Page 159 of The Armor of Light

Arabella said: ‘Freddie Caines must be there.’

The bishop said: ‘Who is Freddie Caines?’

‘Oh...he used to be in the militia here. I don’t remember how I met him. A sweet boy.’

Elsie said: ‘I remember. He’s Spade’s brother-in-law.’

Arabella said: ‘I had forgotten that.’

It was a fine September morning, and the sun was shining through the windows of the breakfast room. Kenelm stood up and said: ‘Please excuse me. A carpenter is due to install a new door in the northporch – the old one has rotted away – and I need to make sure he puts it in the right place.’ He left.

Elsie had already spent two hours in the nursery, washing and dressing Stevie – now two years old – with the help of the nurse. Later today she was giving a tea party for supporters of her school who had stood by her during the strike. She was about to excuse herself when her mother said: ‘I have some rather surprising news.’

Elsie sat down again and said: ‘That’s exciting.’

The bishop was not excited. ‘What news?’ he said indifferently.

Arabella said: ‘I’m expecting a baby.’

Elsie stared at her mother in astonishment. She was forty-five! And the bishop was seventeen years older at sixty-two. He was also overweight and far from agile. Furthermore, Elsie had not seen her father touch her mother affectionately for many years. She almost saidHow did that happen?But she stopped herself in time and said: ‘When?’

‘December, I think,’ said Arabella.

The bishop was stunned. He said: ‘But my dear...’

‘You must remember. It was around Easter.’

He said: ‘This year Easter Sunday was the twenty-fourth day of March.’ He seemed glad to have a mundane piece of information to cling to while this earthquake was shaking his world.

Arabella said: ‘I remember it well. You were full of the joys of spring.’

He was embarrassed. ‘Not in front of others, please!’

‘Oh, don’t be silly, Elsie’s a married woman.’

‘All the same...’

‘You enjoyed a particularly fine port that evening.’

‘Oh!’ He seemed to remember.

‘You did seem a bit surprised to wake up and find me in your bed, I recall.’

‘Was that as long ago as Easter?’

‘Yes, I think so,’ said Arabella, but Elsie saw a look of anxiety inher mother’s golden eyes, and she knew then that something was wrong. Arabella was acting a part. She might well be happy to be pregnant, but she was terribly worried about something. What, though? It made no sense.

The bishop’s attitude was also unexpected. Why was he not delighted? A child, at his age! Men were usually proud of their ability to sire children. Kingsbridge people would soon be nudging one another in the cathedral and whisperingThere’s life in the old dog yet.

An astonishing thought crossed Elsie’s mind: was it possible that the bishop thought the child was not his?

The notion seemed laughable. Women of Arabella’s age did not commit adultery. At least, Elsie did not think so. Didn’t they lose interest in all that sort of thing? Elsie did not really know anything about it.

And suddenly she remembered a conversation with Belinda Goodnight, the town gossip. ‘What’s this I hear about your mother?’ Belinda had said to Elsie in the cathedral one Sunday. ‘She seems to have become awfully friendly with Spade.’

Elsie had burst out laughing. ‘My mother?’ she had said. ‘Don’t be silly.’

‘Someone told me she’s always in his sister’s shop.’