Let Loose the Dogs by Maureen Jennings

Author:Maureen Jennings
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
ISBN: 9780771043215
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
Published: 2003-07-17T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-eight

A FEW YEARS AGO MARIA NEWCOMBE had purchased an old-fashioned four-poster bed at a country auction. She had replaced the dust-laden curtains with some of claret-coloured velvet, and she liked nothing better in the winter than for her and Vince to get into bed and draw the curtains. They sacrificed some freshness of air for snugness, and she considered it a good trade. At the end of the day, the two of them climbed into bed and pressed closely side by side, discussing the business of the day, going over what needed to be done tomorrow. Maria waited until Vincent had brought up some of the things that were on his mind first. He told her what had happened at the Delaneys’.

“Mrs. Delaney appeared quite afraid. I didn’t know the boy was so badly off.”

“Mrs. Bowling is a strange woman, I must say. Whenever I’ve encountered her, she’s been quite unfriendly.”

Ucillus Bowling had come to live in the Delaney cottage only two years ago. Rumours had soon started about the daughter who some said had the shocking ways of a hoyden. Maria would have been a good neighbour and visited the newcomer, but Ucillus made it clear she did not welcome visitors. The gossips said that did not include male visitors. Maria knew Vincent went to see the woman sometimes, he said. Although she knew she trusted him completely, she couldn’t resist jabbing at the sore place when Ucillus was mentioned.

“The problem is Delaney himself wasn’t consistent in his treatment of the lad,” said Vince, adroitly sidestepping the issue of Mrs. Bowling’s aloofness. “You’ve got to leaven corrections with kindness unless you only want obedience from fear and not from respect. One minute Philip could have whatever he asked for, the next the very same demand would get him a reprimand. And then would come the temper. I witnessed it more than once.”

In the darkness Maria smiled to herself. Vincent didn’t see any difference between training a dog and raising a child.

“The fellow Williams kept a cool head, I must say,” continued Vincent. “Good man. I wouldn’t like to make an enemy of him, but I’d say he would be a steadfast friend.”

They lay quietly for a while, then she said, “I was thinking I’d go and pay a visit to Jess Lacey. I can take her some bread. From what Walter has said, she is very blue most days.”

“Good old girl,” he said, and kissed the top of her head. She could tell that he was struggling valiantly against sleep, and she murmured her own good night to release him and kissed his hand. She lay against his chest until she heard by his deepening breathing that he had dozed off, then she slipped away from under his arm and turned on her side. Her eyes were open, and she knew sleep would elude her tonight. It was in these moments when there was silence all around her that her fears began to creep to the forefront of her mind.

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