In the Heart of Hidden Things by Kit Whitfield

Author:Kit Whitfield [Whitfield, Kit]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Quercus
Published: 2022-06-08T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

Sensible villagers do not hold a bonfire to celebrate the death of an unpopular man of means, and the death of Roger Groves was, at least on the surface of Gyrford, greeted quietly.

Ephraim Brady went about his business with a closed mouth and a white face, and if he had been ungenial before, he was bitter now. The loss of such an ally was a great blow, and he did not chose to suffer alone: he raised rents on two families, and called in his debts, and bought his debtors’ goods at heartbreaking prices when they couldn’t pay them, and if folks had not sought his company before, now they would cross the road to stay out of his path. The money Jedediah had charged him for inspecting the Porter farm – which he had insisted on collecting, and which Ephraim, with his usual hostile probity, paid with his face set in an expression of dislike so rigid it troubled even Jedediah – was quite quickly dispersed. It was a good amount, but it couldn’t cover everything he did; the Smiths had to eat as well, and it was becoming clear that anyone who enjoyed the protection of the Smiths against Ephraim Brady could consider themselves to have taken sides in what was becoming, at least in the eyes of Ephraim, an open feud. The Smiths did what they could, but it wasn’t enough: they simply hadn’t the funds to counter all the ill he was wreaking.

His one indulgence remained, as it always had been, his brother Anthony. The two of them rode together every afternoon, on new-shod horses Ephraim had brought to the smithy, with instructions for the most fey-repelling shoes ever struck. John had been going to explain to him that there was a limit to what you could expect horseshoes to do once you were out and on the move in the People’s countryside, but Matthew hushed him and Jedediah quoted a price thrice their usual, and Ephraim Brady paid it.

Newly proofed, they rode together every day at one on the stroke. For the remainder of his hours, Anthony was as much at loose ends as ever; he had nothing to do but hang around Gyrford in odd places. Since no one liked to risk his company, he was always alone, with not much to do except toss crumbs to wood pigeons and scratch the backs of folks’ pigs. He was even spotted attempting to make friends with the Porters’ cat – which was of the wandering kind, but not fond of men these days, and spat at Anthony with lazy distaste if he got too close. Ephraim didn’t take him on most of his business trips, but he did not wish his brother to dally about with rogues and idlers, wondering what to do with his afternoon.

*

John Smith had nothing to say, these days. He sat, and he listened.

What conversation there was never quite reached the point of saying there was something wrong with him.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.