Page 52 of A Sense of Paradise
‘It’s too nice a day to remain indoors.’
‘Quite so,’ Polly agreed, ‘but we must be getting back. Miss Latimer will be returning soon and will have need of me.’
‘I will walk with you,’ Pawson said, again swinging Alice onto his shoulders. He didn’t invite Eloise to return with them and seemed perfectly willing to leave her to her own devices.
Before they could leave, Flora strolled up to join them, swinging an empty basket in one hand. Pawson, Eloise noted, greeted her with a great deal more genuine pleasure than he had summoned up for Eloise.
‘I can see that you have your work cut out for you,’ Flora said, smiling up at Alice, who waved back from her perch.
‘Horsey!’ Alice cried, making them all smile.
‘Beatrice will have an early dinner ready for us soon,’ Flora said. ‘Shall you stay and eat with us, Mr Pawson?’
‘Thank you, ma’am, but his lordship will be expecting me back. You know how he can get when he’s kept waiting.’
Flora rolled her eyes. ‘Don’t remind me.’
The party made slow progress back to Fox Hollow through a street full of people promenading on a fine Sunday afternoon. Almost everyone they passed acknowledged Flora and she took the trouble to respond to each of them by name. Their acceptance of her circumstances caused Eloise to revise the stuffy attitude of the English as a nation towards kept women. None of them seemed to resent the fact that Archie was responsible for Flora’s living arrangements.
But then Archie was universally popular, at least here in Lyneham—although she’d overheard one or two rumblings of discontent in Felsham itself, which was an oddity. She wondered what he had done to disappoint the residents of the village closest to his home. Perhaps they didn’t take such a liberal view of Flora’s existence because her good work did not extend quite that far. Eloise was almost happy to think that there might be people who didn’t actually like her rival for Archie’s affections, but then felt ashamed of herself for harbouring such uncharitable thoughts.
‘Hello, what’s going on over there?’ Pawson was instantly alert when an altercation broke out in the middle of the street. ‘Go back to the cottage, ladies. I will join you directly.’
He lowered Alice to the ground and Polly scurried away, taking her daughter to safety. But Flora and Eloise were drawn to the growing melee. A man stood in the centre of it, looking bloody and bruised yet defiant.
‘I saw him in Felsham village. He was outside the tavern, saying wicked things about Archie,’ Eloise said sharply.
‘That’s Baldock, a former tenant of his lordship’s, who was evicted from his cottage for thieving. Now he’s here, trying to stir up trouble.’
‘There she is, the trollop!’ the man called Baldock shouted, pointing an accusing finger at Flora.
‘Don’t!’ Flora held Pawson’s arm to prevent him from interceding. ‘This should be interesting.’
‘What are you on about?’ someone asked. ‘You’re foxed and out to make trouble. Miss Latimer don’t do nothing but good around these parts and what she does or doesn’t do the rest of the time ain’t no business of yours.’
To Eloise’s astonishment a rumble of agreement echoed through the crowd until Baldock was obliged to run before he was set upon.
‘Am I now a scarlet woman, Mr Pawson?’ Flora asked, blushing furiously and looking very distressed by a possibility that she must have anticipated. This was a small village and it was clear that everyone took an avid interest in everyone else’s business. Yet they didn’t seem to mind that their paragon of herbal cures was liberal with her favours.
‘Don’t you worry none about that lout, pet,’ a woman came up and said to Flora. ‘He’s just got a bee in his bonnet about Lord Felsham. We all know you’re a good, honest Christian.’
Several others came up to her as Pawson escorted them home, echoing the same sentiments. Only one or two hung back, looking dubious. Archie must be very discreet when calling upon Flora, Eloise supposed, but even so, his presence had been seen and remarked upon.
‘You all right?’ Pawson asked, sending Flora a concerned look.
She swallowed. ‘Just a little shaken. I suppose I should have considered…’ She glanced at Eloise and her words trailed off, but she had said enough to confirm Eloise’s worst fears. After all, weren’t the English fond of saying that there was no smoke without fire?
‘No one believes a word of it,’ Pawson assured her, patting Flora’s hand.
Back at Fox Hollow, Eloise saw Flora whisper something intensely to Pawson. She tried to catch the words but they were spoken too quietly and too fast for her to comprehend them. Tying up arrangements for her next assignation with Archie, Eloise supposed, feeling a black mood descending as she made her way up the stairs and sought the sanctuary of her room, wondering if she should admit defeat and return home. Papa would have need of her and she was convinced that Maurice would return of his own volition before too long.
But Eloise was stubborn and had convinced herself that Archie’s attraction towards Flora was an ephemeral thing, born of gratitude. He would tire of her if he saw Eloise beside her often enough. Besides, she had come this far and was not yet ready to withdraw from the fray.
Chapter Fourteen
Flora had been repulsed by the scene in the village that afternoon, devastated by the suggestion that her relationship with Archie was unseemly. The villagers had instinctively sprung to her defence but there would always be those who doubted her moral character. She knew that Baldock had been paid to create problems, but he had done so in such a brazen manner that it defied belief. Archie would be furious when he heard of it, as he would the moment Pawson returned to Felsham Hall. It wasn’t something that could be kept from him.
She wondered if Avery had paid Baldock to goad Archie into a violent reaction. She wondered too how he could know of their close friendship and what he hoped to achieve by creating a confrontation. She sensed her father’s hand behind this entire business, which worried her a great deal more than any accusations Baldock might throw around. Her father had been backed into a corner with nothing left to lose, and now bore an almighty grudge against Archie—and, she supposed, against her as well.
