The Steward of Blackwood Hall

Chapter nine - A frank exchange of opinions

They left the clearing and the barn behind as Miss Latimer followed the path that would take her home. He deliberately slowed his pace, in no hurry to reach Woodside. "Do you ever attend any entertainments in town?"

If Miss Latimer was surprised by his question she did not show it. "No, Papa does not care for London. We occasionally visit St. Albans. Mrs Latimer has a brother who resides there."

"Your uncle?"

"Well, he is rightly my step-uncle." She continued walking, her focus on the track ahead. After a brief silence she added, "My mother died when Diana was born."

Fielding heard the change in her voice. Gone was the light-hearted banter they had shared by the barn, replaced with a more sombre note. Although it was common enough to lose a wife or mother to childbirth, the pain for those left behind was not made easier by its prevalence.

"Papa was heartbroken, of course, but he was left with three young daughters on his hands and no choice but to marry again." Miss Latimer's face was partially hidden behind her bonnet, but he heard her sigh. "I am the only one amongst my sisters old enough to remember our mother."

"And you have taken on the responsibility of holding onto that memory, to keep it alive for your sisters' sakes."

Her steps faltered as she turned to him. "Yes! That is exactly how I feel. Mrs Latimer has always been kind, but she can never replace my own mama."

Fielding understood all too well, and felt a tug of sympathy for her situation. "Do you retain any contact with your mother's family? Do they reside in the area?"

Once more the bonnet dropped, hiding her expressions from him, but when she spoke her voice was again subdued. "No, they live somewhere close to Oxford, I believe. My maternal grandfather was a clergyman, but I cannot recall which parish. All contact with them ceased when my father remarried.

"I hope I do not appear ungrateful, though. Mrs Latimer has tried her best, and her own family welcomed us unreservedly. Her father was an attorney at Haltford; he owned the business that now belongs to Mr Orton. She also has a sister who is married to a silk merchant. They live somewhere in London, although I have never met them, and their brother in St. Albans deals in provisions."

Fielding began to wonder whether she was hinting him away. If so, she could not have chosen a better method than to introduce an unsuitable pack of relations to his notice. A gentleman like Mr. Latimer had done his daughter no favours by connecting himself to a family of lawyers and shopkeepers. However, his initial contempt for Mrs Latimer's connections was soon diverted by the revelation that, rather than being embarrassed by her provisions dealer uncle, Anabelle instead chose to describe the family with a great deal of affection. She spoke at length about her cousins and the entertainments she had attended with her aunt. Indeed, he became so caught up in her enthusiastic descriptions of her visits there that he found himself laughing at the stories she shared about her youngest cousin Henry, before he remembered that they would be wholly ineligible to become in any way connected with the Fieldings of Meltham.

"And soon Papa has promised to take me to one of the spa towns, which will be a new experience for me."

Fielding wondered why she would want to spend time in a place full of arthritic dowagers and gouty old men. "Does Mr. Latimer believe the waters will aid his recuperation?"

The light in her eyes faded, and she looked away. "No, our visit will be social rather than medicinal. He wishes to help me find a husband. Mrs Latimer thinks that it is past time my sister and I were married. She worries that we will become financial burdens upon Woodside and poor little Edmund if we remain unwed."