“Hannah, please fetch my shawl. We shall greet the Lord and Lady.”
After several minutes and much bustling, Hannah and Mrs. Linton stood by the road, watching a very smart hack chaise drive over the top of the hill and stop directly in front of their house. A distinguished-looking man descended, pronounced himself to be Lord Oswald, and bowed in a rather ostentatious manner.
“Pleasure to meet you, Miss...”
“Mrs. Linton. Pleasure to meet you too. Welcome.”
“Thank you, madam. I hope we shall see you again soon.”
“You are welcome to join us for supper at any time.”
Grateful that the Earl was now turning back to his carriage and hoping she had been
tolerably pleasant, Mrs. Linton failed to notice the rather mischievous look in his eye.
“Ma’am!” screeched the cook, hurtling into the parlor.
“Yes, Hannah?” Mr. Linton asked, with both man and wife looking up from their reading. “’Ere are beggars at the door, wantin’ dinner!”
Mr. and Mrs. Linton did not have terribly much to share, but they did give what they
could. They both sprang up. Mr. Linton went to the door to welcome the travelers and take their worn cloaks himself. Mrs. Linton retrieved her own washstand and set it in the parlor with lye, lemon, linen for the guests. (When she returned later, however, she would notice that dirt remained streaked over their faces, almost as though placed in a careful approximation of sordidness.)
“Shall I try an’ get yesterday’s fire back up again?” Hannah whispered to her mistress, her eyes wide.
“Yes, and take some of the potatoes from Mr. Linton’s garden. Cut off a bit of that ham from the butcher’s last week.”
Mr. Linton appeared at that moment. “I’ve brought out the benches, but the table is still collapsed!” One of the legs on their sideboard had fallen off several days ago, and Mr. Linton yet to ask William the carpenter’s boy to mend it.
“Well, never mind,” said Mrs. Linton calmly, “just push a bit of that broken pot underneath to even it out.” She swept away, entirely ignoring her gobsmacked cook.
VJCL SPRING FORUM PAGE 16
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