The Visitor (3 page)

“I have news for you,” Judith Hurst said the moment the two women were alone.

“Good news?”

“Very.”

“Tell me.”

“Your first child and my fifth will be in the nursery together.”

“Oh, Judith,” Anne said softly, moving to hug her friend. “That’s wonderful. Is Pastor ecstatic?”

“Over the moon. You’d think it was our first!”

“How do you feel?”

“Usually fine. Morning can be a bit tense, but it’s nothing that won’t go away in a few more weeks.”

“Have you let any of the church families know?”

Judith grinned. “We think it’s more fun to let them find out for themselves.”

Anne laughed at the look of conspiracy in her friend’s eyes as the two enjoyed a lovely meal together. They also caught up on the latest news, something they usually didn’t have time for on Sundays.

By the time Judith took her leave, Anne was weary, but her face held a smile. The Hursts’ plan to let the congregation learn of the pregnancy on its own was a brilliant idea. Anne decided then and there not to tell Weston. She would wait until he heard the news and then have the delight of telling him she’d known all along.

Newcomb Park

Lizzy read Edward’s letter again the next morning. Nothing had changed. She hadn’t missed a thing, but her lonely heart somehow willed the words to be different.

Laying her head back against the sofa in the small sitting room, her eyes slowly closing, Lizzy remembered the last time she’d seen Thomas Morland. It was a Sunday morning in Bath.

“I’m going to be gathering the last of my things tonight, Edward,” Thomas said as soon as they exited the church building.

“All right. Shall I meet you at your house then?”

“Tuesday morning. I’ll expect you at 8:00.”

“I’ll be there.”

Lizzy stood quietly, as did her sister Cassandra. Henry had gone ahead to the coach to find some papers he’d promised Pastor Greville. For a moment it didn’t look as though Morland would even remember to glance their way, but just before he turned away, his eyes found Lizzy’s.

“Well, Lizzy and Cassie, I won’t be seeing you again for a time, so I guess this is goodbye.”

“Have a good trip, Morland,” Cassandra bade him. “Take good care of yourself and our Edward.”

“I shall. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye,” Lizzy put in as he turned, but he’d broken eye contact by then.

Lizzy wondered all the way home if her face showed how frozen her heart felt. It had all been so fast, and with no word on when they would see him again. She glanced at Edward, but clearly he was preoccupied with his own traveling plans. Cassandra was gazing out the window, so for the moment Lizzy felt free to let her eyes slide shut.

“Are you all right?”

Lizzy was stunned to hear her brother Henry quietly asking this. So stunned in fact, that for a moment she didn’t answer.

“Yes, Henry. Thank you.”

Henry’s eyes remained on her for a few moments before shifting to the window. Lizzy’s own gaze shifted as well. All she could wish for was her older sister, but Charlotte was visiting with her fiancé’s family and would not be home for several more days.

Lizzy surfaced from the memory with a start, sitting upright in her seat. The scene was so painful in her mind that for a moment her breathing was labored.

“Do you need something, ma’am?”

Lizzy’s personal maid had come to the room and found her mistress so pale that she interrupted her.

“No, Kitty, thank you,” Lizzy said quietly, managing a smile. But the occurrence caused Lizzy to head for the mirror. After a brief look, she concluded that she looked awful and decided not to sit about and baby herself any longer. Calling for a basket and her small hand-clippers, she headed for the garden. Flowers were not her favorite pastime, but anything had to be better than sitting around and feeling sorry for herself.

Collingbourne, England
Pembroke

“Tate?” Harriet called as she knocked, opening the bedroom door just enough to be heard. “May I come in?”

“Yes.”

Tate turned to the sound of his aunt entering as the door opened completely. He’d been standing in front of the open window, taking some air. The blackness was always there, surrounding him in every way. Most of the time he could ignore it, but just then he’d smelled something pleasant through the open window. It might have been a flower, bush, or combination of both, but without going out to investigate, he was left wondering.

“How are you, dear?” his aunt asked, closing the door behind her.

“A bit cross, I must admit.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Nothing comes to mind.”

Harriet couldn’t stop the smile that came to her mouth. Even in a poor mood, Alexander Tate was polite. He might be tempted to ask her to leave, but if he was, he was careful to keep such thoughts from showing on his face or in his voice. Certainly one could mask a great deal when eyes could not be seen, but Harriet was looking at her nephew’s face, and there was not so much as a cross wrinkle to his brow or a single stern line to his relaxed mouth.

“You’ve a letter here from Banks,” Harriet said, referring to the man who ran things in Tate’s London home. “Would you like me to read it to you?”

“Not just now. Thank you, Aunt Harriet.”

The smile dropped from Harriet’s face. Tate was doing an admirable job of hiding it, but his spirits were beginning to droop. The inactivity, darkness, and lack of companionship were starting to wear on him.

Harriet was on the verge of telling him her plans for the rest of the day, hoping to distract him, when someone knocked on the door. Harriet went to answer it, relief filling her when Hastings stood in the hallway and informed her that Dr Tilney had stopped by and wished to see Tate.

“Certainly, Hastings,” Harriet told Tate’s right-hand man. “Send him directly up.”

Harriet didn’t know if the doctor would have good news, but his visit alone would be a welcome interruption. The older woman left the men alone during the examination, but Harriet Thorpe wasted no time once Dr Tilney was through. She met him at the front door and walked him to his coach.

“How are his eyes?”

“There’s improvement, but he needs to keep on as he is for several more months. That’s when we’ll know if all this darkness and rest have been worth it or not.”

“Thank you, Dr Tilney.”

“You’re welcome,” he said. He would have turned away, but Harriet wasn’t done.

“I have something I want to ask you.”

The doctor listened as Tate’s aunt discussed an idea with him, one she felt desperate to try.

“I like your plan, Mrs Thorpe,” the doctor said. “But it would have to be just the right person. Someone calm and undemanding. Someone who will know when to leave, a person who can read the signs that are not spoken.”

Harriet nodded, glad that he had agreed.

“You’re right, of course; not just anyone will do. But at least with your permission I can begin to keep my eyes and ears open.”

The kind doctor put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“Collingbourne is full of fine folk, Mrs Thorpe. No doubt the right person will come to you very soon.”

Harriet thanked him without further comment, but there was plenty on her mind as the doctor’s coach pulled away.
I’m sure Collingbourne does have many fine folk, Dr Tilney, but I won’t be looking far and wide. I’ll be concentrating my search within the church family.

“Are you ever like Jonah?” Pastor Hurst asked the congregation in the closing minutes of his sermon on Sunday. “Four chapters in the Book have this prophet’s name on them, and more than two of them are about his disobedience. Do more than half the things said about you concern your disobedience?

“Jonah’s discontent was at a remarkable level. This prophet of God needed to be ashamed of himself in light of how swiftly wicked Nineveh repented. Jonah was given a job and ran. The citizens of Nineveh learned of their doom and fell to their knees in repentance. While we read about Jonah’s repentant heart in the belly of the fish, it didn’t take long for him to pout when God did things he disagreed with. When he was in trouble, he said God was His salvation, but when you look at chapter 4, verse 2, Jonah is disgusted with God for the salvation He offers to Nineveh.”

Pastor Hurst smiled gently at the group gathered before him, his eyes warm.

“We’re so like Jonah, aren’t we? We have in our mind the way we think things should be done, and when they don’t happen that way, we frown toward heaven and pout. But there’s hope, isn’t there? Jonah himself, even though he wasn’t very happy, had to admit that God is a gracious God, merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness. That’s why there’s hope. Not with us, but in the God who loves us.

“No matter how often we have failed, frowned, or followed our own path in the past, our gracious, kind, merciful, saving God is ready with forgiveness.

“We’ll be talking about Jonah for several more weeks. There is much to be learned here about God’s love and our discontent. If you have a chance, study the book of Jonah on your own. Ask God to teach you things that will change you forever.”

Pastor Hurst then led them in a final prayer and dismissed the congregation.

Lizzy sat for a moment and thought about what she’d heard. She had been discontented since Thomas Morland left with Edward. She now realized what a waste of time that had been—her time and God’s. It was time to confess her selfishness and agree with God no matter what His plan.

“Lizzy.”

Lizzy looked up to see Mrs Walker calling to her from the end of the pew.

“Come and hug me,” the older woman bade, “and tell me how you are.”

Lizzy did as she was asked, glad for their friendship.

“I’m doing better after that sermon,” Lizzy admitted as the women embraced.

“I’m glad to hear it. Can you and Henry join us for lunch today?”

“That sounds wonderful. I’ll check with him.”

Henry Steele enjoyed James Walker’s company immensely. They might not have contact for months or even years at a time, but whenever they were together, their conversation picked up without faltering. With this in mind, Henry agreed to lunch at Blackburn Manor without hesitation.