“Tomorrow morning. We’ll take the coach to Salisbury and then change.”
“What did the little ’uns say when you told them?”
“I haven’t told them yet.” She’d sent them off for their lessons, as usual, unable to face their questions so soon after Nash leaving.
Lizzie grimaced in wordless sympathy. “So what’ll you do in Leicestershire, miss?”
Maddy hesitated, but there was no point in keeping it a secret. “I’ve had an offer of marriage.” The fact that it was years old made no difference. Mr. Hulme had waited years for her—the offer would still be open.
“From—” Lizzie exclaimed, but her excitement deflated when she saw Maddy’s face. “Not Mr. Renfrew, then?”
Maddy shook her head. “A friend of my father’s.”
Lizzie screwed up her nose. “Old?”
Maddy nodded.
“Rich?”
Again, Maddy nodded. “I’m tired of battling for every mouthful, and the children are growing out of their clothes so fast.”
“Ah, well, if he’s rich I suppose it’s not so bad. Better than staying here and havin’ all the old biddies whisperin’ and turning their backs on you,” Lizzie said bluntly. She glanced at the window where the sun was burning off the morning mist. “I’d better go, miss. I had to stay and get the milking done with, but there’s butter to be churned, and if I don’t go now I’ll be in even more hot water than I am already.”
Maddy saw her to the door and the two girls embraced. “Oh, miss, I’m going to miss you that much,” Lizzie said tearfully.
She would miss Lizzie, too, Maddy thought, hugging her tight. She was going to be so lonely without—
“Lizzie!” She clutched Lizzie’s shoulders tightly. “Come with me.
Lizzie’s eyes widened. “Where? To Leicestershire?”
Maddy nodded. “As my maid. Mr.—the man I’m marrying can easily afford an extra maid, and it would mean so much to me to have a friend with me.”
A grin almost split Lizzie’s face. “I’ll come,” she said. “In a heartbeat, I will, miss. You really mean it?”
“I really do.”
“Well, then, I will,” Lizzie declared. “Whether Uncle Bill says I can go or not.” They hugged each other again, then Lizzie glanced at the sky. “I’ll get hopping now. I’ll churn a mountain of butter first and see if I can turn him up sweet before I break the news.”
She started running toward the farm, then stopped, and tuned back with a grin. “No more of them bloody cows! Hooray!” And in a series of joyful little skips, she sped off.
Maddy watched her go, but slowly her smile faded. If the villagers were reacting as Lizzie said, she’d better go and face the vicar. She needed to explain, and to say good-bye to him and Mrs. Matheson. And a few other friends.
She put on her cloak and set off for the vicarage.
Nash dismounted, tied his horse to Maddy’s gate, and knocked. No answer. He tried the door and found it latched, but unlocked. “Maddy?” he called, but there was no answer. She’d probably taken the children to their lessons.
He stepped inside. And came to a surprised halt. The normally neat cottage was cluttered. On the table, in the center of the neatly made bed, and on the floor, were piles of clothing and other items. Small piles—the sum total of what they owned was pathetically meager, but it was clear to Nash that everything Maddy and the children owned was assembled here.
Two large, shabby leather portmanteaux sat beside the bed. She was packing to leave.
She wasn’t worried about being abandoned—she was abandoning him!
When had she planned to tell him? he wondered savagely. She’d worked bloody fast! He’d left only an hour or two ago.
He prowled around the room, glaring at the neat little piles. Two piles for each person, things to take on the bed, and on the floor the things they would leave behind. Clothes—a pitiful pile—and a few treasures of childhood; Susan’s sketchbook, their handmade books, the Luciella book on top, and the kind of treasures Nash remembered from his boyhood: a bird’s skull, a curious stone, a horse shoe, a cricket bat and ball. Maddy’s pile contained a few threadbare dresses, a couple of battered books, and the small leather case containing her treasured memories. Wrapped in faded blasted brocade.
Dammit! How could she plan to leave just like that without telling him? And where the hell was she going?
