Mist Over Pendle Read Free Page A

ruthless about it, and Margery submitted because she had to; she knew well enough where authority lay. But under it she was mutinous, for this was by no means her notion of a proper life. She knew all about that crinkling smile and the glint of red in her hair; she knew she had quicker wits and a cooler head than most; and the thought was steady in her that if she were once set among proper men she might put those talents to a proper use. And here she was, grunting in a kitchen that she might learn to cook more succulently for some podgy brother-chosen brute! She was almost in tears when she thought about it. Nor was she much happier in her cooler moments, for then she brooded anxiously on the letter that had been sent to Roger Nowell. If he refused her a portion, it seemed that she must stay here and sport with apprentices--when she could evade Prudence. If he found her a portion she might expect to be quickly married, and she had no illusions about the sort of husband she would have to take and the sort of life she would have to lead. There would be no place then for high hopes and a crinkling smile.
    Then came the answer from Roger Nowell, and it was not the answer that Alexander had expected. His voice was swelling with indignation as he read it to them:
    “Send the girl straightway to me that I may view her and use her by her deserts. If her blood be red of Nowell she may stay by me and have fair provision. If it be whey she shall return whence she came, and at my charges. These for her journey.
    Roger Nowell.”
    And ‘these’ were silver crowns, twenty of them, done in a silken bag; it was tied and sealed, and the seal had the arms of Nowell, three cups sable on a field of argent.
    It was a letter that pleased them not at all. Alexander grew heated at its brevity, Richard grumbled at its arrogance, and Prudence declared that it would puff the girl’s vanity even further, but if it was short it was also plain, and its very shortness suggested that Roger Nowell was not a man to be argued with, not a man from whom anything might be had unless he were given his own way. They talked it round through the heat of a July afternoon, and their talk ended as might have been foreseen. Margery was summoned before Alexander and curtly bidden to prepare herself for a journey to the North Parts.
    It did not occur to Alexander to ask what Margery’s thoughts might be on this, and Margery, as usual, kept them to herself. She stayed impassive and inscrutable, but behind it she was excited; and if she was a little frightened she was at least not displeased. Nor was she indignant; if Roger Nowell wanted to look at her, Margery could see nothing against that; she had a growing belief that she was worth looking at, and she was disposed to think well of a man who wanted to look at her. Her quick mind had already seen the possibilities. At the best, ‘stay by me and have fair provision’ might mean a dream come true. At the worst there would be some exciting travels, and also, if Roger Nowell’s crowns were well expended, some new clothes; and of these Margery thought she stood in much need. So she stayed grave and placid, and she even assented dutifully when she was told that Prudence would take her shopping the next week.
    She did her best to be dutiful when they came to it, though this she found difficult. She and Prudence had markedly different ideas as to what was to be done. To Prudence it was obvious that Margery must be equipped with such grave and sober clothing as would befit a daughter of their house, whereas Margery’s tastes did not run at all to the grave and sober. They came to argument at once. Margery said that since she was going into the country she must have a riding-habit, and she pressed for it earnestly. But Prudence would have none of such fripperies, and since she had the authority, Margery had to submit; yet Prudence, within the limits of her tastes, was both shrewd and determined, and even Margery had to