Sally James by A Clandestine Affair Read Free Book Online Page A

gudgeon.
    She laughed. In this mood he was irresistible, and though she chided him for being so thoughtless, she also comforted him with the news that Sir Ingram would not prohibit further meetings with Teresa, and had in fact agreed to her remaining under Mary’s care until arrangements for taking her to Cheltenham could be made.
    “How can I follow her there?” he demanded. “I have no money for at least a couple of weeks until quarter day, and I know no one to give me credit in the town.”
    “Surely a mere two weeks, less for the time she spends here, will not matter unduly,” she protested, but he shook his head.
    “She is so lovely, there will be hordes of other men wanting to pay her attentions.”
    “Well, if you think her so fickle that she would desert you so easily, she is not fit to be your wife,” said Mary in exasperation.
    “She is young and used to being told what to do. Sir Ingram has permitted her so little freedom,” he excused her, and Mary, deploring his infatuation, left him to go and see how Teresa was.
    Smiling bravely at Mary, she appeared to receive Sir Ingram’s edict that she was to go to Cheltenham within a few days with resignation.
    “I might have known Matthew and I could not have won,” she murmured. “Now he will do his utmost to part us. Thank you for all you have done, Mary. I shall always be grateful, even if I never see you again. I begin to realise I must not hope to escape him!”
    “He will allow Matthew to see you,” Mary said bracingly. “You have no cause for despair yet!”
    Sadly Teresa shook her head. “That is what he tells you, but once he has me in his power again it will be different. And Aunt Hermione is a gorgon, truly she is! Her house is full of abominable lap dogs, and I have to take them for walks. It is almost the only freedom I get when I am forced to stay with her.”
    “Your mama will be there too, so no doubt she will be able to take you out.”      
    The prospect did not seem to appeal to Teresa, for she muttered darkly that her mama would be too taken up with her precious Rodney to care what happened to her.
    The rest of the day passed quietly. Sir Ingram called and was closeted with Teresa for twenty minutes, but Mary did not discover what had been said. Invited to remain for dinner Sir Ingram excused himself, saying he had discovered that a friend of his lived nearby and he intended to visit him. Teresa stayed in her room, and so for the first time the Wyndhams were alone and Matthew was able to explain to his father the reason for his and Teresa’s unheralded appearance.
    Beyond a slight admonishment about the folly of running away to marry, Mr Wyndham did not seem unduly concerned. When Matthew lamented the fact that his impecuniary state would prevent his travelling to Cheltenham, Mr Wyndham offered to advance him the quarter’s allowance at once, saying that Matthew could repay him when the money due to him in a short time was available. With the prospect of being thus equipped to follow his beloved, Matthew’s spirits revived astonishingly quickly, and since Teresa was not there he decided to pay a visit to one of his old cronies in the village.
    Left to herself Mary’s thoughts reverted to the conversation that morning with Sir Ingram. Matthew’s affairs had been settled as satisfactorily as could have been expected and he might still win his Teresa, though she was beginning to wonder whether that would be for his ultimate happiness. Sir Ingram might be right in saying that Teresa needed a strong man to control her. But it ought not to be Sir Ingram himself, Mary decided. That would be even less certain to result in happiness for either of them.
    She recalled Sir Ingram’s remarks about Mr Knowle and realised she had not given him another thought during the day. It was, she hoped, too late for him to call that evening, and so she would have a further respite before she had to give him an answer. She had no notion of what