Daphne (17 page)

At last he rose and went out into the peace of the early evening. All at once he felt very normal and
ordinary. He could not quite explain it, but he felt neither very good nor very bad.

He took a deep breath of fresh air. It smelled of evergreen and woodsmoke and damp, rotting leaves.

Squire Radford heard someone whistling
Brighton Beach
and twitched the curtain and looked out of his library window. The Reverend Charles Armitage, whistling jauntily, was strolling up the drive.

The squire let out a long sigh of relief. ‘Ram,’ he said over his shoulder, ‘the very
best
port, I think, and set two places for dinner.’

The vicar strolled homewards after an excellent dinner, well content with the world. It was pleasant to feel comfortable inside his own skin again.

A blustery, jolly wind was tossing the bare branches and a hunter’s moon rode high above.

The sight of two carriages drawn up outside the vicarage door made him pause, his pleasure
momentarily
dimmed by the thought that the bishop might have come to call.

Then he espied Lady Godoiphin’s lozenge on one of the panels.

Whistling cheerfully, he walked into the vicarage parlour.

The whistle died on his lips.

Daphne, Mr Garfield, Lady Godolphin, Colonel Arthur Brian, Diana, Frederica, and his wife were all lined up, obviously waiting for him. He thought uneasily that they looked like a jury deliberating on a particularly nasty murder.

‘Hey, ho!’ said the vicar. ‘What’s to do?’

Daphne rose to her feet. ‘I must have a word with you in private.’

‘Oh. About something you’ve all cooked up between you by the look of it,’ growled the vicar. ‘Very well, miss. You may follow me.’

He led the way into the study and closed the door behind them.

‘Now, miss,’ he said. ‘I don’t suppose I may hope for good news? That’s Garfield in there.’

‘You may ask for good news on one condition,’ said Daphne primly.

‘Which is?’

‘I will marry Mr Garfield if you keep your hunt …’

‘Done! Already decided on that.’

‘
And
if you allow Diana to go hunting.’

‘Now look, Daphne,’ said the vicar, ‘it does you credit. Thought you wanted to marry Archer?’

Daphne looked at her father in amazement and then realized he did not know the story of Mr Archer’s coercion. She could only hope he never did. For if he did he would demand to know what had prompted Archer to think he had a hold over her.

‘No. I do not want to marry Mr Archer. I will marry Mr Garfield. But only if you allow Diana to hunt.’

The vicar thought of the Garfield fortune, he thought of the triumph of having another successful marriage in the family, he thought of Diana hunting
with him and frowned. But he could deal with that in the future. He might find a way around it.

‘Very well then,’ he said.

Daphne pulled forward the copy of the Bible that the vicar had been reading earlier.

‘Swear on the Bible, Papa.’

‘Not even trusted by my own daughter,’ grumbled the vicar. But nonetheless, he pulled forward the Bible and said, ‘I solemnly do swear that Diana may go hunting with me.’

‘Oh, Papa,’ laughed Daphne. ‘Now I have tricked you, for I would have married Mr Garfield whatever you said.’

‘Minx,’ said the vicar. But he could not help grinning at her happiness.

They went back to the parlour, arm in arm. Daphne shouted the good news and everyone cheered, even Mrs Armitage, although she did not quite know what she was cheering about.

‘Glad to see you in your right mind, Charles,’ said Lady Godolphin. ‘We was told you’d gone all rantin’ and ravin’ and striking fear into the hearts of everyone.’

Had he? To the vicar it all seemed like a bad dream.

Daphne and Mr Garfield were standing over by the window, gazing into each other’s eyes, and the vicar heaved a sentimental sigh of satisfaction.

‘When can we go hunting, Papa?’ came Diana’s voice at his elbow.

‘Hey, what! Well, as to that, Diana,’ said the vicar
with a furtive look round to make sure no one was listening. ‘There’s one little bit of a condition.’

‘Which is?’

The vicar mopped his brow. ‘I would like you to wear an old coat and breeches o’ the twins when you come out with me,’ he said. ‘And tuck that hair o’ yourn under a hat. Don’t want no one to know there’s a female with the hunt. Wouldn’t do, you see.’

‘Oh, is
that
all,’ laughed Diana. ‘I will gladly wear boy’s clothes. I do not want to be a girl anyway and I am never going to marry.’

Daphne caught the last part of this exchange. ‘Diana, I know that you will fall in love one day and be as happy as I.’

‘Pooh!’ said Diana Armitage as she thrust her hands in the pockets of her riding dress. ‘Never!’

Daphne turned back to her fiancé. ‘Do you really love me?’ she asked anxiously.

‘Now, haven’t I told you enough?’ smiled Mr Garfield.

Lady Godolphin’s voice was raised in the corner.

‘Arthur,’ she was saying, ‘I feel I should urge Diana to be careful and always ride sidesaddle. Young Miss Betts, her that was so pretty, well she
would
ride astride just like a man and she went and broke her hymnal before the wedding day and her husband kept screaming she was Haymarket ware.’

‘Let us go into the garden, my love,’ whispered Mr Garfield. ‘For I fear if we stay near Lady Godolphin much longer then the purity of our minds will be well and truly corrupted!’

M. C. Beaton
is the author of the hugely successful Agatha Raisin and Hamish Macbeth series, as well as a quartet of Edwardian murder mysteries
featuring
heroine Lady Rose Summer, the Travelling Matchmaker Regency romance series and a
stand-alone
murder mystery,
The Skeleton in the Closet
– all published by Constable & Robinson. She left a full-time career in journalism to turn to writing, and now divides her time between the Cotswolds and Paris. Visit www.agatharaisin.com for more.

The Six Sisters

Minerva
•
The Taming of Annabelle
•
Deirdre and Desire
Daphne
•
Diana the Huntress
•
Frederica in Fashion

The Edwardian Murder Mystery series

Snobbery with Violence
•
Hasty Death
•
Sick of Shadows
Our Lady of Pain

The Travelling Matchmaker series

Emily Goes to Exeter
•
Belinda Goes to Bath
•
Penelope Goes to Portsmouth
Beatrice Goes to Brighton
•
Deborah Goes to Dover
•
Yvonne Goes to York

The Agatha Raisin series

Agatha Raisin and the Quiche of Death
•
Agatha Raisin and the Vicious Vet
Agatha Raisin and the Potted Gardener
•
Agatha Raisin and the Walkers of Dembley
Agatha Raisin and the Murderous Marriage
•
Agatha Raisin and the Terrible Tourist
Agatha Raisin and the Wellspring of Death
•
Agatha Raisin and the Wizard of Evesham
Agatha Raisin and the Witch of Wyckhadden
Agatha Raisin and the Fairies of Fryfam
•
Agatha Raisin and the Love from Hell
Agatha Raisin and the Day the Floods Came
Agatha Raisin and the Curious Curate
•
Agatha Raisin and the Haunted House
Agatha Raisin and the Deadly Dance
•
Agatha Raisin and the Perfect Paragon
Agatha Raisin and Love, Lies and Liquor
Agatha Raisin and Kissing Christmas Goodbye
Agatha Raisin and a Spoonful of Poison
•
Agatha Raisin: There Goes the Bride
Agatha Raisin and the Busy Body
•
Agatha Raisin: As the Pig Turns

The Hamish Macbeth series
Death of a Gossip
•
Death of a Cad
•
Death of an Outsider
Death of a Perfect Wife
•
Death of a Hussy
•
Death of a Snob
Death of a Prankster
•
Death of a Glutton
•
Death of a Travelling Man
Death of a Charming Man
•
Death of a Nag
•
Death of a Macho Man
Death of a Dentist
•
Death of a Scriptwriter
•
Death of an Addict
A Highland Christmas
•
Death of a Dustman
•
Death of a Celebrity
Death of a Village
•
Death of a Poison Pen
•
Death of a Bore
Death of a Dreamer
•
Death of a Maid
•
Death of a Gentle Lady
Death of a Witch
•
Death of a Valentine
•
Death of a Sweep
Death of a Kingfisher

The Skeleton in the Closet