Amos was keen to talk to Jane, and when the guests began to leave he sought her out. He thought she might take him more seriously now that he owned a business. She was practical, which was a good thing in a wife, he told himself, even if it was not very romantic.
He went upstairs and found her on the landing. Her dress was made of a lustrous black flannel that was strikingly glamorous with her black hair. ‘I dreamed about you,’ he said, speaking quietly so that others could not hear.
She looked at him with those grey eyes, and as always he felt helpless. ‘A good dream?’ she said. ‘Or a nightmare?’
‘It was very good. I didn’t want it to end.’
She opened her eyes wide, making a startled face. ‘I hope you behaved respectably in this dream!’
‘Oh, yes. We just talked, as we are now, but it was...I don’t know. Perfect.’
‘What did we talk about?’
‘I’m not sure, but it seemed to be something we both cared about a lot.’
‘I can’t imagine...’ She shrugged. ‘How did it end?’
‘I woke up.’
‘That’s the trouble with dreams.’
As always with her he wished he did not have to talk, so that he could concentrate on looking at her. She did not have to do anything: she bewitched him without trying. He said: ‘My world has turned upside-down since the last time I talked to you.’
‘I’m very sorry about your father.’
‘He and I have quarrelled a lot in the last year or two, but I’m surprised at how sad I am to lose him.’
‘That’s how it is with families. Even if you hate them, you love them.’
That was wise, he thought; like something her father might have said.
He did not know how to ask the question he wanted to put to her. He decided to come right out with it. ‘Would you walk out with me?’
‘You asked me that already,’ she said. ‘And I answered you.’
That was discouraging, but on the other hand it fell short of outright rejection. ‘I thought you might have changed your mind,’ he said.
‘Why would I have changed my mind?’
‘Because I’m no longer a boy with nothing to offer but hopes.’
She frowned. ‘But you are.’
‘No.’ He shook his head. ‘I own a profitable business. And I have a house. I could get married tomorrow.’
‘But your business is deep in debt.’
He was not expecting that. He took a step back, as if he had been threatened. ‘Debt? No, it’s not.’
‘My father says it is.’
Amos was astonished. Canon Midwinter did not repeat idle gossip. ‘How come?’ he said. ‘How much? Who to?’
‘You didn’t know?’
‘I still don’t know.’
‘I can’t tell you why, and I don’t know how much money was lent, but I do know who it’s owed to: Alderman Hornbeam.’
