which may have been a sneeze. Dominic was sure it was laughter, and he thought he knew what pictures were in her mind. He wished he were free to do the same instead of being obliged to listen seriously and look as if he were full of respect.
“Thank you,” Vita murmured. “It is all so horribly confusing.”
“Of course it is, my dear Mrs. Parmenter.” The bishop seized on something specific to address. “One must seek always for honesty and the guidance of the light of truth to find our way. The Lord has promised to be a lamp unto our path. We must put our trust in Him.”
Tryphena rolled her eyes, but the bishop was not looking at her.
Ramsay sat in wretched silence, and Dominic felt agonized for him. He was like a butterfly on a pin, still alive.
“We must have courage,” the bishop went on.
Clarice opened her mouth and then closed it again. Her face showed her struggle to keep her temper, and for once Dominic could identify with her utterly. Courage to do what? Not offer the hand of friendship or any promise of loyalty or help. That the bishop had very carefully refrained from doing. He had spoken nothing but the most guarded platitudes.
“We will do all we can,” Vita promised, looking up at him. “You are very kind to come to see us. I know how busy you are …”
“Nonsense, Mrs. Parmenter,” he responded with a smile. “It is the very least I could do …”
“The very least,” Clarice said under her breath, then she added aloud, “We knew that you would do that, Bishop Underhill.”
“Thank you, my dear. Thank you,” he accepted.
“I hope you will help us to behave honorably and to have the courage to act only for the best?” Vita went on rather quickly. “Perhaps a word of advice now and then? We should appreciate it so much. I …” She left the words hanging between them, the uncompleted sentence witness to her distress.
“Of course,” the bishop assured her. “Of course I will. I wish … I wish I knew … my own experience …”
Dominic was embarrassed for them all, and ashamed of himself for how profoundly he loathed the bishop. He should have admired him, should have felt he was a rock of support, wiser than they, stronger, filled with compassion and honor. Instead, the bishop seemed to have hedged and evaded, given general advice they did not need, and scrupulously avoided committing himself to anything.
The bishop’s visit dragged out a further half hour, then, to Dominic’s intense relief, he left. Vita accompanied him to the door, and Dominic met her in the main hall as she returned. She looked exhausted and almost feverish. How she found the strength to keep her composure as she did, he could not imagine. It would be difficult to think of a more fearful dilemma than that in which she was placed. His admiration for her was boundless. He cast about for some way to tell her so which was not fulsome or merely a further cause for anxiety or embarrassment.
“Your courage is superb,” he said gently, standing close enough to her that he could speak softly and be heard by no one else. “We all owe you a great deal. I think perhaps it is your strength which makes this bearable.”
She smiled up at him with a sudden rush of pleasure he thought for a moment was absolutely real, as if he had given her a small but precious gift.
“Thank you …” she whispered. “Thank you, Dominic.”
6
“DO YOU THINK it is Ramsay Parmenter?” Charlotte asked, pushing the marmalade across the breakfast table to Pitt. It was now the fourth day since Unity Bellwood’s death. Charlotte had, of course, told Pitt about her visit to Brunswick Gardens, and he had not reacted favorably. She had had some considerable explaining to do, and had not been very successful. She knew he was still unhappy about it—not that it was her meddling, which he was more than used to, but because she had gone so quickly to Dominic.
“I don’t know,” he replied to her question. “It seems most probable from the facts, and least likely from what I can learn of the man.”
“People do sometimes behave very out of character.” She took a piece of toast herself.
“No, they don’t,” he argued. “They only behave out of the character you know. If he was a man to do that, it will be there somewhere.”