God's Country

Part Twenty-Nine

'Fundamentalism does mean reading quite conservatively and literally, saying the Bible is the word of God and we have to follow it. What it says is this.'

Elaine Pagels

"Oh really Miss Ford...I am not a child...if you will just remove these mittens I can attend to myself in my own time, and you can get right back to Elizabeth...she deserves much more of your time." Madeleine Buckingham moaned in frustration as the guardian took her arm and led her off towards the bathroom, straight after removing her from her sleeping gown and muzzle.

"Elizabeth is already up, dressed, fed and studying with Henrietta and Georgina, Mrs Buckingham...and I am afraid your husband's instructions are really quite clear. I did intend to clean your teeth and give your jaw a rest, but if you are not going to be good I shall have to reconsider, of course."

"Yes Miss Ford," Madeleine said quickly, remembering herself. She knew she could not win that particular battle. Her dear husband, perhaps because of the age difference between them, and her own relative inexperience as a wife, seemed intent on instructing Miss Ford to keep her on a very short leash most of the time. He was treating her like a child and even their conjoining had been carried out with her in her sleeping gown, with Miss Ford being called to settle her back down afterwards, which she found most embarrassing. She thought it was an outrage, and had tried to discuss it with Claire Harrington, who was not particularly sympathetic, and intended to seek her mother's advice as soon as she got the chance. Miss Ford was totally unsuitable and living with the Harrington's was far from ideal, as she rarely had a chance to speak to her husband in private. And he was now involved with an election which would keep him away from home, which left her all alone with Miss Ford in charge of her all the time.

Chloe Ford actually felt rather sorry for Madeleine. She was a little pompous and rather too aware of her father's wealth and importance in the community, but she was still a properly devout Daughter of Eve eager to earn God's love. It was understandable that she should yearn to be mistress in her own house, but because of her upbringing she was not ready to do so. No appropriately educated maiden ever could be, and as Mrs Charles Buckingham Madeleine was bound to find herself in the public eye. Miss Scott was helping Chloe prepare her dear mistress for her new life. In time, as she gained in maturity and experience, Madeleine would come to a rather more comfortable arrangement with her guardian, but for the time being she just needed to obey.

'Learning to read the Bible in the light of the times in which it was written is critical.'

Adam Hamilton

"It is just too soon David...we only have days to get the paperwork in...not even a week and I will not take the chance," Charles Buckingham insisted, thirty odd miles away in the centre of London, at roughly the same time as his young wife was submitting to her guardian with palpable reluctance. Like most people, he had been taken by surprise. Brian Strickland was risking his political future by taking advantage of the confusion on the centre right of the political spectrum, and in many ways it was a bitter blow to the Reformists. Buckingham had expected to wait four years before starting a proper campaign, confidently expecting Neil Hooks to cling onto power as long as he could just as Nick Clegg always had before. He had listened to all the differing opinions, those who could not see the Labour/LibDem coalition lasting very long at all but he thought Hooks would dodge and weave like Clegg did between 2010 and 2015 and keep his influence and title until the bitter end. Buckingham believed that he would have plenty of time to build his party from the ground up, creating a national organisation with all the necessary local support, as well as confirming candidates who would have time to build a rapport within their intended constituencies. "Going for it now...without proper checks and balances...could cost us everything...Farage fielded candidates who were barely vetted at all and it cost UKip their reputation. I will not make the same mistake."