The day of the journey was perfect for traveling, although such fine weather meant the roads would inevitably be dusty. Still, better dusty than wet, for at least a good pace could be maintained.
But the comfort of the journey was not Anthea’s prime consideration as she went down to breakfast with Lady Letitia and Corinna, for she was too disquieted by Jovian’s plea of the night before. He had been so earnest, so intense, so... believable, that she could not ignore him. Somehow she had to prevent the journey from taking place, but without causing undue alarm—or outright disbelief, which might be the case. It would not be easy, especially at the eleventh hour, and if Corinna ever spoke to her again, it would be a miracle.
It had been decided the previous evening that they would not dress until after breakfast, so they all appeared at the table in their robes and wraps. Lady Letitia did not look her best, and Anthea felt sure she had cried again during the night. Corinna thought so too, as was evident from her frequent glances at her ladyship’s rather red eyes.
Given Aunt Letty’s mood and the gravity of Jovian’s warnings, it was some time before Anthea was able to muster the courage to say her piece. “You will both be angry with me, I know, but... I really do not wish to proceed with this journey.”
Two pairs of eyes stared at her. Lady Letitia recovered first. “Is it not a little late to mention this?” she said, with considerable disapproval.
Anthea swallowed, “I—I know, and I was going to say something before, but Corinna was so anxious to go that I held my tongue. Now, however, I just can’t go on.”
Corinna was hugely dismayed. “Oh, Anthea, please don’t do this! I am eager beyond belief to spend some time with my aunt, and—”
“But what do we really know about this woman? She might be an adventuress, intent only upon getting her hands on any of Papa’s fortune that you may have,” Anthea interrupted, and regretted the latter words the moment they tripped from her tongue, for Corinna was devastated.
“Is that what you think of me, too, Anthea? That Mama and I dug our grasping fingers into his title and fortune? And maybe that I am only here now in an endeavor to do the same?” she cried, tears leaping to her lovely green eyes.
Lady Letitia gave Anthea a furious look and then got up to put a comforting arm around Corinna. “No, dearest girl, of course we do not think such a dreadful thing,” she said gently.
“But—but if Anthea thinks that of my aunt, she must think it of me too! All her smiles and outward fr-friendship have been false!”
Anthea felt awful. “I don’t think that, Corinna, please believe me. I just have an awful feeling of apprehension and want to stay here. Maybe I am being silly, but I just can’t help it.”
Lady Letitia tutted. “I suspect it is your time of the month or the full moon, Anthea,” she said sharply.
Anthea lowered her eyes at the mention of the moon. She was ashamed of herself for speaking without thinking how her words might be interpreted.
Lady Letitia continued to chastise her. “Anthea, when I expressed uncertainty about Miss Wheatley, you and Corinna promptly talked me out of it, so it is hardly reasonable of you to present such concerns again at this stage in the proceedings.”
Corinna was still distressed. “I think you are very mean, Anthea, and I will never forgive you for this.”
“I’m sorry, Corinna, truly I am, but my doubts have been multiplying, and now I cannot bear it any more. I have become very uneasy about this whole thing and honestly believe we should make more thorough inquiries about Miss Wheat ley before we visit her.”
Lady Letitia was not at all amused. “This is intolerable, Anthea, and I am deeply disappointed in you. Such misgivings should have been expressed at the outset. I, too, have reasons for not wishing to go to Cathness again, but for Corinna’s sake I have managed to overcome them. It is therefore my opinion that you should be capable of the same consideration toward your stepsister. Besides, I cannot agree with your doubts about Miss Wheatley. Her letter to me was couched in most proper and gracious terms, and she impresses me as a lady of excellent character and quality.”
Corinna glared reproachfully at Anthea and nodded her agreement with Lady Letitia’s sentiments.
Anthea knew she was losing the battle. “Aunt Letty, I—”
“Enough, Anthea! You may stay here if you choose, but Corinna and I will proceed to Cathness as planned.”
Stay behind and leave them to travel into danger? Anthea knew she couldn’t possibly do that. “I... I will come too,” she said in a small voice.
“Very well, but you will hold your tongue in future, unless you have something sensible to say.”
Having mishandled the whole thing, Anthea nodded. “Yes, Aunt Letty.”
* * *
It was a quarter of an hour short of midday when the three ladies emerged from the house to enter the waiting traveling carriage, a handsome navy blue vehicle drawn by four well-matched chestnut horses.
Corinna took Lady Letitia’s arm to step across the pavement, thus obliging Anthea to follow behind on her own. This slight was done deliberately, for although Lady Letitia had mellowed toward her niece since breakfast, Corinna remained very upset and had, as the saying goes, sent Anthea to Coventry, for not a word would she say, even though Anthea had striven to put matters right. Anthea was very troubled as she tried to make herself comfortable for the bumpy miles ahead. She was in a terrible quandary, and did not know how to cope with it.
The coachman, named Longton, stirred the horses into action, and the carriage jolted away from the curb. As it drove smartly north around the square toward Oxford Road it passed a flower girl, who Anthea noticed was selling asters. That was all, just asters. Yet her street call was about a different plant entirely. “Who will buy my lavender? Six bunches a penny! Lavender, sweet lavender blue!”
Startled, Anthea sat forward to lower the window glass and look out. The call changed immediately. “Asters, beautiful asters! Pink, white, red, and blue!”
Anthea glanced at Lady Letitia and Corinna. “Did you hear that?” she asked.
“Hear what, my dear?” inquired her aunt.
“The flower girl on the corner called out ‘lavender,’ yet is selling asters.”
“I only heard her mention asters.”
Corinna nodded agreement. “I did too. I know I thought I heard ‘lavender’ being called before, but not this time. Anyway, it’s even later in the month now, and even more unlikely.”
Lady Letitia looked perplexedly at Anthea. “Oh, you are being odd today, child. Why on earth would she sing about lavendula vera at the end of August?”
“I... don’t know.” Anthea gazed out the window as the carriage turned west along Oxford Road and Longton brought the team up to a spanking pace as they left London.
The first change of horses was made at the Red Cow in Hammersmith, a famous sixteenth-century hostelry that stood directly on the road. It had a high pitched roof with red tiles and vast stables to accommodate the considerable amount of traffic that halted there, which included the mails and numerous stagecoaches.
When Lady Letitia’s equipage drew up in the busy yard, Anthea alighted to walk a little. It was a firm habit of hers to do this on long journeys, and only a torrential downpour would have kept her seated inside.
Hardly had she stepped down to the cobbled yard when she saw Jovian ride slowly past the inn in the same direction they were going. He was mounted on his fine dappled gray thoroughbred and wore his pine green riding coat. His close-fitting cream breeches clung to his hips and thighs, and the admirable shine on his top boots caught the sunlight as he reined in and turned in the saddle to look directly at her. When he removed his top hat to incline his head, she was distressed to see him rock in the saddle. Then he called out drunkenly.
“Go h-home, Anthea. Be s-safe.” Then he glanced behind him in the same haunted manner she’d noticed before. He must have seen something, for he kicked his heels and urged his horse on toward the west. Was he leaving London for Cathness Castle?
Anthea ran out to the road, but all she saw were traps, wagons, coaches, carriages, drovers, even a donkey cart. Jovian had disappeared into the dust and vehicles. Soon afterward the carriage left the Red Cow with fresh horses. It did not pass Jovian along the road, nor did she mention having seen him.
The countryside was mellow beneath the late summer sun, and the harvest was well advanced, although not by any means complete. Rows of reapers with scythes or sickles made their slow, methodical way across golden wheat fields or mowed through fine ripe barley. They were followed by binders, who in turn were followed by women and children gathering the gleanings or propping the sheaves into little stacks known as stocks.
Anthea sometimes heard the men chanting to help keep their rhythm, “Mow high, mow low, mow levelly O.” At other times she heard pipes and tabors playing, and occasionally she even saw morris dancers, bells jingling and handkerchiefs fluttering as they, too, helped keep the all-important rhythm. It was hot work for all concerned, and much cider was imbibed from horn cups filled from each man’s two-quart wooden bottle, called a costrel. Close to midday Anthea saw women bringing out bread, cheese, and more cider, and everyone sat down for a well-earned rest.
Variations on these scenes were observed all along the way, together with prosperous dairy farms, flocks of sheep, excellent turnpikes, leafy lanes, grand houses, and gracious parks. It was all a constant reminder of just how rich and fertile a land England was.
In the evening they reached the little town of Hungerford on the border between Berkshire and Wiltshire. Lady Letitia’s diligent preparations meant that comfortable accommodation awaited them at the Bear Inn, which had stood on its site since the thirteenth century. Renowned for the cleanliness of its accommodation and the quality of its table, it was considered one of the best hostelries in the two counties.
After enjoying a fine dinner of salmon, peas, and potatoes, followed by gooseberry tart, the three tired ladies went gladly to their rooms. Corinna had now relented a little toward Anthea, so they shared one room, while Lady Letitia had the other to herself. They all three missed the services of their maids. Putting clothes away, unpinning hair, and all the fiddling services they took for granted now had to be undertaken by themselves, which led Lady Letitia to mutter that the Almighty had obviously created mumps as a punishment for idle gentlewomen.
At last, however, all three travelers were asleep between the Bear’s freshly laundered sheets.