The Vicar's Daughters

Sad, Sweet Departure

"Silly," Amanda said. "I've never been to Italy either, but it doesn't make me cry."

As the day waned, Amanda grew lower in spirits. Her last evening with Dabney was going to be spent with a quiet family dinner at the Vicarage. Of course, Rachel had to invite John as well, and Marian invited Phoebe. To even out the number of men and women, Maman also invited her two "amis Français," or Mr. Du Roche and Mr. Duchamps.

The guests were seated in the dining room and the main course had begun before Dabney remarked on Amanda's gloom.

"Are you fretting over the next three weeks?" he asked her quietly.

She looked up and gave him a wan smile. "I can't help but feel they are going to be the longest weeks of my life."

"I cannot delay. Parliament broke session on August 12, and I must meet my father at our estate in Lincolnshire by the 23rd. My trip will be all business, but you will have diversions! Your shopping trip, and of course the many details of the engagement ball and dinner. Your mama will keep you busy day and night."

"It will only remind me of how distant you are. You will not be there to guide me on whether to serve veal or venison."

"I trust you in every detail," he said with a smile. He looked across at John and nodded. "And the Ellsworths will be generous in their advice."

"Lady Ellsworth, most likely." A glimmer of humor finally reached Amanda's eyes.

"You must keep notes," Phoebe added. "I want my wedding to be just as delightful."

"Are you engaged, then?" came the query from Mr. Du Roche.

"Oh, no." She began to blush, and raised her napkin self-consciously to her mouth. She swallowed and glanced at Amanda. "I meant only hypothetically. If I should, one day, marry." She dropped her hands and fiddled with her fork.

"Surely you have beaux in line, just waiting for a glance from your beautiful eyes," he cooed.

"Oh, eh..."

"Our mother keeps Phoebe in hiding from these beaux," John jumped in, seeing her discomfort. "She can only pierce their hearts every Sunday when she smiles at them in church."

"John, you know there are not such a great number!" Phoebe said.

"Ah ha! But there are some," gathered Du Roche. Phoebe blushed again and became silent.

Amanda watched her friend and suddenly understood how hard it must be for her. Phoebe was a few months older than she, a daughter of an earl, with a dowry. There had clearly been some intent in the invitation to Dabney and his cousins that the party might be a matchmaking endeavor for Phoebe. But no matter how many times her mother had encouraged her to picnic, ride and visit with Mr. Lloyd, no attraction had come of it. And Dabney had been drawn away by the neighbor. Amanda felt slightly guilty for her ignorance of anyone else's feelings but her own.

As the guests finished their dining and proceeded to the drawing room, Amanda settled in the window seat where she and Dabney had held their first private discussion. She felt a whirl of emotion contemplating that in the three months since they'd met, she'd committed to change her home, her name, her rank, and her lifestyle. She was surely dreaming.

"Aren't you happy tonight?" Marian asked, coming to sit beside her.

"I'm not sad," Amanda hedged. "I am just worried. What made me think I was ready to be a wife, mistress of a great house, all in a few weeks? Remember how at the beginning of the summer our greatest plans were to visit Roseberry Topping? Now look what we've done."

"You are right to be a little nervous," Marian said with a slight squeeze of her hand. "You're taking a big step. You won't have a chance to go back. But you're ready. All your life, your years at school, your dreams in the afternoon while you were supposed to be studying...haven't they led to this?"

Amanda nodded. "You must promise to visit me," she said, suddenly clasping both of Marian's hands. "Rachel, too, if she's not busy being mistress at Burley."

"I told you, didn't I, that you must find me a gentleman to marry now? I insist that you have a house party by next spring and invite every eligible cousin and nephew Dabney might have. Certainly one will suit me!"

"I will have one long before next spring, and you shall be there for a whole two months!" They laughed then, and she and Marian arose as the gentlemen came in from the other room.

"It seems were are losing all the nice young men tonight," the vicar said to no one in particular. "Our French friends are off again, back to York."

"Already?" Mrs. Pearce said. "You've hardly been here a week."

"Yes, well, we must travel by post in the morning to be on our way," said Mr. Du Roche. "I've had an important message from my family, and need to see to some urgent business."

"It's a pity," Vicar Pearce said. "A few more days, and I'd have convinced you to buy my horse."

Mr. Du Roche smiled and bowed, then looked about at the ladies. "I may have been convinced to take more than a horse," he said jokingly to Mr. Duchamps. He'd meant it as a side comment, but Rachel had overheard and scowled. She pulled Phoebe protectively away to the piano forte and they began selecting music.

Dabney claimed the spot at Amanda's side. "Your smile has returned," he said with a grin of his own.

"Marian has been making me promise to hold a house party and invite all your eligible cousins."

"All? Well, warn her that none of them are as handsome as me," he said with a wink.

They sat quietly for a few moments, holding hands and looking out at the starlit garden behind the vicarage. "What time are you leaving in the morning?"

"We will be over before breakfast," Dabney said. "We'll tie the new team behind John's coach and take it as far as the inn at Northallerton. Then we'll hitch my team to the new carriage, and I'll go on to Lincolnshire and John will return home."

"You'll be careful of highwaymen?" Amanda asked, her eyes growing round at the thought.

"We will," he chuckled. "But we never travel unarmed, anyway." The thought did not comfort Amanda at all, so he added, "We've never been stopped before. The road is too well-traveled and the greatest danger is being bowled over by a post coach and forced into a stream."

Amanda stared at him, as if seeing the horror in her mind. "A coach accident," she whispered. "The horses would have to be put down." She remembered a time when a horse of her father's had stupidly tried to jump the fence instead of go into its pen, and had broken its leg. Its shrieks were high-pitched and echoed against the stable walls until all the staff had gathered, little Amanda among them. She'd sadly watched the steward bring a gun and end its misery.

Looking back at Dabney, she was chilled with a certain fear. "Don't go," she begged. "Wait for a day or two."

He gently traced his finger along her chin, then settled it on her shoulder. "All will be well, my pet. You'll see. I'll have the most beautiful bride and the most beautiful team and the most stylish phaeton. We'll be the envy of all."

"I'd rather have you safe than have anyone's envy," Amanda said pleadingly.

"All will be well," he repeated, then drew her away from the window. "Come, John will tell you how safe it is."

Amanda drew in a deep breath as she stood with Dabney, though the images in her mind seemed to lurk in the corners for the remainder of the night.