do you expect to eat?' 'If you like eating our food, you'd bet'er also luv farming. That is 'ow we eat.'
His mother, Gleda, had been listening and came to Richard' side. 'Lind, me luv, the boy luvs farming, he just needs sume dinner. Let 'im eat before he works.'
Lind relented and went out the door with Bromley.
As Gleda broke off a piece of bread for Richard, she asked, 'Whot is this then, that you do nay care for farming? Is that true?' Gleda already knew that it was true and she had been concerned. There were not a lot of options for a poor boy from a small village. But, she also knew that Bromley would inherit the farm and the cottage.
'Yes, mum, it is true. I 'ave never liked farming.'
'Then whot is it that you fancy yourself doing so that you can eat?'
'I am going to fashion magnificent windows for the church,' replied Richard with conviction.
'Whot! A glazier?' replied Gleda. This is the first time that Richard had heard the word, it sounded strange to him. 'And 'ow will you do that? A person must have training, an apprenticeship! That costs muney and we do nay 'ave it.'
Richard had finished his bread and milk and he left through the door to join Lind and Bromley. He was a little dejected at the response that he had received. He had really thought that his mother would understand.
____________________
After the worship service, John had returned to the Darby estate with his parents. The well manicured park rolled over the hills to the right and the River Welland hugged the grounds to the left as it crawled its way toward Stamford. The park surrounding the estate was well apportioned with neatly trimmed hedges and the beautiful house was guarded by a deep and wide mote. The house sat upon a little rise and from that point a person could see miles of rolling fields, each separated with a hedge or a stone wall. Sheep grazed in many of the fields. Stamford was to the east, in front of the house and Easton-on-the-hill was to the south. The many churches of Stamford were visible from the Darby estate.
As the Darby's sat down in the great hall for their evening meal, John's mother asked, 'Whot was it that you and Richard were so intent on discussing during the service todee?'
John considered carefully his response. For much of the time they had been whispering about a pretty girl with long golden hair. They also had been making jokes about one of the alter boys. He certainly did not want to mention this to his mother. Then he remembered their conversation about the glass.
'Richard wants to be a glazier,' John offered.
'A glazier? And 'ow doze 'e plan to accomplish soch a thing withoot muney? Does 'is father 'ave muney to pay for an apprenticeship?' questioned Mrs. Darby.
'If 'e 'ad soch an amount of muney,' stated John's father, 'e'd likely own an 'orse.'
The conversation then shifted from the Easton's and the apprenticeship to a subject that John liked far less.
John's father looked intently at his oldest son and said, 'I 'ave made arrangements for you to start school in Peterborough next month. If you do well there, you will go to Oxford when you are fourteen.'
John knew better than to protest and besides, he had known for years that he would eventually be sent away to school. Still, he did not want to go.
'When do I leave?'
'In a fortnight,' said his father.
'Must I leave so soon?'
'There is an opening at the school in a fortnight. So, yes, you must leave at that time,' his father stated.
John's mother had been thinking about Richard while this conversation was going on.
'Culd we nay pay for an apprenticeship for that yung man?' she asked.
'Why wuld we do that?' asked his father.
'I 'ave always liked 'im and 'e 'as been a gud friend to John for many years,' she offered. 'I 'ave always felt for 'im losing 'is real parents, being an orph....' Then she caught herself and stopped. John didn't know that Richard had lost his parents and that Lind and Gleda were not his real parents. This caught John by surprise.
'Whot, Richard was an orphan?' questioned John.
John's father eyed his mother with a look that communicated that she should not have said that.
'Soory, I shuld nay 'ave said that. Please do nay say anything to Richard. I do nay believe that 'e knows.'