Clergy -- Fiction; Conduct of life -- Fiction; England -- Fiction; Families -- Fiction; Spouses of clergy -- Fiction
But no sooner had Mrs. Greville left the house having done everything
to her satisfaction, than Rachel slipped on her hat and ran round to
the florist. Even if her mother-in-law had her way in everything else
she was determined that her flowers should be an exception. The Bishop
should anyhow see something to remind him of her old home, and the
flowers were those he particularly loved. They were a fabulous price,
but Rachel was reckless.
Happily the pie did not arrive from Evesham's till her mother-in-law
had disappeared. Rachel found Polly regretfully contemplating it as it
lay on the kitchen table.
"It's such a beauty!" she said to Rachel as she came in. "It's ever so
much nicer than the one Mrs. Greville brought. It has such a pretty
edge, and is varnished like, and there's a piece of parsley sticking
out of the top. The other looks ever so plain by its side."
"Go and fetch the other back from the table Polly," said Rachel. "We'll
put this one in its place."
Polly wondered how her mistress dared to do such a thing, and fervently
hoped that Mrs. Greville would not scold her too much, but she fetched
it gladly with an inward thrill of excitement.
Rachel went to the Confirmation Service in no devout state of mind.
She felt out of touch with all good things. She knew she was indulging
in wrong and unworthy feelings towards her mother in-law, as she was
not blind to the fact that all she did was done in pure kindness, and
because she had a false preconceived idea of her daughter-in-law's
incapability. It was a case of misunderstanding. But what had happened
this morning had made her feel all on edge. However, the sight of the
Bishop, the sound of his voice, and still more the Charge he gave
to the Confirmation candidates, filled her with a feeling of shame.
How badly she was keeping the resolutions she had made at her own
Confirmation. How half-heartedly she was fighting the world, the flesh,
and the devil; what an unsatisfactory soldier of the King, under whose
banner she had promised to fight unto her life's end.
She felt so ashamed of herself and so full of repentance, that she
hurried home as fast as she could after the service and told Polly to
put Mrs. Greville's pie on the table again. It was more necessary for
her to be good and for her mother-in-law to be saved pain, than for
the Bishop to partake of a pie with a frilled edge and, as Polly had
expressed if, "all varnished like."
Then with an easier mind she was able to welcome her friend and even to
smile at Luke's mother. It must be confessed however, that the smile
was difficult to maintain, as she could scarcely get in a word edgeways
with the Bishop. Her mother-in-law entirely engrossed his attention.
Even Luke had to sit and listen, which made Rachel every now and then
feel furious.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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