Lady in Waiting. Anne Herries

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      However, the coolness of her tone brought a frown to Lady Stamford’s forehead. ‘Come, Catherine, you can give Sir Nicholas a fairer answer than that. Your father is staunch in his support for Her Majesty and you must have heard his opinion often enough.’

      ‘Indeed I have, Aunt, and my father is most loyal to Her Majesty. I meant no offence to anyone. I must blame my lack of courtesy on the long hours of travelling. Forgive me…’ She avoided looking at Sir Nicholas, making her apology to the room at large.

      For a time there was silence, and then their hostess stepped in to the awkward moment with a little tutting cry of dismay.

      ‘You look exhausted, Mistress Moor,’ Sarah Middleton cried. ‘I am thoughtless to keep you talking when you must be longing to rest. Jessie shall take you to your chamber. We dine when my husband returns at seven. I pray you will forgive the lateness of the hour, but Matthew has been to inspect a distant field with his neighbour and was not expecting company.’

      ‘You are very kind, ma’am. My father often keeps late hours himself.’

      Catherine blushed the more because she knew she had been rude to Sir Nicholas. She had come close to insulting her generous hostess’s brother and it was very bad of her.

      She was taken to task for it when she was alone in the bedchamber with her aunt.

      ‘I do not like to see such manners in you, Catherine,’ Lady Stamford said, looking at her with disapproval. ‘Sir Nicholas has been all that is good. You might at least be polite if you cannot do better. If you behave like this in London you will never catch a husband.’

      Catherine accepted the rebuke in silence, acknowledging it to be fair. Indeed, she was not sure why she had taken against Sir Nicholas, for he had done no more than laugh and call out to the actors. Perhaps she had been a little too harsh in her judgement.

      If Sir Nicholas asked her opinion again on some point she would answer him with the consideration he deserved. She need not go out of her way to be friendly but there was no occasion to be impolite.

       Chapter Two

       C atherine would have liked to spend some time alone in the garden before joining the others that evening, but since it was raining it was barred to her and she did not want to go down too soon for fear of any inconvenience to her hostess. Lady Stamford took a long time over her toilette, and in consequence they did not go down until summoned by a maid. If she had hoped for a quiet moment alone it was not granted her.

      Over supper she was given no opportunity to reveal her mellowed mood, because Matthew Middleton was a big, bluff man who talked and laughed a great deal. He had much to say for himself, and wanted to hear what his brother-in-law had to contribute on many topics, his loud voice dominating the conversation. However, Catherine found it interesting to listen, for in this way it was revealed that Sir Nicholas had but recently returned to England after some eighteen months of travelling on the Continent.

      ‘You wrote of your visit to Italy,’ Matthew Middleton said, attacking the good roast goose set in front of him with gusto. He ate with his fingers and a knife in the time-honoured way, using a trencher of bread to soak up the rich sauces, though all the ladies had been provided with both a knife and a spoon, a luxury not always to be met with in country houses. Besides each plate was a bowl of scented water for washing the fingers, and a napkin of soft white damask. ‘I hear it is discouraged to visit the country now in some circles, for folk do say it is a place of devils and would have none of these canting Papists.’

      ‘You know I hold no love for Papists, Brother—but it does a man’s mind good to behold the wonders of Rome. There is beauty beyond imagining to be seen there, and it would be a sad day if religious prejudice ever prevented our experiencing such things.’

      ‘Well, well, I suppose you are right, Nick. I say only what is the opinion of many these days.’

      ‘Wait until you see the marble statuary I have brought for your beloved garden,’ Sir Nicholas said, smiling at his brother-in-law with obvious affection. Despite their banter there was clearly a good understanding between them, and Catherine found herself envying the warmth of this family circle. ‘And somewhere amongst the baggage that follows me I have a crystal posset set for Sarah that came from Venice. When you have seen these and more of the treasures I have brought back from my travels I’ll wager you will sing another tune.’

      ‘I trust you have not brought Matthew any indecent ladies?’ Sarah said, and then giggled at the mocking look in her brother’s eyes. ‘You will have our neighbours denouncing us as wicked pagans before the pulpit on Sunday.’

      ‘Only ladies swathed in folds to cover their charms—and a cherub or two, sister mine,’ Nick replied and blew a kiss to her. ‘Though for my own estate it is a different matter, and I have some fine Greek gods in all their maleness—but I had best not tell you more lest I offend those innocent ears.’

      Sarah dimpled and shook her head at her unrepentant brother, turning her bewitching smile on Catherine.

      ‘You will forgive us for neglecting you, Mistress Catherine, but it seems an age since my brother was here with us. He has sent messages and gifts from his journeying, but to have him here is a gift beyond price.’

      ‘Yes, I imagine it must be so. I have only my father, my aunt and cousin. It must be pleasant to have brothers and sisters.’

      ‘I have another sister,’ Sarah told her. ‘Agatha is some fifteen years older and has a different mother, but Nick and I are true brother and sister. We had another brother, Harry, but he died when travelling in Italy with friends. It was some years ago and I was but a child, so I hardly remember him, but Nick adored him of course.’ Following her gaze across the table, Catherine saw that the laughter had faded from Sir Nicholas’s eyes and wondered at it. What could cause him to look like that? There was bleakness and anger in his face, a kind of haunting sadness that somehow touched her heart.

      ‘That was sad for your family,’ she said. ‘It is always hard to lose someone you love.’

      ‘Yes, but much harder for Nick than me,’ Sarah said, seeming to become aware of her brother’s silence. ‘And Matthew has three sisters and two brothers, of course.’ She looked fondly at her husband. ‘We are truly blessed with our family in having many of them close by.’

      Her husband smiled at her and addressed some trifling remark to Nick about his journey. After that, the talk was turned to politics, touching briefly on the plot concerning the Duke of Norfolk’s alleged attempt to arrange a marriage with Mary of Scots without seeking the Queen’s permission, and then veering to the shocking prices of wheat and wool, before coming round to family matters. Catherine found the time passed very pleasantly, and though she said little herself she enjoyed the conversation of others.

      She was aware that Sir Nicholas had given the evening a touch of spice with his stories, many of which she was sure he had invented purely for his sister’s amusement. That he was a clever man well able to hold his own in any company she could not doubt. However, she clung stubbornly to her picture of him as an idle rogue who wasted his time with feckless companions and thought it amusing to throw rotten fruit at a hapless actor.

      It was past nine when Sarah took the ladies to her parlour for a sweet tisane, which she said would give them ease and aid their rest in a strange bed.

      ‘Matthew and Nick will talk long into the night,’ she said, СКАЧАТЬ