Page 22 of A Sense of Fate
‘No, don’t bother. I might as well look at them, seeing as you have brought them.’
A friendship that filled a need in them both was thus born. Mrs Finch was more generous than the countess and readily admitted that Flora’s ointment had made a difference to her mobility. It didn’t take her long to admit that she also enjoyed the books Flora selected for her. She made no mention of the supply of firewood that Flora had surreptitiously arranged for Will to deliver to her shed. Pride was conducting full scale warfare with the need to survive in comfort, Flora presumed.
Mrs Finch told Flora that she had been born into a middle class family who harboured ambitions for her. Her intelligence was encouraged and she was sent to a decent school, where she excelled.
‘What did they have in mind for you?’ Flora asked one day, leaning forward on the stool she sat on, similar to the one she had once occupied at the countess’s feet, but less comfortable.
‘Marriage, love. What else is there?’
Flora rolled her eyes. ‘What indeed? Why is it assumed that a woman cannot be content if she remains unmarried? Besides, why encourage your love of learning if you were destined for marriage and motherhood?’
‘Well, I did marry, obviously.’ She chuckled. ‘I was quite something in my youth, I don’t mind telling you. I turned heads and the doors to superior households were opened to me, thanks in part to my father’s wealth. The high and mighty generously overlooked the fact that it came fromtrade.’ She spoke the final word in a shocked, theatrical whisper that made Flora smile. ‘Finch wasn’t the man my family had in mind for me. They had loftier ideas. I was their pretty daughter who could talk intelligently on any number of subjects, not necessarily in English, and who was supposed to aim higher than a common seaman. But…well, I fell in love. The family washed their hands of me, Finch went down with his ship not a year after we were wed and I found myself penniless and obliged to make my own way.’
‘That’s so incredibly sad. Why would your family not take you back? You were still young.’
‘I was grieving, that’s what they couldn’t understand. They seemed to think that if we didn’t mention Finch, it didn’t happen and my love for him was a momentary indiscretion that could be overlooked.’ She shook her head. ‘I was having none of it, so I struck out for independence—a bit like you did—only it was that much harder for a young gel forty years ago.’
‘What did you do?’
‘Took a position with a good family here in Lyneham as a governess. They had eight children, spread out in years, so my services were required until I reached my retiring age.’
‘That was fortunate.’
‘Lazy little devils they were, the whole bunch of them. Full of mischief and with no interest in bettering their minds.’
‘Well, that’s often the way.’ Flora tried not to shiver when a gust of wind found its way around the window frame, causing the fire to gutter and smoke. ‘Are the family still in residence?’
‘No. The parents died and the children all married and are scattered across the country. One or two write, but only occasionally. The family home was sold. There was some sort of financial crisis, I think.’ She grunted. ‘Isn’t there always?’
‘Well, they should have taken better care of you before the downturn in their fortunes arrived.’
‘They pensioned me off, which was enough. I don’t need charity.’
Flora grinned. ‘Yes you do.’
‘Disrespectful hoyden!’
‘So my father never wastes an opportunity to tell me.’
Recollections of those earlier discussions with Mrs Finch as they got to know and like one another percolated through Flora’s mind as she drove as quickly as Mabel would allow to her home on the day before her luncheon with Archie. She pulled the gig under the cover of the outhouse, where the horse would be protected from the worst of the elements.
‘Hello, Mrs Finch.’ Flora put her head round the door and a waft of smoky air almost choked her. Mrs Finch felt the cold, and thanks to Flora’s supply of logs she was able to heat her cottage until it became too warm for Flora’s comfort. The countess had done the same thing, claiming that warmth helped with the pain in her joints. ‘It’s going to snow. I’ve brought you some of Beatrice’s fresh bread and I thought you might enjoyJane Eyre.’
‘You know I have little time for novels.’
‘Nonsense! I happen to know that you absorb them like a flower takes in water. Anyway, I shall leave the book with you.’
Flora examined Mrs Finch’s ankles, applied the necessary ointment and then made them tea and sliced the cake she had also brought with her. They had fallen into the routine of pretending that the cake appeared by magic. Mrs Finch’s pride prevented her from thanking Flora for her generosity, and not just in terms of the practical help she offered. The old lady lived, Flora knew, for her visits and their lively exchange of views.
Flora enjoyed those visits very much.
Despite her comparatively reclusive lifestyle there were few people in the village and beyond whom Mrs Finch was not acquainted with. She was well versed in Luke’s familial circumstances, which is how she had known who Flora was when they first met.
‘I am taking luncheon with Lord Felsham tomorrow,’ Flora said, biting into her cake. ‘Are you very shocked?’
‘Good heavens, no!’ She chuckled. ‘If I was your age, I would be jumping all over him. He’s dark and dangerous and…well, he’s all the things that our mothers warned us to avoid, which simply makes the temptations on offer that much more irresistible.’
Flora laughed. ‘I’m sure you would happily throw your younger self at him, but it isn’t that way with us. Archie is grateful because I helped to ease his pain. He was even more stubborn than you when I first made the suggestion. His male pride got in the way I expect. Anyway, he eventually accepted that I knew what I was talking about and we became friends.’
