“Then I am afraid that I must decline,” Robert said, rising abruptly .
“As you wish,” Sir Reginald said, leaning back in his chair and picking up his cup to take another sip of tea .
Chapter 4
“F ather, I have slipped a few ginger biscuits into my apron pocket. Might I tempt you?” Diana asked as she came into her father’s study where he was sitting alone after supper .
“I hope you did not tell your mother .”
“Sh-h-h… our secret,” she said as she handed the biscuits to her father and sat opposite him at his fire where he was puffing on his pipe and occasionally tapping it against the hearth grate .
Diana sat back in the chair and enjoyed the comfort of the fire as she smoothed out the apron on her lap .
“Father, I would very much like to know what has been troubling you financially. It is not as though I am an infant with an innocent outlook on life. I would like to see if there might be some way I could help out .”
Father contented himself with his pipe for a moment or two then said, “I expect you know what a leasehold is, am I correct in thinking ?”
“You are. A freeholder owns the land and a leaseholder may own the property on the land but not the land. Yes ?”
“And as you probably know we have this cottage as a leasehold .”
“I thought as much, but was not certain,” Diana replied .
“And our problem is that the term of our leasehold is about to expire. We have just three months before we need to renew the leasehold. And our freeholder wants at least a fifty-year renewed lease at twenty-five hundred pounds .”
“Oh, Father …”
“And that is what the bank loan was for—to renew the leasehold. And, as you know, a university fellow makes a modest salary at best. Your mother’s paintings bring in perhaps another couple of hundred a year, but I have no idea what your royalties might bring you ?”
“Five hundred a year at the very best,” Diana answered despondently .
“Exactly. It is not a sum we can pull together easily without a loan or a windfall that I do not foresee .”
“What happens if we cannot make the payment?” she asked .
“We must leave .”
“But the house is ours. We paid for that,” she insisted, upset by what appeared to be the unfairness of the situation .
Father nodded in acknowledgement, “But it is a quirk of our system that allows one person to own the land and another to own the property on it. I suppose we could move the house, but how practical is that? And besides we would still need to find land to put the house on and that would cost us perhaps even more .”
“Oh, Father…” Diana was heartbroken and tried desperately to think of a possible solution. “And you have nothing set aside? No insurance policies that could be redeemed or assets that could be liquidated ?”
“I am afraid not, child .”
They both sat staring into the fire looking for inspiration .
“I do have one thought,” he finally offered. “But I really hate to ask this .”
“Oh, please tell me .”
“Your beau, Adam… I know his father is quite wealthy. Might it be possible to ask Adam if he could broker a loan from his father for us ?
“Oh, Father… I do not know… Adam is a good friend but nothing more at this point. That seems to be a terrible imposition to ask of a friend .”
“He is nothing more? I thought there was an imminent engagement in the works .”
“Alas, I know he would like that to be so, but I just cannot bring myself to enter into such an arrangement .”
“I thought you two were sweethearts,” he said somewhat surprised .
“I like Adam very much. He is a good friend and a loyal companion. We enjoy taking walks and chatting and discussing important issues. But to be honest, I do not feel any abiding passion for him .”
Father leaned his head against the back of the chair. “Ah yes, passion. Certainly, a concept most treasured by you young people today. But I can assure you, passion is not everything in a marriage. Why it was not that long ago that all marriages were arranged—and I can assure you, most were entered into with very little passion involved .”
“But that is not as true today,” Diana responded .
Her father nodded, then leaned in and said, “My dear child, let me assure you that I know of what I speak .”
“You and mother ?”
“She may never have told you, but we were not what you call in love when we married. Our families, while not actually arranging the marriage, applied a great deal of pressure for us to become engaged. And to which we finally agreed .”
“I did not know .”
“And when you think about it, your situation is not all that dissimilar from ours. I was a promising scholar like your Adam, and Ann was an artist with a modest talent. Neither family had a great deal of wealth, but I was offered a fellowship at the university, and your mother was able to bring in an income from her paintings. And as neither of us had any other romantic prospects we decided to marry. More from a business standpoint and to please our parents than from any great passion. But I would also remind you that we did grow to love each other—very much .”
“I had no idea,” Diana said softly. “Let me think about all of this. I certainly want to help the family if I can. And if that means accepting a proposal from Adam in order to help then, I will certainly consider that .”
*
D iana was exhausted. She had tossed sleeplessly all night. Her mind had been consumed with thoughts about her family and Adam, and what she might be able to do to help solve her family’s urgent problem .
She sat on the edge of her bed after a sleepy breakfast and decided there was no way she would be able to attend to her writing this morning. Her head felt like raw wool that had not been carded—a tangled mess .
There was only one thing she could think to do, and that was to go visit her best friends, the twins, Miriam and Geoffrey Sinclair, who lived at the end of the cross street that ran along the side of the Browning’s house .
The Sinclair front door flung open. “Oh… it is you!” Geoffrey exclaimed and then turned and shouted into the house, “Our Di just appeared .”
There was a squeal from deep inside, and then the sound of running feet. Miriam appeared over Geoffrey’s shoulder .
“Look at you. Have you been run over by a cart ?”
“Rescue, rescue,” Geoffrey shouted as he pulled Diana inside and grabbed her by one arm .
“Oh, my gosh, she needs a transfusion at the very least,” Miriam said grabbing her by the other arm .
Diana was then marched into the morning parlor and forced to sit between them on the sofa .
There was no question these two were twins. Both had curly blond hair—which they wore identically in a floppy, casual way. They had slightly round faces with blue eyes and blushing cheeks. And they flailed their hands and arms around with the same wild exaggeration .
The two turned to look at her. Geoffrey gestured with his finger in front of her face like he was making a sketch. Miriam fiddled with Diana’s hair .
“What can …”