Sentence of Marriage (15 page)

‘She won’t go crook at you now, she knows she’s got to put up with not looking flash for a while. You talk to her about it this morning. Now what’s wrong, child?’

‘I don’t want to talk to her about it. I’m scared, Aunt Edie.’

‘What have you got to be scared of?’

‘You didn’t see the way Susannah acted when I offered before. She screamed and screamed. She even threw a plate at me.’

‘Did she, indeed?’ Edie looked shocked. ‘What did your pa say to that?’

‘He was pretty unhappy. He worries about her when she gets in a state like that.’

‘Unhappy? She’s a lucky woman to have an easy-going husband like your pa. Not every man would put up with that nonsense, even if she is with child.’ She looked closely at Amy. ‘You’ve had quite a time of it, haven’t you?’

Amy shrugged. ‘I suppose so.’

‘Right.’ Edie rose from her chair. ‘You come with me.’ Amy found herself being hurried along the passage and into the bedroom, where Susannah was sitting up in bed.

‘Now, Susannah,’ Edie said briskly. ‘You know what we were talking about before—you need something else to wear. This child’s handy with her needle, she can sort something out for you. Isn’t that right, Amy?’

‘If you want me to, Ma.’ Amy was glad of Edie’s solid presence beside her.

‘Of course she wants you to. Don’t you, Susannah?’

Susannah looked from Edie to Amy, then at the wall. ‘All right,’ she said in a small voice.

‘That’s the girl, now you’re being sensible. You tell Amy what you’d like and she can come into town with me tomorrow to buy what she needs. You’d better make a couple, Amy, that should do her.’

‘Do I have to stay in bed till that’s done?’ Susannah asked.

Amy was amazed at how docile Susannah had become. It gave her the confidence to suggest, ‘I could let one of your other dresses out.’

She cringed a little, waiting for Susannah to shout at her, but under Edie’s watchful gaze Susannah just said, ‘If you want to. Take that one, if you like.’ She pointed to the yellow dress, which was lying across a chair.

Amy picked it up and was relieved to see that it had deep seams; she guessed that the sharp-eyed Mrs Nichol had noticed Susannah’s state. ‘Oh, yes, I can easily let this one out. I’ll do it right now, then you can wear it this morning if you want.’

‘Now, aren’t you lucky to have a good little daughter like Amy?’ Edie said. That, Amy thought, was asking too much of Susannah even at her most docile. She took the dress out of the room before Edie decided to press the point.

*

Amy went into Ruatane the next day with her Aunt and Uncle, and of course Lizzie came too. Edie helped Amy choose material that as nearly as possible matched what Susannah had asked for: ‘She said it had to be dark,’ Amy reported, ‘and with little stripes if we can get it, and the stripes have to go up and down, not sideways.’

They chose a navy blue woollen fabric with fine black stripes, and a plain dark green
mousseline de laine
. Amy was grateful for Edie’s advice on how much to buy; to her it seemed a vast amount for each dress.

‘Would you help me cut it out, please, Aunt Edie?’ Amy asked. ‘I don’t quite know what sort of… well, shape to make the dresses.’

‘No shape at all, that’s the most important thing,’ Edie said. She glanced at Lizzie, who affected a profound lack of interest in their discussion. ‘Yes, you come home with us now and I’ll get you started.’

As they passed the Kelly farm Amy could see a short slash of freshly-turned dark earth running through the green of one of the roadside paddocks. When she looked more closely she noticed Ben and Frank working away with shovels, slowly extending the new drain. Lizzie nudged Amy as they drew level with the two men. ‘Watch this,’ she whispered. ‘Look, Ma, there’s Frank and Ben,’ she said in a normal voice. ‘Don’t you think Frank looks a bit thin?’

Edie tut-tutted. ‘Poor boy, yes, he does a bit. I don’t suppose they eat very well.’

‘What do you think of that drain they’re digging, Pa?’ Lizzie asked. ‘It doesn’t look quite like the ones you do.’

‘Hopeless,’ Arthur agreed, glancing at Frank and Ben working. ‘That’ll cave in as soon as the rain gets heavy. It’s not even very straight.’

‘You know, Pa,’ Lizzie said, sounding very thoughtful, ‘I just happened to be talking to Frank after church last Sunday, and he was saying how much he’s always admired you—especially the way you run the farm.’

‘Was he, indeed?’ Arthur looked over his shoulder at Frank with more interest. Amy thought back to the previous Sunday; she was quite sure Lizzie had managed no more than a brief exchange of ‘hellos’ with Frank.

‘Oh, yes, he was saying how he wished he had someone like you to ask for advice about things to do with the farm. He was just a boy, really, when his father died, and Ben doesn’t even talk much to Frank.’

Arthur gave a snort. ‘Ben doesn’t know anything about running a farm—you can see that by looking at the two of them working.’

‘No,’ Lizzie said with a sigh. ‘It’s a shame, Frank would really like to do things properly, but he hasn’t got anyone to ask. He doesn’t even get much to eat, so I suppose he’s tired half the time.’ Amy thought that was stretching things a bit far, but Arthur and Edie both looked thoughtful. Lizzie nudged Amy again, and both girls waited eagerly for Lizzie’s efforts to bear fruit.

‘Perhaps I should drop in and visit Frank some time, point out a few things to him,’ Arthur said, and Lizzie shut her eyes in frustration. Amy had to smother a giggle; Arthur visiting Frank might well give Frank some useful advice he didn’t even know he needed, but it would not be much use to Lizzie.

‘That’s a good idea, Pa,’ Lizzie said. ‘I just wonder, though… you know how unfriendly Ben is, maybe he might be a bit funny about it.’

‘Humph! I won’t bother, then.’

‘No, I see why you can’t. Poor Frank, what a pity—I know he’d love to talk to you. And he’s so thin,’ Lizzie added, somewhat irrelevantly in Amy’s opinion.

Edie stirred in her seat as an idea slowly penetrated her mind. ‘Perhaps you should ask Frank to come over for lunch some time, Arthur.’ Lizzie raised her eyes heavenwards in silent gratitude. She held her breath for a moment to see if her father would react in the right way.

‘That’s not a bad idea. It’s only neighbourly to give the lad a bit of advice if he’s got the sense to want it. All right, I’ll drop in next time I’m passing and ask him over.’ Lizzie was too much of an artist to spoil things by making any indication of approval, but she smiled triumphantly at Amy.

Edie helped Amy cut out the blue material into what looked like a small tent, then they bundled up both lots of fabric together and Amy started back home.

Lizzie walked with her to the boundary, and as soon as they were out of earshot Amy said, ‘You must have had a very quick talk with Frank last Sunday, Lizzie, for him to say all that about your father—I only heard him say hello.’

‘He asked how I was, as well. Frank’s very quiet, you know that. He would have said that about Pa if he wasn’t so shy.’

Amy reflected, not for the first time, that Lizzie had her own very individual attitude to the truth. ‘I hope you’ll invite me over as well when Frank comes? I’m looking forward to seeing him have this useful little chat with your father.’

‘Ahh. You don’t really want to come, do you?’

Amy saw to her astonishment that Lizzie actually seemed a little embarrassed. ‘I won’t if you don’t want me to—it’s a bit hard for me to get away at meal times, anyway. Don’t you want me there?’

‘I wouldn’t exactly put it like that, but… well, no, not really.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because I don’t want Frank to take any notice of anyone else—this lunch is going to be important. Much more important than when we went to his house.’

‘He’ll have to take notice of Uncle Arthur when he gets all this advice. Anyway, I don’t think Frank would pay any attention to me with you there.’

‘That depends whether he does more
listening
or
looking
. I can take care of the listening all right, but when it comes to looking… well, I’m never going to look like you, am I?’ Lizzie touched Amy’s dark curls admiringly.

‘Don’t talk silly, Lizzie.’

‘It’s true. It doesn’t worry me, I’d just rather not shove it in Frank’s face until he’s got the message a bit better.’

‘Unless he’s very slow, Lizzie, that’s not going to take long.’

April 1882

‘It’s a beautiful day!’ Amy said as they drove along the beach into town that Sunday. The sun was shining out of a sky that was crisply blue after the morning’s frost, and the sea sparkled. As they drove through a dip in the sand that made the buggy lurch, Amy laughed aloud.

Jack smiled at her fondly. ‘You’re in a good mood today.’

‘I am!’ Amy leaned across the seat and gave her father a hug. She felt a lightness of heart that she recognised came only partly from the beauty of her surroundings. It was so good to be sitting beside her father with her brothers behind them, all of them laughing and joking together.
Just like the old days
. None of them mentioned Susannah, sitting by herself in the parlour wearing the newly-altered yellow dress.

Amy sang her heart out in all the hymns; today it was easy to give thanks. She was aware of people staring at her family, and she knew they were speculating on the reason for Susannah’s absence.

Mrs Carr bore down on Jack after the service, trailing her two unmarried daughters, giggly Martha and the almost-silent Sophie, in her wake. ‘Is your wife not well, Jack?’ Mrs Carr sounded concerned, but Amy saw the gleam in her eye and she knew the news would be all around the Orere Beach farms within days.

‘She’s feeling a little poorly,’ Jack said. ‘She’ll be staying home for a couple of months.’

‘Ah, I thought as much. Now, you take good care of her.’

‘Good on you, mate,’ Mr Carr said to Jack as he walked past, so quietly that Amy only just heard him. Martha tittered, and Sophie gave Amy a shy smile.

‘Hey, Frank!’ Amy heard her Uncle Arthur call. She looked over and saw Arthur striding towards Frank while Lizzie stood with her mother at a discreet distance. ‘Don’t rush off, lad, I want a word with you.’

Frank appeared to be wondering what misdeed he had been caught in. ‘Yes, Mr Leith?’

‘Why don’t you pop up and see me sometime soon? You could come over for lunch if you want—Mrs Leith wants you to. Come next week, maybe Wednesday or Thursday. Ben too, of course,’ he added.

‘That’s very nice of you.’ Amy saw Frank’s eyes flick to Lizzie, then quickly away. She could see he was screwing up his courage. ‘I’d like to come,’ he said in a rush. ‘I don’t think Ben will, though, he’s not much on company.’

‘Never mind him, then, you come by yourself. My wife thinks you need feeding up.’ Arthur clapped Frank on the shoulder and laughed. ‘So you’d better bring a decent appetite. Come good and early, then we can have a proper talk.’

‘What do you want to talk about, Mr Leith?’ Frank asked, glancing at Lizzie once again.

‘About farming, of course, what did you think?’

‘Oh! Oh, yes, of course, that’s what I thought.’

‘Good. Then we’ll see you Wednesday week, shall we? Will that suit?’

‘Yes, that’ll suit very well. Thank you very much, Mr Leith.’ He managed a smile.

‘That lad’s scared of his own shadow,’ Arthur muttered to Jack as he walked back past Amy and her father. ‘Anyone would think I was threatening to hit him instead of inviting him for lunch. What did he think I was asking him over to talk about?’ He shook his head over the foolishness of the young.

Amy met a smug Lizzie’s eyes for a moment, then turned away to hide her own smile.

‘Come on,’ Jack said to Amy, looking around to see where his sons had wandered. ‘It’s time we got going. We can’t leave your ma by herself too long, can we?’ Amy came down to earth again with a thump.

*

Frank tried to raise the subject of Arthur’s invitation with Ben all that week and half the next, but though he waited and waited for the right moment it didn’t seem to come. Before he knew it the appointed day had arrived, and he could put off his confession no longer.

As he and Ben did the milking that morning Frank tried out different words in his head, but none of them sounded right. When they were walking back to the house together he took the plunge.

‘Arthur Leith asked us to come up for lunch today,’ he said, carefully not looking at his brother.

There was a moment’s silence, then: ‘Why?’

‘Just to be friendly.’

‘Uh.’ That obviously surprised Ben. ‘We won’t go.’

‘I… I thought I might.’ Frank was aware of Ben’s eyes on him, glowering.

‘What the hell do you want to do that for? What’s wrong with having your lunch here—you don’t want to go wandering off visiting strangers.’