21 A Cunning Plan
Cal settled back against the pillows with Cora curled in his arms, and sighed with contentment.
“So, tell me this cunning plan of yours,” she said, smiling up at him.
“It will sound crazy, but here goes. I propose that we get married and—”
“But—”
“No, hear me out. It’ll make more sense when you’ve heard the whole. I propose that we marry but don’t tell anyone.”
“Oh!”
“That means no gloating from a certain person, for a start. It means that you could still go to church whenever you want. Not Mr Templeton’s church, but any other church.
It means that this excess of piety from petty shopkeepers won’t hurt you because you will know that it’s unjustified.
And most of all, it means… I very much hope it means that you’ll still be able to fly. ”
“So we would carry on sharing a house and I would still call myself Cora Merrington, but really I would be Mrs Garford?”
He shifted uneasily. “Well… Mrs Garth, actually.”
“Oh!” She sat bolt upright, rocking the bed. “You are a Garth? Then Mr Goodenough’s letter was right — you are Calvin Garth! But… I cannot see… what happened? And how are you related to Mr Charles Garth?”
“He’s my nephew. My father was Edward Garth, his grandfather.
I was the fourth son, quite a bit younger than the rest, so I was always something of a lone wolf.
Even as a child, I hated the house. The Priory isn’t as big as Staineybank, but it’s in the same style, all solid stone that seemed to press down on me and squash my spirits.
I was only happy out of doors, and fortunately for me my father never put any rub in my way.
He found me a like-minded tutor, and we used to roam the woods and hills all day.
We took books with us, and if it rained we found somewhere to shelter and read Greek and Latin and talked about far distant times and places. ”
“It sounds idyllic.”
“It was, or at least I felt so. Matthew Garford was the gamekeeper there, and he became a good friend. When I was eight, I told my father that I wanted to live with Matthew in his cottage, and my father was wise enough to allow it. If I’d been the eldest son, I dare say he’d have tried harder to keep hold of me but the fourth son is of no account, so off I went, together with my tutor.
Eventually, the tutor left and somehow I became Cal Garford.
Everyone knew who I was, but there was no deference towards me, and I think it was their way of acknowledging that I was one of them now. ”
“So you became a gamekeeper yourself.”
“I did. My father died and my eldest brother, Everard, took over, but nothing changed until he died and Charles inherited.”
“Is this why he hates you, because you are family?”
“Partly. He hated having an uncle living on the estate as a mere employee, that’s true.
Mostly it’s because of the money. My father, bless him, insisted I have the same allowance as my brothers.
They eventually became independent — Everard inherited, Max became a general and Sylvester married into wealth — but I was on a gamekeeper’s wage, and unlikely ever to have a lucrative career or marry an heiress.
So my father ensured I would have my allowance for life.
It was all set down in his will, and everything handled through the lawyers in London, so Charles couldn’t do a thing about it. ”
“Apart from burning your house down.”
Cal laughed. “As if I cared about that! The worst thing he did was to employ another gamekeeper, so I was reduced to being a mere gardener. He kept the library locked to try to stop me getting in, even though that was in Father’s will too, but I still managed to get to my books.”
“Why did he never turn you off?”
“Oh, he tried, many times, but that was in Father’s will, too. A job for as long as I wanted it. Not that I minded much. I didn’t need the money, after all.”
“So when you said we could afford a gig, you really meant it.”
“Aye, I can afford to keep you in the style you’re used to, don’t worry about that. I’ve had a huge allowance for donkey’s years and spent virtually nothing of it, so there’s a tidy sum stashed away in the bank. Above forty thousand, last time I looked.”
She gasped. “You are rich! Well! To think I felt sorry for you having so few clothes.”
“Never needed them before, but I think I might buy a few things now that I’ve got a lovely lady by my side.
I’ll want to look my best if we go to church in Brinchester.
What do you think, dearest? About my plan…
is it cunning enough, do you think? Could you bear to be married to me if we pretend we’re still a pair of sinners? ”
“It would be better to be married and pretend to be sinners than to be sinners and pretend we are married,” she said slowly. “But still, pretence of any kind is abhorrent to me.”
“It can be fun, though. I’ve been pretending all my life, and it’s vastly amusing to watch Garth jump every which way to avoid acknowledging me as a relation, or to see your son sneering at the mere gardener who dared to love a gentlewoman, when I’m just as good as he is.
Don’t you think it would be entertaining to pass Mr Templeton in the village and watch him writhe with self-righteous indignation? ”
She chuckled. “And Richard, too! Oh yes, it would be fun. Is it unkind of me to feel that way? Probably it is, because poor Richard is only looking after his family and trying to keep me on the paths of righteousness. It is not his fault he failed. Cal, do you really think this would work — that we could go on pretending that we are not married? But how could it be done secretly? The banns are very public. Oh! I have had a horrible thought. If I marry, my jointure stops and Richard will have to be told, since he pays it, so it cannot be kept secret from him.”
“These are not insuperable problems, Cora love. If we suggest to Richard that, now that you’re living elsewhere, it would be more convenient for you to receive your jointure direct from the lawyers or the bank, he will very likely agree, and then you can tell the lawyers to stop the payments.
As for the banns, I have a special licence, so—”
“A special licence? So you planned this all along?”
The sudden frown on her face threw him into turmoil. Let this not go wrong! If he were to make a mull of it and lose her… it didn’t bear thinking about.
Hastily, he said, “Planned? No, just thinking ahead. As soon as it became clear that this wasn’t just a flash in the pan affair, I took steps to protect you from difficulties, should it be necessary. I took a lease on this house, in case I was asked to leave.”
“Which you were.”
“Aye, and I got the special licence in case we needed to get married in a hurry. My lawyers in London arranged it. It’s not easy to get one outside the peerage, but they managed it.
There’s a lovely old fellow over at High Frickham, a retired clergyman who lives with his two daughters.
He would marry us very discreetly, with the daughters as witnesses, and be very happy to say nothing about it, for a small consideration.
It would have to be entered in the parish register, of course, but whoever looks at that?
But it is for you to say, Cora. I’ll not push you into anything.
Whatever you want your life to be, if you’re happy, I’ll be happy. ”
She looked up at him pensively, the flickering candle throwing half her face into dancing shadow. “What do you want your life to be, Cal? Do you want us to marry?”
He hesitated, for it was the moment of truth. He could not lie to her. He gave one quick nod.
“Why?”
“Because I’m terrified of losing you,” he said with sudden heat. “If you’re free — completely free — then you could leave me at any time, and… and I don’t know what I’d do without you.”
His voice tailed off into a whisper.
For answer, she snuggled into him again, wrapping her arms around his waist. “Till death us do part?”
“To have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish,” he whispered. “Isn’t that how it goes? I want nothing more than to love and cherish you for all eternity.”
“I expect we shall bump into Roland in the afterlife, but you should be able to see him off without any trouble.”
He gave a bark of laughter. “I don’t think that’s quite how it’s supposed to work.
Cora, this is your decision to make. It’s a big one, I know that, but now you know that money’s not a problem, you can think it all over.
We don’t have to marry, we don’t have to stay here, there’s nothing we have to do.
Our life can be whatever we want it to be.
All I ask — all I’ve ever wanted from the first moment I saw you watching me in the drawing room, remember that?
— is to be allowed to share your life. Choose however you want, but let me be with you. ”
“We will always be together,” she said softly. “That I promise you. As for marriage… that I cannot decide, not yet, but I shall not leave you, be assured of that. And now — blow out the candle, will you?”
***
Cora felt she was living in a dream. The house… well, the house was not perfect, but every day they made some small improvement to it. A wall painted, a pair of new curtains hung, a table rubbed down and repolished, the wobbly leg mended. Cal was so clever with his hands!
In the coach house outside, a shiny new gig resided and a sturdy horse to pull it.
Timmy had been engaged as groom as well as general factotum, and although he knew nothing about horses, he soon befriended the ostlers at the inn across the road and proved to be a quick learner.
A corner of the hay store above the horse’s stall was turned into a tiny bedroom for him.