Read Online Prue Phillipson - Hordens of Horden Hall by Hearts Restored - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Hearts Restored
Ads: Link
first speech had become Nana Sula. Without any shame he still called her that. Running in on his Saturday afternoons home from the Grammar School his first words had always been, “Nana Sula, I’m back.” What would she say to him joining the navy?
Quite unable to sleep now his thoughts turned to other facets of his home life. There were his other grandparents, Joseph and Anne Wilson who always dined with them after Sunday service. They didn’t live in the Hall but in the vicarage at Nether Horden where the Reverend Joseph had quietly stepped into the empty benefice, laid aside his surplice for the Puritan times and would perhaps be wearing it again now the King was back.
It was a relief to remember that his French grandmother, Lady Maria Horden, Aunt Henrietta and the girls were all Catholic and would perhaps find a clandestine Mass somewhere in Newcastle. Nana Sula was Catholic too and was encouraged to attend from time to time though she did not demand the privilege often. At least she would know where a Mass could be had if they were keen to find one, though he had seen no great eagerness yet on his cousins’ part to flaunt their religion. But they would not attend the Nether Horden church and Daniel would not have to be embarrassed at the brief simplicity of his Grandfather Wilson’s sermons, always on the theme of love and peace. It was easy to see how his father had absorbed that message all his childhood.
What he did wonder was how his Grandmother Wilson would tolerate Lady Horden. Grandmother Wilson despised all airs and graces and believed every woman however high borne should be devoted to good works. Shattered in her mind for a while by the terrible fate of her son Daniel, most loved because he was weak in the head, she was still liable to changes of mood and all too outspoken at times. Sunday lunches, her grandson Daniel foresaw, would be very uncomfortable.
He wished he had not been named after his uncle. Grandmother Wilson was sparked into recollections of that unfortunate young man whenever she heard his name spoken. Would she recount the terrible injustice of his hanging on the very first occasion that she met the newcomers? Although she had managed to accept the innocence of his mother’s tragic part she could never forget that Grandfather Horden was the magistrate and his son, Robert, the one who had stirred the crowd to the lynching. Being under the roof of Horden Hall was liable to bring on one of her reminiscences and meeting Lady Horden, the widow of Sir John and mother of no-good Robert could be a harrowing experience.
Daniel, tossing and turning, finally pulled off his nightshirt and slid his naked body between the sheets. Had his parents considered what a hornet’s nest they might be creating by mixing up the two families for an indefinite period?
Of course he wanted to see them all at home again but if he volunteered for the navy now he would be spared the unpleasantness of seeing two incompatible worlds collided. Boys became midshipmen younger than he . . . .With that thought he finally fell asleep
CHAPTER 7
Daylight the next morning showed him that his dream of entering the navy now would have to wait. Everything the French family said about their forthcoming visit to Horden included him. His parents spoke of hiring extra horses for Madeline and Diana so they could ride with him as he showed them the farms and woods on the estate. He was still viewed as a boy and the family’s plans were his plans.
It was the same with the proposed visit to William and Eunice.
His mother said, “Your father and I have decided against accepting Cousin Celia’s offer of the coach to visit William and Eunice. We will go on foot in our plainest garments. Put on the clothes you came in and be ready to go immediately after breakfast.”
Celia told then William went out in summer very early to preach in the markets but would be back for some breakfast. “He’s at it most mornings though he has no
Quite unable to sleep now his thoughts turned to other facets of his home life. There were his other grandparents, Joseph and Anne Wilson who always dined with them after Sunday service. They didn’t live in the Hall but in the vicarage at Nether Horden where the Reverend Joseph had quietly stepped into the empty benefice, laid aside his surplice for the Puritan times and would perhaps be wearing it again now the King was back.
It was a relief to remember that his French grandmother, Lady Maria Horden, Aunt Henrietta and the girls were all Catholic and would perhaps find a clandestine Mass somewhere in Newcastle. Nana Sula was Catholic too and was encouraged to attend from time to time though she did not demand the privilege often. At least she would know where a Mass could be had if they were keen to find one, though he had seen no great eagerness yet on his cousins’ part to flaunt their religion. But they would not attend the Nether Horden church and Daniel would not have to be embarrassed at the brief simplicity of his Grandfather Wilson’s sermons, always on the theme of love and peace. It was easy to see how his father had absorbed that message all his childhood.
What he did wonder was how his Grandmother Wilson would tolerate Lady Horden. Grandmother Wilson despised all airs and graces and believed every woman however high borne should be devoted to good works. Shattered in her mind for a while by the terrible fate of her son Daniel, most loved because he was weak in the head, she was still liable to changes of mood and all too outspoken at times. Sunday lunches, her grandson Daniel foresaw, would be very uncomfortable.
He wished he had not been named after his uncle. Grandmother Wilson was sparked into recollections of that unfortunate young man whenever she heard his name spoken. Would she recount the terrible injustice of his hanging on the very first occasion that she met the newcomers? Although she had managed to accept the innocence of his mother’s tragic part she could never forget that Grandfather Horden was the magistrate and his son, Robert, the one who had stirred the crowd to the lynching. Being under the roof of Horden Hall was liable to bring on one of her reminiscences and meeting Lady Horden, the widow of Sir John and mother of no-good Robert could be a harrowing experience.
Daniel, tossing and turning, finally pulled off his nightshirt and slid his naked body between the sheets. Had his parents considered what a hornet’s nest they might be creating by mixing up the two families for an indefinite period?
Of course he wanted to see them all at home again but if he volunteered for the navy now he would be spared the unpleasantness of seeing two incompatible worlds collided. Boys became midshipmen younger than he . . . .With that thought he finally fell asleep
CHAPTER 7
Daylight the next morning showed him that his dream of entering the navy now would have to wait. Everything the French family said about their forthcoming visit to Horden included him. His parents spoke of hiring extra horses for Madeline and Diana so they could ride with him as he showed them the farms and woods on the estate. He was still viewed as a boy and the family’s plans were his plans.
It was the same with the proposed visit to William and Eunice.
His mother said, “Your father and I have decided against accepting Cousin Celia’s offer of the coach to visit William and Eunice. We will go on foot in our plainest garments. Put on the clothes you came in and be ready to go immediately after breakfast.”
Celia told then William went out in summer very early to preach in the markets but would be back for some breakfast. “He’s at it most mornings though he has no
Similar Books
