Page 16 of The Affairs of Ashmore Castle (Ashmore Castle #2)

‘I did. Are you hungry? I could ask Mrs Deering for something for you.’

‘No, thank you,’ he said. ‘I’m rarely hungry at this time of day. The luncheon idea was for your benefit rather than mine. But I do need to stretch my legs and seize a few mouthfuls of fresh air.’

Nina made an expansive gesture. ‘Take all you like,’ she said. ‘Shall I walk with you, or do you want to be alone?’

‘Walk with me, please.’ Nina turned with him and headed back down towards the lake.

‘I’m charged with telling you about Mr Crawford’s plan.

You asked Mr Cowling last night, apparently, and he snubbed you.

He’s quite anxious about it. Were your feelings hurt?

Do you actually want to know what the plan is? ’

‘No, and yes. I quite understood that he needed more time to digest it. And of course I’m interested. What goes on in that huge, handsome factory?’

Decius grinned. ‘It is handsome, isn’t it? And a nice place to work, I should think – lots of light. They make stockings and socks of all kinds and sizes. And corsets.’

‘Corsets!’ Nina laughed. ‘I thought Mrs Crawford looked awfully well bound. So, tell me, what is this wonderful plan?’

He thought for a moment. ‘I may have to go back a step or two. Do you know what cellulose is?’

‘No. Though I think I’ve heard the word.’

‘It’s a material made from wood pulp – though it can be made from anything like leaves or tree bark too – and it can be drawn into a thread, and then woven into cloth, which is hard-wearing and cheaper than cloth made from natural materials like cotton and wool.’

‘Ye-es,’ said Nina, doubtfully.

‘About ten years ago, someone worked out a way to treat this fibre so that it resembles silk. Artificial silk looks so good, you can hardly tell it from the real thing. But as you can imagine, it would take thousands of mulberry silkworms a very long time to produce as much of the real thing as a vat of wood pulp can produce of—’

‘Art silk!’ Nina finished for him. ‘Yes, of course, I’ve heard of that, though I didn’t really know what it was. But what has this to do with Mr Crawford? And why is Mr Cowling interested?’

‘Mr Crawford has a plan to utilise part of his factory to manufacture art silk and then weave it into socks and stockings. But he needs a capital investment. Mr Cowling has money to invest. And Mr Crawford has cleverly put it to him that, as the man who can’t quite afford hand-made shoes buys a Cowling and Kempson factory-made pair instead, so he should have the opportunity to buy art-silk socks to go with them. ’

Nina laughed. ‘Yes, of course! It makes perfect sense.’

‘Ladies too,’ Decius said. ‘Proper silk stockings cost the earth – so I’m told,’ he added modestly.

They reached the temple, and sat down together.

‘They are expensive,’ Nina said. ‘And one is always having to darn them, because they cost too much to throw away.’

‘That’s another thing,’ he said. ‘Art-silk stockings would be much harder wearing. And, I believe, they would fit better, the artificial fibre being more flexible than natural silk.’

Nina reflected on this for a moment. ‘Do you think he’s going to do it – Mr Cowling?’

‘I think he will. It does make sense, and it looks like a good business opportunity. Just as people always need shoes, they always need socks, too. And he does love innovation, and science, and modern thinking. They appeal to him as much as the commercial possibilities, I think. That’s what I left them doing – looking at the earmarked section of the factory and working out where all the machinery would go. ’

‘Then,’ she said, ‘he would have to be spending more time here, in Market Harborough?’

‘Certainly, at first,’ Decius said cautiously, watching her face, not knowing what she was thinking, ‘he would have to be here much of the time. But it isn’t far from Northampton, you know, and there’s the railway.

I’m sure he won’t neglect you. Or, if he’s going to be gone for a week at a time, you could come with him and stay here.

I know it isn’t as comfortable as Beechcroft, but—’

‘But I love it!’ Nina cried passionately. ‘I love this house – it’s so much nicer than Beechcroft. And I love the Deerings, and I love Market Harborough. Oh, Decius, do you think he’d agree to come and live here permanently, instead of in Northampton? I hate Northampton.’

He smiled. ‘I think he would do anything to make you happy.’

‘But I want him to be happy too. And he does seem to dislike this place.’

‘I don’t think men mind half so much where they live as women do. And he’ll always have to travel about anyway. You’re the one who’ll be at home, so it’s more important that you’re content. He’ll see that, I’m sure. And there’s one way you can find out.’

‘Ask him,’ said Nina, glumly. ‘That’s what Richard said. But I don’t want to make him angry. If I ask and he says no, it will make things very difficult back at Beechcroft.’

Decius looked at her with some sympathy, thinking, Thank God I’m not a woman .

He said, ‘I’d ask for you, but I’m afraid it’s something you must do for yourself.

I couldn’t interfere. But if he asks my opinion, I shall tell him that I think you would much prefer to live here.

And I can assure you that your happiness is paramount to him. ’

They sat in silence for a while. Then Decius said, ‘By Jove, look, old Trump has caught a frog.’

Nina jumped up, all other thoughts banished. ‘Oh, no! He’ll hurt it! We must get it away from him. Bad dog! Leave it!’ Trump ran past with an idiot grin and the frog in his mouth, and it was an energetic chase before they could catch him and release the frog, which seemed unharmed.

Then Nina slid her arm through Decius’s and said, ‘You must be hungry by now, after all that running about. Come back to the house and have tea.’

He smiled. ‘Now, tea is a meal I’ve always approved of.’

‘I understand that, if you never have luncheon,’ said Nina.