Kate was enormously moved by the old man's confidence. 'Thank you for telling me,' she said.
The vicar sat down again. The lines on his old face seemed somehow deeper, and his eyes were dark with pain. 'There remains only one thing left to be said. I must tell you how deeply I regret that I involved your aunt in the Order of the Golden Dawn. I know that if I had not encouraged her to become a member, she would be alive today.' His voice was
gruff. 'It is a knowledge, my dear Kathryn, that breaks my heart.'
Kate reached for his hand, longing to comfort him in his grief. 'Please,' she said urgently, 'you must not. Aunt Sa-brina chose her own path. The knowledge she sought through the Order was important to her. You cannot blame yourself because the situation was other than you knew.'
'Thank you, my dear.' The vicar's voice revealed a heaviness of heart. 'Your comfort is welcome, although I fear that nothing can truly comfort me for the loss of my oldest and dearest friend. If you do not object, I would like to ask you for the documents that belong to the Order. I will see that they are placed in the proper hands.'
Kate nodded. 'That was my aunt's last instruction. You shall have them. You do know, do you not, that Aunt Jaggers destroyed the original of the tarot cards? They were very valuable, I fear.'
'Sabrina told me. At the moment, their loss does not trouble me deeply, but I am sure that others will think it a great tragedy. The deck was much prized for the quality of its occult symbolism.' He pushed himself out of his chair with difficulty. 'Reluctant as I am to go back out in this weather, I must be on my way. It has been a trying week and I am very tired.'
There was a knock at the door and Amelia stepped in. 'Lord an' Miss Marsden, miss,' she said with a quick curtsy, 'an' Sir Charles Sheridan.'
Kate smiled. 'Show them in, Amelia. And please bring another tray of cakes-some of those Nettie made would be nice-and a fresh pot of tea.' To the vicar, she added, 'I have asked Mrs. Pratt to assume Aunt Jaggers's housekeeping duties. We will likely hire another cook, but in the meantime, she is training our little kitchen maid. If Nettie likes the work and does well, it can become her trade. If she does not, perhaps we can find something else for her. It is a great pity for people to go through their lives doing work they do not enjoy.'
' 'Your aunt would think well of your concern for the servants,' the vicar said. 'And I am glad to see that you have
made friends with the Marsdens. As the first family in the neighborhood, they will be able to introduce you into society.' He smiled. 'And if you need a friend, please call on me.'
'Thank you,' Kate said.
The vicar put his hands on Kate's shoulders and gently kissed her forehead. 'It is good that you have come to Bishop's Keep, my dear. Had you not, the truth of Sabrina's death might not have been learned, nor the truth behind the falsehood of the Order. For that, you are to be thanked.'
Kate would have sat still for a moment with those last words, meditating on the mystery of truths behind falsehoods, and falsehoods behind truths. But she heard Amelia's step outside the door, and voices, and rose to greet her guests.
54
'… and bring you rrom a wild Kate to a Kate Conrormahle, as other household Kates'
Charles took his seat by the fire as Kathryn Ardleigh set-tled herself on the sofa. He glanced at her, noticing that the fireglow brought out the golden lights in her russet hair. Since the episode at Mrs. Farnsworth's, he could not help thinking of her as Kathryn-indeed, as Kate. The name seemed made for her.
'Thank you,' Kate said with a smile to the maid who
brought in the tea. 'You need not stay. I'll serve.' Eleanor raised her eyebrows, and Kate seemed to take notice. ' 'I am sure that you think it heretical of me not to let the servants do everything, Ellie,' she said lightly, 'but I fear you will have to bear with me. I may be mistress of Bishop's Keep, but in my heart lurk a great many of my former habits-such as serving at tea-that I am willfully determined not to relinquish.'
Charles could not help smiling.
Eleanor's cheeks were stained. 'Of course,' she said, inclining her head. She accepted her cup of tea. 'It is your household now, Kate, and you must do as you like.' She pulled down her brows prettily. 'But my dear, I really must say-'
'It's your cook in the carriage, you see,' Bradford interrupted with a grin. 'I'm afraid you've become quite the neighborhood scandal. Mama is beside herself, of course, and even Papa has given us the benefit of his views, which tend toward a fear of anarchy.'
'Oh, dear heaven,' Kate said, laughing. She offered a tray of tea cakes to Charles, bending so close that he caught her scent, light and sweet. 'I suppose I should apologize, but the gesture meant a great deal to Mrs. Pratt.' She sat down again on the sofa, and began to pour the tea into bone china cups. 'I am not in the least sorry I did it, whatever impropriety others might see.'
Charles spoke with a teasing gravity. 'It is not merely the impropriety that has caused such consternation,' he said. 'It is rather the example. If the Ardleigh cook can ride in the carriage, why not the Marsden cook? And if the cook, then why not the butler, the parlor maid, the tweeny, the gardener-' He chuckled dryly. 'One simply cannot tell where all this frivolous carriage-riding might lead. The commons on wheels, Newgate thrown open, the Crown toppled. It could be the American Revolution all over again!'
Kate handed him a cup. 'I do indeed see the difficulty,' she agreed. She was straight-faced, but her eyes danced. 'I would be chagrined to think that by acting nonconformably, I might have sown the seeds of the Empire's collapse.'
Charles took the cup, reflecting that a few cooks in carriages might be a good thing for the commonwealth. Perhaps a revolution was in order.
'In my opinion, it won't be carriages everyone will be riding in,' Bradford declared with great seriousness, 'but motorcars. That is the coming revolution. The motorcar industry will change the world, and those who are trying to hold it back will lose everything.'
Eleanor frowned. 'Best not let Papa hear you say that, Bradford. He'll have you horsewhipped.' To Kate, she said in a deprecating tone, ' 'Papa refuses to allow poor Bradford to mention motorcars at home, so he takes his revenge by talking about nodiing else while we are out.'
'Papa can go hang,' Bradford said fervently. He scowled at Eleanor's wide-eyed look. 'By Jove, I mean it, Ellie! And he will, too-he and all those who insist on marching into the future with their heads screwed on backward! The ones who prosper will be those who boldly drive forward.'
' 'It seems that Bradford has made a great success in a certain speculation in the motorcar industry,' Eleanor explained. As she took her teacup from Kate, she held out her arm to show off a new bracelet. 'His pleasure has made him quite generous. But we can't tell Papa. He really wouldn't approve, even though Bradford is in the way of becoming filthy rich.'
Charles looked at his friend. With Bradford's expected wealth, the burden he had borne for the past several weeks appeared to have lightened considerably. The smile he gave Kate was quite a rakish one, and his gaze was warmly and openly admiring. The thought occurred to Charles that Bradford was flirting with her, and he frowned.
'Ellie is correct,' Bradford said. 'The company in which I have invested has acquired not one but two French patents, either of which will make its fortune.' He turned to Charles. ' 'Too bad, old man, that you did not see fit to join me in the venture.'
Charles shrugged. ' 'I am a great admirer of self-propelled transport,' he said, 'but my admiration does not extend to speculation. I'm no gambler.'
Bradford hooted. 'You've spoken the truth there, my dear
Charles. Too careful by half, you are. You could have made a bundle.'
