmurs and surprised looks.
Clearly Mrs. Montgomery had forgotten to mention there were others
in the house. Perhaps she didn’t even know. Matthew was certain he
would never know as well. “I remained in the parlor in the event
Mr. Cooper needed me and as a guard. Unfortunately I fell asleep
and someone did get by me. I woke to sounds coming from upstairs
and went to investigate. What I found was a man bent over Miss
Cooper trying to smother her with a pillow.”

There were more gasps and murmurs.

“The attacker got away from me and I still do
not know who he was. But, at least Miss Cooper survived, and I
don’t believe she would have had I not been there.”

Some people nodded.

“I know you all heard that I was sleeping in
her room when the same member of this community came to visit.” He
paused and looked at them. Some leaned forward, as if waiting to
see if he admitted to being there. “I was.”

The murmurs the congregation exchanged were
louder this time.

“Following her attack Miss Cooper was
frightened, and rightly so. The assailant had broken the back door
into the house and it could not be sealed tight. As someone had
gotten into the house before, I remained in her room to protect
her. I slept in the chair in front of the fireplace. The door to
her room remained open and Mr. and Mrs. Thomas were in a chamber
one door away.” Matthew knew he wasn’t giving a full accounting of
the night and hedged on the order of events, but he didn’t care. To
tell them the truth would see Grace shunned from society. What
happened between them was private and nobody need know. Especially
since they would soon be married.

He focused his next words on Grace, speaking
directly to her. “I apologize if I am speaking out of turn, but I
wish everyone to know the truth about that night.”

She nodded.

“Did I show poor judgment in remaining in
your room? Yes, I did. But my only concern was for your safety, I
never meant for my decisions to bring harm to you in anyway.”

Her smile was gentle and she nodded.

Matthew once again focused on his
parishioners. “Because I have failed in bringing this community
together, because my actions have made several members of the
congregation pass judgment on me and because I do not possess the
desire to be a vicar, I will be writing my superior when services
have concluded and resign my post.”

There were audible gasps from most in the
room.

“Shall we pray.”