Read Online 13 - The Midsummer Rose by Kate Sedley - Free Book Online
Authors: Kate Sedley
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back on your face. While the children are outside, let’s go upstairs for a while.’
She pushed me away, almost violently. ‘I can’t be doing with all that just now, Roger!’ She sounded exasperated. ‘Men never have any sense of time, how short a day is or how much a woman has to do. Cleaning, cooking, going to market, preserving, mending, teaching the children their lessons.’
I knew that her protest was justified, but I felt hurt and angry at her rejection.
‘If that’s how you feel, then I’ll be off.’ I shouldered my pack and grabbed my cudgel from the kitchen corner.
‘Sweetheart! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to be so abrupt,’ Adela began, but she was still flushed and angry.
‘I know,’ I said lightly. ‘You’re busy. I understand.’ And so I did, but I allowed my tone to imply the opposite. ‘Well, I’ll be off. Don’t expect me back much before curfew.’
‘Roger! Wait!’
I pretended I hadn’t heard, and let myself out of the kitchen into the flagstoned passageway beyond. I hadn’t even bothered to summon Hercules, but had left him, along with the children, to be an additional burden on Adela.
By the time I began to feel ashamed of myself, I had walked as far as the Tolzey, where I managed to purchase a number of small goods – laces, needles, ribbons and suchlike – at very reasonable prices, and which I would be able to sell in the surrounding villages and hamlets for a slightly increased sum. Then I walked down to the Backs and the ships moored along the quayside of the river Avon to see if I could pick up any merchandise of a more exotic nature. Some of the masters were not as scrupulous as they should have been, and had no compunction in stealing and selling various items from the owners’ cargoes.
With my pack now three-quarters full, I decided to set out for Rownham Passage without further delay. I needed to find out for myself what had happened eleven days earlier, when I had been left for drowned by that murderous pair of women. This need was made all the more urgent by the discovery, since I awoke this morning, that my own belief in my story was beginning to falter. Ironically, with renewed health and strength had come increasing doubts about what I actually remembered. Had the ‘murder’ house and all that had happened there really been part of a delirium caused by my immersion in the river? Yesterday, I would have sworn not. Today, I was less certain.
But first, conscience dictated that I go home to make my peace with Adela; apprise her of my plans. I could also relieve her of Hercules’s unwanted presence. In addition, I could leave my pack, admitting that I had no intention of doing any work that day, and trusting that my recent purchases would be sufficient to convince her of my good intentions for the day after next, Monday.
Consequently, I once more directed my feet up High Street, giving the time of day to those of my acquaintances who chose to acknowledge me, and ignoring those who did not. But at the top, close to the High Cross, I ran into someone I would have given much to ignore, but who, unfortunately, was only too happy to welcome me with outstretched hand and a supercilious grin.
Richard Manifold.
‘I’m glad to see you up and about again, Roger,’ was his greeting. ‘You gave Adela and Mistress Walker a rare fright, falling into the Avon like that. You were delirious for days, they told me.’
I released his hand after the merest shake.
‘I was not delirious,’ I said, vexed. ‘I simply explained what had happened. Adela and Margaret chose not to believe me, that’s all.’
‘That’s not quite true,’ he objected, his grin broadening to insulting proportions. ‘In fact, Adela was so worried that your story might be genuine, she sent me to Rownham Passage to make enquiries.’
‘So she informed me,’ I answered shortly, taking exception to his choice of words. The idea that my wife would send him anywhere, rather than make a
She pushed me away, almost violently. ‘I can’t be doing with all that just now, Roger!’ She sounded exasperated. ‘Men never have any sense of time, how short a day is or how much a woman has to do. Cleaning, cooking, going to market, preserving, mending, teaching the children their lessons.’
I knew that her protest was justified, but I felt hurt and angry at her rejection.
‘If that’s how you feel, then I’ll be off.’ I shouldered my pack and grabbed my cudgel from the kitchen corner.
‘Sweetheart! I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to be so abrupt,’ Adela began, but she was still flushed and angry.
‘I know,’ I said lightly. ‘You’re busy. I understand.’ And so I did, but I allowed my tone to imply the opposite. ‘Well, I’ll be off. Don’t expect me back much before curfew.’
‘Roger! Wait!’
I pretended I hadn’t heard, and let myself out of the kitchen into the flagstoned passageway beyond. I hadn’t even bothered to summon Hercules, but had left him, along with the children, to be an additional burden on Adela.
By the time I began to feel ashamed of myself, I had walked as far as the Tolzey, where I managed to purchase a number of small goods – laces, needles, ribbons and suchlike – at very reasonable prices, and which I would be able to sell in the surrounding villages and hamlets for a slightly increased sum. Then I walked down to the Backs and the ships moored along the quayside of the river Avon to see if I could pick up any merchandise of a more exotic nature. Some of the masters were not as scrupulous as they should have been, and had no compunction in stealing and selling various items from the owners’ cargoes.
With my pack now three-quarters full, I decided to set out for Rownham Passage without further delay. I needed to find out for myself what had happened eleven days earlier, when I had been left for drowned by that murderous pair of women. This need was made all the more urgent by the discovery, since I awoke this morning, that my own belief in my story was beginning to falter. Ironically, with renewed health and strength had come increasing doubts about what I actually remembered. Had the ‘murder’ house and all that had happened there really been part of a delirium caused by my immersion in the river? Yesterday, I would have sworn not. Today, I was less certain.
But first, conscience dictated that I go home to make my peace with Adela; apprise her of my plans. I could also relieve her of Hercules’s unwanted presence. In addition, I could leave my pack, admitting that I had no intention of doing any work that day, and trusting that my recent purchases would be sufficient to convince her of my good intentions for the day after next, Monday.
Consequently, I once more directed my feet up High Street, giving the time of day to those of my acquaintances who chose to acknowledge me, and ignoring those who did not. But at the top, close to the High Cross, I ran into someone I would have given much to ignore, but who, unfortunately, was only too happy to welcome me with outstretched hand and a supercilious grin.
Richard Manifold.
‘I’m glad to see you up and about again, Roger,’ was his greeting. ‘You gave Adela and Mistress Walker a rare fright, falling into the Avon like that. You were delirious for days, they told me.’
I released his hand after the merest shake.
‘I was not delirious,’ I said, vexed. ‘I simply explained what had happened. Adela and Margaret chose not to believe me, that’s all.’
‘That’s not quite true,’ he objected, his grin broadening to insulting proportions. ‘In fact, Adela was so worried that your story might be genuine, she sent me to Rownham Passage to make enquiries.’
‘So she informed me,’ I answered shortly, taking exception to his choice of words. The idea that my wife would send him anywhere, rather than make a
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