The Tale of Oat Cake Crag - By Susan Wittig Albert Page 0,82

mention that part of it. What he said was, “Sorry to disappoint you, ladies, but I heard Miss Potter tell Mrs. Crook explicitly that there’s no wedding planned. If Mrs. Crook is saying otherwise, she is deliberately contradicting what Miss Potter told her.”

“You heard it?” Tabitha asked, wide-eyed.

“With my very own ears, in Mrs. Crook’s kitchen, where I was sitting under Miss Potter’s chair. This morning. No wedding.” He looked around the group. “You might want to tell the others,” he added. “There’s no point in spreading unfounded rumors.”

“No wedding,” Crumpet repeated sadly.

“No wedding,” Tabitha moaned.

“No wedding,” Parsley said in a disappointed tone. “I’ll tell the rabbits that they’re not to say another word to anyone.”

“And that goes for you two, as well,” Rascal barked to the cats. “Not a word. Got it?”

“Yessir,” said Crumpet. Tabitha nodded.

“Well, now!” Parsley said brightly. “I think it’s time to light the candles and sing ‘Happy Birthday’ to our favorite badger.” She raised her voice. “Everybody, gather round. We’re about to cut the birthday cake!”

Let’s make our exit while everybody is singing. I’m sorry to miss out on Bosworth’s birthday cake, but I’ve just remembered that something important is scheduled for four o’clock at Tidmarsh Manor, and I shouldn’t like to miss it.

17

“No Proposals, I Say!”

We must now direct our attention to a part of our story that we have neglected, for the very simple reason that nothing of any consequence has seemed to be taking place. Or if it has, we’re not privy to it—which often happens, you know. A story can’t include every single detail, or we would be reading forever. By necessity, a great many things are left out because they don’t seem immediately important, such as the color of the shirtwaist Miss Potter was wearing when she went out this morning (it was pale green, with a darker green ruffle down the front), or the whereabouts of the vicar when Miss Potter arrived at the vicarage (he had gone to call on Mrs. Taylor, who was ill with pneumonia). What’s more, a great many important things (some of them very important) are left out for the simple reason that we don’t know about them. Much goes on in this busy world that we don’t learn about until somebody chooses to let us in on the secret. Maybe they will and maybe they won’t. Maybe we’ll be in the dark forever.

I think, however, that we are about to witness something important. It is just now getting on to four o’clock, and today is the day that Caroline Longford has agreed to walk with Jeremy Crosfield in the garden at Tidmarsh Manor. Lady Longford, as usual, has not withheld her opinion of this agreement. She has told Caroline, in a sour tone and several times over, that it is not seemly for her to consort with this young village person, who is not of her social class and must not be encouraged to think that he might be permitted to become a suitor. But I suspect—or at least, I hope—that this is just talk, and that her ladyship learnt her lesson when her son left: it is no good trying to make people do what you want them to do.

And Caroline (who I am happy to say has become quite willful now that she has become a young lady and spent some months in London, where all young ladies are by definition quite willful) has told her grandmother very sweetly that she intends to see whomever she likes and that if her grandmama wishes, she may spy on them out the window and see that they are behaving circumspectly.

Now, I am a little puzzled by this, and perhaps you are, too. Earlier, when Caroline told Miss Potter about her plans, she did not mention having a particular inclination toward a certain young man, let alone Jeremy Crosfield. She said that she expected to finish her musical studies and then take a trip to Europe and perhaps to America and New Zealand, and then return to Tidmarsh Manor and settle down to pursue her dearest love, musical composition. She is free to do this, and to do whatever else she likes, wherever she chooses to do it, because she is an heiress and will inherit not only her father’s small fortune but also her grandmother’s much larger one. She will never have to work to get her living, unlike her friend Deirdre Malone, who keeps the accounts for Mr. Sutton’s veterinary practice and