Marry In Haste - Chapter 9

Chapter 9
 
The next morning Sir George was still very ill, and so George acted on the promise he had given Sarah the previous evening and sent his groom to the doctor’s house with a message. Knowing that Sir George’s physician was not likely to arrive within the next hour, he then took his bride for a ride around the countryside to take her mind off her guardian's poorly state of health for a while. Having reached the river, they tied the horses to a tree and went for a walk along the river bank. George felt that they needed to talk about many things, and that one could not do so at home where one might be overheard. Nor was it a good thing to discuss important matters while on horseback.

“I hope Sir George will get better soon,” he remarked. “But we still need to determine what to do next.”
 
“I think we should wait for Sir George to recover before we make any plans for our immediate future,” Sarah replied.
 
“Do you mean to let Sir George have a say in our decisions?” George asked.
 
“Not any longer, no,” Sarah said, after a moment's reflection. “We married to oblige him, but there his influence in our affairs ought to end – our marriage only concerns the two of us. What I meant was that we need to find out whether he will need us or not – I do not want to leave Sir George behind all by himself, at the mercy of his servants, after everything he has done for me! While he is so ill I must stay with him. I owe it to him.”
 
“This is very much how I feel about this situation,” George admitted. “I am glad to find that we are agreed on this. We will not go anywhere while Sir George is ill.”
 
“Do you think I will be allowed to nurse him?” Sarah asked.
 
“Do you think Sir George would want you to?” George asked in return. “I am afraid he may not like it.”
 
“He may not have liked it while I was … while I was single, but do you think he'd still object to it now that I am married? Things are different now!”
 
Not so very different, George thought but did not say so. “Not even then,” he said instead, and added, lightly, “Things would be different if I was ill. You could nurse me with perfect propriety.”
 
“If you ever fall ill I will be sure to do so,” Sarah promised earnestly, and then said, “I will have to resort to keeping house for Sir George then. I have done so for some time you must know. Mrs Simmonds told him I needed to learn how to run a large household, and that was when I was allowed free rein in the management of his home.”
 
“I had no idea it was you who had the running of Sir George’s household,” George said, surprised. “I thought his housekeeper did that for him.”
 
“And who, do you think, gave the housekeeper her instructions? Do you think me incapable of managing a house?” Sarah's tone of voice suggested that she would not take kindly to being so grossly underestimated.
 
“I did not think about it at all, I must confess,” George defended himself. “But if anyone had asked me I would not have thought a seventeen-year-old capable of managing such a large household as Sir George's without having been taught first.”
 
“Since ladies are supposed to take care of their husband’s homes at one point,” Sarah pointed out to him, “we had better learn how to do so at an early age. What use would we be if we were not allowed to practise?”
 
“I would not call looking Sir George Yaxley’s household affairs without the assistance of a more experienced lady practising,” George replied. “It sounds rather like being thrown into cold water and being expected to keep your head above water without ever having learnt how to swim.”
 
“It was not easy in the beginning,” Sarah admitted. “Indeed I was feeling quite overwhelmed at first. But Mrs Simmonds has been so much help! That reminds me – what is to become of her now that we are married?”
 
“I have not thought about that matter either,” George confessed. “We must ask her what her plans are; whether she has anything in mind; and if we can assist her in any way we shall naturally do so.”
 
“Oh yes, we must find out if she has anywhere to go,” Sarah said. “She has family, but I do not know if she is on good terms with them; whether she can stay with any of them until she has found some other employment. She has never discussed them with me.”
 
“There is no need to be in a hurry,” George said after a short pause. “If you are to stay here alone – once I must go back to town to take care of my obligations there – you may be glad of her company. Or will you be happy to see the back of her?”
 
“Not in the least; she is a very good friend, and very much in my confidence. It would be wrong to leave her to shift for herself.”

“It was never my intention to do so – I had always thought of pensioning her off. But if you want her to stay with you I have no objection at all. Though Mrs Simmonds may have; she may not want to live with a pair of newly-weds.”
 
“We must offer her a home at least. Whatever she wishes to do then, I want her to know that I still value her friendship, and that I do not want her to go away.”
 
“You will make that clear to her, I am sure,” George said. “Where do you want to go once Sir George is better? I would say London is out of the question; the city is dead at this time of year.”
 
“Is there not such a thing as the Little Season?” Sarah asked.
 
“Yes, but it is not a patch on the season in spring,” George replied. “I can see you are eager to get to town, but if I had a choice I had rather present my wife during the spring season than the autumn one. People would think it rather shabby of me; a dowdy affair. While I would not mind that so much I am afraid you would.”
 
“Heavens, yes! I do not want to be a dowd! – We will not go to London before spring then, but I would really like to meet your family! If they want to get to know me, that is.” She looked as if she seriously doubted that.
 
“You need not worry about them; I have told you so before! They are very keen to make your acquaintance and if I know anything of my mother there is already an invitation on its way. If we do not come to visit her in London, we will meet up with everyone at Brook End at Christmas. The traditional family festivities – we will not be able to excuse ourselves from those I am afraid, especially since my mother knows we have no prior engagement!”
 
“I do not want to excuse myself,” Sarah pointed out. “To say the truth I am looking forward to it.”
 
“And after that, where?” George asked. “No doubt my brother will invite us to make a long stay at Brook End, but I am not quite certain whether his wife will like that too. She still is a bit of an unknown entity.” George grinned. “They have not been married for long, so I do not know her very well.”
 
“A stranger but lately admitted into the family,” Sarah laughed. “Like me!”
 
“I would not call her a stranger. Just someone to whom I have not yet grown accustomed. I get along with my other sisters-in-law, so I believe her ladyship will be no exception; I am certainly not going to do anything to put up her back against me. But I know nothing yet about her likes or dislikes, and therefore I do not know whether she would want us to make a prolonged stay at Brook End or not. I had rather not put her patience to the test if I can help it.”
 
“Your family’s home is in Northamptonshire, is it not?” Sarah said after a short pause.
 
“It is.”
 
“Is it at an easy distance to Wallingford? My home is there, if you remember.”
 
“I suppose it is not too far to travel, provided the weather does not hold us up.”
 
“I would like to live there again – I love Drayton House so much!”
 
“Then this is where we will go when the Christmas party at my brother’s home is over,” George promised. “To say the truth I am looking forward to seeing it.”
 
As they returned to Sir George’s house, however, they found the doctor’s gig in the stable yard and as George went upstairs to his godfather’s room it became evident that they were not going anywhere any time soon. The doctor, having examined his patient, told George that he had done well in calling him in, and once he had finished his instructions for Sir George’s valet asked George for an interview.
 
George showed the physician into the library, offered him a glass of whisky which that learned man was eager to accept, and then asked him for a report on the invalid’s state of health.
 
“Sir George tells me you are a relation of his,” Dr Wheeler said.
 
“Not a blood relation, but I am his godson,” George told him.
 
“Oh? He said you were a cousin by marriage, Mr Edenthorpe.”
 
“That relationship is of fairly recent date,” George explained. “I married his cousin’s daughter yesterday.”
 
“My heartiest congratulations, sir.”
 
George smiled. “Thank you.”
 
“The marriage has taken a huge weight of Sir George's shoulders,” Dr Wheeler told George. “He told me so himself; and I have found it to be true. At last he looks as if he is at peace with himself and his illness. The thought of what might become of Miss Wallis if he did not succeed in settling her affairs properly weighed heavily on his mind. You have relieved him of a great burden. – Not, I must assure you, that he considered Miss Wallis a burden, for how could he? Such a well-mannered, kind and diligent young lady! You have chosen well, Mr Edenthorpe.”
 
“I know. Mr Wheeler, so far Sir George has not confided in me as to what illness he is suffering of, and although he told me you had not much hope of his living much longer I wanted to know if that was true; if Sir George’s view of the matter was not too pessimistic.”
 
“Sir George Yaxley is a realist, Mr Edenthorpe, and has never been prone to exaggeration. What he told you is true. He is very ill, and not likely to live much longer.”
 
George had never had any reason to disbelieve Sir George’s assurance that he was terminally ill, but hearing it from the doctor’s lips somehow brought it home to him that he was going to lose his godfather and that there was nothing he could do about it.
 
“What exact illness is he suffering from, Mr Wheeler? Or did Sir George forbid you to tell me about that?”
 
“Nothing of the kind. It started out as a stomach complaint, but by now I believe the disease has spread all over his body.”

Even though the doctor did not name the disease, George realised what was wrong with Sir George. His father had died of the same illness – the doctors had called it cancer. For a minute or so, he was too stunned to say anything, and it took him some effort to ask his next question.
 
“When you say he is not likely to live much longer, Mr Wheeler, what period of time are you talking about? How long is he likely to … to remain with us?”
 
“It is difficult to come up with a precise date,” Dr Wheeler told him. “I have often seen patients with remarkable resilience who outlived the expectations of myself and their relatives by months – years, even, in one case. This is why I do not like to make predictions – I know they can never be accurate.”
 
“Try to make an exception in this particular case,” George said. “How long a period of time are we talking about? I must break the news to my wife, and I am fairly certain that this will be the first thing she will ask me.”
 
“Let me say as much,” Mr Wheeler said hesitantly. “I do not expect him to live for much longer than three months.”
 
George calculated. “You think he will be dead before Christmas then.”
 
“Even sooner, probably.”
 
“Thank you for your frankness.” George took a sip of his whisky. He was certainly in need of a stiff drink. “Is there anything we can do for him, Mr Wheeler? Myself and … Mrs Edenthorpe?”
 
Calling Sarah Mrs Edenthorpe still sounded odd to him. Well, they had only been married for a day so far, though somehow it seemed much longer.
 
The doctor did not reply for a few moments, and so George repeated his question, adding, “Anything to make him more comfortable, you know! Is he in pain?”
 
“That is difficult to say. Sir George has never been one to complain, so if he does suffer he does it stoically. I have left plenty of laudanum here, so if he should be in pain his valet has the strictest orders to give it to him. That’s a very competent man he has here – I’d leave the nursing to him if I were you.”
 
“I was not proposing to nurse him,” George admitted. “I do not know the least thing about it; he will certainly be much better off with his valet.”
 
“I think the best you can do for him is to keep him company and keep his mind off things while you still can,” the doctor told him. “Sit with him, tell him entertaining stories, read to him, play cards with him – he will enjoy that.”
 
George knew this was the case, but was afraid that Sarah would not think it at all sufficient. He would have to persuade her to accept the doctor’s view. It was going to be a difficult task, he was afraid.
 
“It is a sad honeymoon for a pair of newly-weds with a dying man in the house,” the doctor remarked. “Maybe you should leave for a couple of weeks.”
 
“And leave Sir George to the mercy of his servants? Certainly not; that is out of the question,” George said firmly. “I know my wife would not hear of it even if I were so forgetful of what is due to my godfather to make a suggestion of the kind.”
 
“As you wish,” the doctor said with a shrug. “I merely thought it would be better for Mrs Edenthorpe if she got away from here for a while.”

“You may well be right, but I know she would not consent to it. We'll stay here with Sir George.”

The doctor changed the topic then, and took his leave ten minutes later, having finished his glass of whiskey. With a sigh, George went to look for his wife.