circumstances in such a way that he compelled her to agree to what he suggested.
She was up early on Sunday morning, getting breakfast for herself and Gustavus, explaining to him that she would have toleave him alone. ‘But you shall have something nice for supper,’ she promised him. The professor hadn’t said how long they would be gone, or where. She frowned. He really did take her for granted; next time she would have a good excuse …
It was just before ten o’clock when he knocked on her door. He wished her good morning in a casual manner which gave her the feeling that they had known each other all their lives. ‘We’ll take Gustavus, if you like. He’ll be happier in the car than sitting by himself all day.’
‘Well, yes, perhaps—if George and Max won’t mind and it’s not too long.’
‘No distance.’ He was settling Gustavus in his basket. ‘A breath of country air will do him good.’
Mrs Towzer wasn’t in the hall but her door was just a little open. As the professor opened the door he said, ‘We shall be back this evening, Mrs Towzer,’ just as her face appeared in the crack in the door.
‘She’s not being nosy,’ said Theodosia as they drove away. ‘She’s just interested.’
She turned her head a little and found George and Max leaning against her seat, anxious to greet her and not in the least bothered by Gustavus in his basket. She was filled with happiness; it was a bright, cold morning and the winter sun shone, the car was warm and comfortable and she was sitting beside the man she loved. What more could a girl want? A great deal, of course, but Theodosia, being the girl she was, was content with what she had at the moment.
‘Where are we going?’ she asked presently. ‘This is the way to Finchingfield.’
‘Don’t worry, we are not going to your great-aunts’. I have a little cottage a few miles from Saffron Walden; I thought we could go there, walk the dogs and have a picnic lunch. Meg has put something in a basket for us.’
He didn’t take the motorway but turned off at Brentwood and took the secondary roads toBishop’s Stortford and after a few miles turned off again into a country road which led presently to a village. It was a small village, its narrow main street lined with small cottages before broadening into a village green ringed by larger cottages and several houses, all of them overshadowed by the church.
The professor turned into a narrow lane leading from the green and stopped, got out to open a gate in the hedge and then drove through it along a short paved driveway, with a hedge on one side of it and a fair-sized garden on the other, surrounding a reed-thatched, beetle-browed cottage with a porch and small latticed windows, its brick walls faded to a dusty pink. The same bricks had been used for the walls on either side of it which separated the front garden from the back of the house, pierced by small wooden doors.
The professor got out, opened Theodosia’s door and then released the dogs.
‘Gustavus …’ began Theodosia.
‘We will take him straight through to the garden at the back. There’s a high wall, so he’ll be quite safe there and he can get into the cottage.’
He unlocked one of the small doors and urged her through with the dogs weaving themselves to and fro and she could see that it was indeed so; the garden was large, sloping down to the fields and surrounded by a high brick wall. It was an old-fashioned garden with narrow brick paths between beds which were empty now, but she had no doubt they would be filled with rows of orderly vegetables later on. Beyond the beds was a lawn with fruit bushes to one side of it and apple trees.
‘Oh, how lovely—even in winter it’s perfect.’
He sat Gustavus’s basket down, opened it and presently Gustavus poked out a cautious head and then sidled out.
‘He’s not used to being out of doors,’ said Theodosia anxiously, ‘only on the roof outside my window. At least, not since
She was up early on Sunday morning, getting breakfast for herself and Gustavus, explaining to him that she would have toleave him alone. ‘But you shall have something nice for supper,’ she promised him. The professor hadn’t said how long they would be gone, or where. She frowned. He really did take her for granted; next time she would have a good excuse …
It was just before ten o’clock when he knocked on her door. He wished her good morning in a casual manner which gave her the feeling that they had known each other all their lives. ‘We’ll take Gustavus, if you like. He’ll be happier in the car than sitting by himself all day.’
‘Well, yes, perhaps—if George and Max won’t mind and it’s not too long.’
‘No distance.’ He was settling Gustavus in his basket. ‘A breath of country air will do him good.’
Mrs Towzer wasn’t in the hall but her door was just a little open. As the professor opened the door he said, ‘We shall be back this evening, Mrs Towzer,’ just as her face appeared in the crack in the door.
‘She’s not being nosy,’ said Theodosia as they drove away. ‘She’s just interested.’
She turned her head a little and found George and Max leaning against her seat, anxious to greet her and not in the least bothered by Gustavus in his basket. She was filled with happiness; it was a bright, cold morning and the winter sun shone, the car was warm and comfortable and she was sitting beside the man she loved. What more could a girl want? A great deal, of course, but Theodosia, being the girl she was, was content with what she had at the moment.
‘Where are we going?’ she asked presently. ‘This is the way to Finchingfield.’
‘Don’t worry, we are not going to your great-aunts’. I have a little cottage a few miles from Saffron Walden; I thought we could go there, walk the dogs and have a picnic lunch. Meg has put something in a basket for us.’
He didn’t take the motorway but turned off at Brentwood and took the secondary roads toBishop’s Stortford and after a few miles turned off again into a country road which led presently to a village. It was a small village, its narrow main street lined with small cottages before broadening into a village green ringed by larger cottages and several houses, all of them overshadowed by the church.
The professor turned into a narrow lane leading from the green and stopped, got out to open a gate in the hedge and then drove through it along a short paved driveway, with a hedge on one side of it and a fair-sized garden on the other, surrounding a reed-thatched, beetle-browed cottage with a porch and small latticed windows, its brick walls faded to a dusty pink. The same bricks had been used for the walls on either side of it which separated the front garden from the back of the house, pierced by small wooden doors.
The professor got out, opened Theodosia’s door and then released the dogs.
‘Gustavus …’ began Theodosia.
‘We will take him straight through to the garden at the back. There’s a high wall, so he’ll be quite safe there and he can get into the cottage.’
He unlocked one of the small doors and urged her through with the dogs weaving themselves to and fro and she could see that it was indeed so; the garden was large, sloping down to the fields and surrounded by a high brick wall. It was an old-fashioned garden with narrow brick paths between beds which were empty now, but she had no doubt they would be filled with rows of orderly vegetables later on. Beyond the beds was a lawn with fruit bushes to one side of it and apple trees.
‘Oh, how lovely—even in winter it’s perfect.’
He sat Gustavus’s basket down, opened it and presently Gustavus poked out a cautious head and then sidled out.
‘He’s not used to being out of doors,’ said Theodosia anxiously, ‘only on the roof outside my window. At least, not since
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