Read Online The Dead Songbird (The Northminster Mysteries) by Harriet Smart - Free Book Online
Authors: Harriet Smart
Tags: Fiction
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her dolls or fiddling with bits of twine, as if she were doing some great work, but only ravelling then up and ravelling down. Those were the good passages.
Then were the times when she was sullen with her private miseries, and did nothing but sit, rocking back and forth, never meeting the eye of another soul, least of all his. Perhaps Sally was right and he ought not to move her. But at the same time he knew it would prey on his conscience more not at least to attempt something new.
It had been an exceptional marriage, in the sense that it was rare for English officers in Canada to be married there. Any wives remained at home, and most of his fellow officers were not married. Laura was an Englishwoman stranded in Ontario by an accident of family circumstance. She was the niece of the Colonel of another regiment who was pleased to get her settled and off his hands. He had no inclination to live respectably and the girl was something of an inconvenience. He committed himself only to finding her a good marriage in as short a possible time as possible. Giles was an unblemished prospect – letters went back and forth across the Atlantic, all parties were mutually approved and Miss Romney and Captain Vernon were allowed the uncustomary indulgence of making a match of it.
The local girls were annoyed to see that one of the red-coated gentlemen who formed a necessary part of their assemblies had been allowed to marry after all. They wondered in vain if any other exceptions might be made but then learnt the hard truth – Englishmen only married in their own circles. They flirted a great deal but it was never to be taken seriously.
As a result the new Mrs Vernon was not popular with the local girls and ladies, especially as the other officers made such a pet of her. They had no Colonel’s lady, but they had Mrs Vernon, and gave her her due and much more, as the senior woman connected with the regiment, and the doyenne of an already constricted society.
For a high-spirited girl of twenty, not entirely sensible, with only a patchy education, this was not the best of situations. But she was sharp as a needle – that was what had drawn Giles in from the start and he thought that her intelligence would grow with her years and that marriage and his protection would settle her. Colonel Romney was more explicit. He told Giles that he would not have trusted her to a lesser man – he would correct that slight giddiness she exhibited from time to time. There was nothing to fear. They were well matched in temperament, fortune and position. It augured well.
For the first six months they were happy. The novelty of their situation was enough to keep them cheerful. Giles liked the comforts that a domestic establishment brought him – her cat, his well-cared for linen, the posies of flowers about the house. He liked the intimacy – having conversations in bed, sleeping with her locked in his arms, his face buried in her hair. He liked the unrestrained pleasures of marital love and discovered, once beyond her innocence, that she was saucy and as eager as he was.
He knew that these pleasures would soon be interrupted, imagining in the normal way that there would be children. He had anticipated this to the extent that he gave up one of his horses, and made a few what he hoped were prudent investments back in Northumberland. He acquired a couple of small farms near his brother’s estate, to which he hoped to add in future years, much as he hoped to add to the stock of Vernons on the earth. Indeed all his family wished them well in this endeavour. His siblings professed to love Laura without ever having seen her, in their typically generous way. Johnny, his elder brother and the squire, was a settled old bachelor and had put a substantial amount of money down on the table on the occasion of Giles’ match, rather expecting him to take the trouble and the risk of getting an heir for his property.
The trouble and the risk proved great enough.
Then were the times when she was sullen with her private miseries, and did nothing but sit, rocking back and forth, never meeting the eye of another soul, least of all his. Perhaps Sally was right and he ought not to move her. But at the same time he knew it would prey on his conscience more not at least to attempt something new.
It had been an exceptional marriage, in the sense that it was rare for English officers in Canada to be married there. Any wives remained at home, and most of his fellow officers were not married. Laura was an Englishwoman stranded in Ontario by an accident of family circumstance. She was the niece of the Colonel of another regiment who was pleased to get her settled and off his hands. He had no inclination to live respectably and the girl was something of an inconvenience. He committed himself only to finding her a good marriage in as short a possible time as possible. Giles was an unblemished prospect – letters went back and forth across the Atlantic, all parties were mutually approved and Miss Romney and Captain Vernon were allowed the uncustomary indulgence of making a match of it.
The local girls were annoyed to see that one of the red-coated gentlemen who formed a necessary part of their assemblies had been allowed to marry after all. They wondered in vain if any other exceptions might be made but then learnt the hard truth – Englishmen only married in their own circles. They flirted a great deal but it was never to be taken seriously.
As a result the new Mrs Vernon was not popular with the local girls and ladies, especially as the other officers made such a pet of her. They had no Colonel’s lady, but they had Mrs Vernon, and gave her her due and much more, as the senior woman connected with the regiment, and the doyenne of an already constricted society.
For a high-spirited girl of twenty, not entirely sensible, with only a patchy education, this was not the best of situations. But she was sharp as a needle – that was what had drawn Giles in from the start and he thought that her intelligence would grow with her years and that marriage and his protection would settle her. Colonel Romney was more explicit. He told Giles that he would not have trusted her to a lesser man – he would correct that slight giddiness she exhibited from time to time. There was nothing to fear. They were well matched in temperament, fortune and position. It augured well.
For the first six months they were happy. The novelty of their situation was enough to keep them cheerful. Giles liked the comforts that a domestic establishment brought him – her cat, his well-cared for linen, the posies of flowers about the house. He liked the intimacy – having conversations in bed, sleeping with her locked in his arms, his face buried in her hair. He liked the unrestrained pleasures of marital love and discovered, once beyond her innocence, that she was saucy and as eager as he was.
He knew that these pleasures would soon be interrupted, imagining in the normal way that there would be children. He had anticipated this to the extent that he gave up one of his horses, and made a few what he hoped were prudent investments back in Northumberland. He acquired a couple of small farms near his brother’s estate, to which he hoped to add in future years, much as he hoped to add to the stock of Vernons on the earth. Indeed all his family wished them well in this endeavour. His siblings professed to love Laura without ever having seen her, in their typically generous way. Johnny, his elder brother and the squire, was a settled old bachelor and had put a substantial amount of money down on the table on the occasion of Giles’ match, rather expecting him to take the trouble and the risk of getting an heir for his property.
The trouble and the risk proved great enough.
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