Lady of Lincoln by Ann Barker

ground. In fact, only convince him that Bernard was wearing it at the moment of his demise and it will no doubt become his favourite piece.’
    Aurelia gave a short laugh. ‘You’re absolutely right of course,’ she agreed, putting the pin away amongst her sewing things.
    At that moment, the boys came in announcing that they had completed their task, and the subject was changed.
     
    ‘But surely my dear Aurelia, you do not intend to ignore your brother’s expressed wishes?’ Alan Trimmer asked his wife that evening when he went to her bedchamber in order to say good night.
    ‘Certainly not,’ she replied with dignity. She was sitting up in her bed, a light shawl about her shoulders, for the evening was warm, and a rather fetching night cap upon her head. ‘It is simply that I do not believe that Gareth knows his own mind in this matter.’
    ‘Not know his own mind? A man of his age? I hope you will not allow him to hear you express that opinion!’ He wandered over to the bedroom window, lifted the curtain to glance out, then let it drop again. ‘Aurelia, my dear, it never ceases to amaze me how wherever we go, you manage so quickly to contrive to make the place seem like home.’
    ‘Thank you, my love,’ replied his wife, much gratified, ‘Which is exactly why I desire dear Gareth to find a wife who will make him comfortable. And how is he to find one, pray, if his nearest and dearest do not make shift to help him?’
    ‘From what I have heard, my dear, plenty of ladies have already been making strenuous efforts on his behalf,’ said the clergyman, sitting on the bed again, taking hold of his wife’s hand and turning her wedding ring idly with his long fingers. ‘I see no reason why you should add to their ranks.’
    ‘There is every reason, Alan. All of those ladies have some other aim in view apart from Gareth’s happiness. Christina Langland’s girls are as plain as a set of schoolroom chairs, and she is desperate to marry them off; why, the oldest one must be quite twenty-four! If I do not miss my guess, Millicent Copthorne was there as well, and everyone knows that that family has nothing to offer but debts! As for Annis Hughes, she has been chasing him for ever. If he did marry her, I doubt very much if he could ever be sure that any child she produced really was his.’
    ‘Aurelia!’ her husband declared in shocked tones.
    ‘Well, it’s true,’ she replied firmly. ‘Would you desire a sister-in -law like that?’
    ‘I confess I would not,’ he admitted, ‘but as for the other ladies, I have only heard you say that one is poor and others arenot pretty. Would you condemn them for such reasons?’
    ‘Not condemn them, no; but I refuse to permit any woman to marry my brother simply to get herself out of her own difficulties . No, say what you will, Alan, I am much more likely to find him a suitable bride. After all, my motives are by far the purest.’
    ‘But how are you to achieve that, dearest?’ Trimmer asked his wife. He got up to blow out the candles on the mantelpiece and on the dressing-table. ‘After all, you have no acquaintance here at all – unless you count the lady who was visiting earlier on today.’ His task accomplished, he wandered back to sit on the bed again.
    Mrs Trimmer, who had been leaning back against her pillows in a relaxed manner, suddenly sat bolt upright. ‘Alan! What a splendid idea!’
    Her husband frowned. ‘My dear Aurelia, do not think me a fault finder, but did you not say that the oldest Miss Langland, at twenty-four, was too old for your brother? My suspicion is that Miss Whittaker may easily be older than that.’
    ‘No no, I do not mean that she would make a match for him,’ his wife said hastily, ‘but she said herself that she has lived here all her life. She will be bound to know all the young ladies who live around here and which ones are eligible and which are not. She will be the perfect person to consult.’
    ‘My dear, are you sure