‘What would happen,’ I blurted out, ‘if because of unforeseen circumstances, I became unable to finish repaying you?’
He pulled down the corners of his mouth. ‘I’d be reasonable. I’d give you time. But if it became totally impossible, then I’m afraid possession of the property would revert to me. I’m a businessman, Roger. You couldn’t expect otherwise.’ He slapped me on the back. ‘But it won’t come to that! You’re fit and strong. Don’t take the gloomy view, lad!’
He was right. I couldn’t afford to be pessimistic. Such an offer was unlikely to come my way again. Once more stammering my thanks, and promising him an answer as soon as I had spoken to Adela — although I felt sure that her agreement was a mere formality — I preceded him downstairs, still walking on air, rescued the dog, who was tied up in the bakery, and finally took my leave. There was now no question of my setting out on my rounds, and, dragging Hercules behind me, I returned home to the cottage in Lewin’s Mead.
Adela said, ‘No!’
I couldn’t believe my ears. At first, I thought I must have misheard her, but when she had repeated the word loudly and clearly several times, I was forced to accept that I hadn’t made a mistake. My first wild incredulity turned to a slow, pulsating anger.
‘Would you care to explain your reasons for this refusal?’ I asked, dangerously quiet.
She nervously put the length of the table between us before replying, and, from the look on her face, I knew that my own expression must be intimidating, to say the least. But I made no effort to soften it: I wanted her to understand just how furious I was. When she spoke, however, her voice was steady.
‘Can’t you see, Roger, that no one who calls himself a businessman makes this sort of seemingly generous offer without having an ulterior motive of some sort? We should be under an obligation to Master Overbecks for many years to come. He knows that. He’s bound to. It’s what he wants.’
‘Why?’ My tone was glacial.
Adela visibly flinched, but persisted with her argument. ‘We should be living directly opposite him, with only the width of High Street between us.’ She glanced towards the cradle, where the baby was sleeping peacefully. ‘That would include Adam. Whenever Jane Overbecks wanted to play with him, hold him, take him for a walk, I shouldn’t care to refuse her. I shouldn’t feel I could. And the chances are that we should find Adam carried off to her house more often than not.’
‘I might have something to say about that.’
‘You wouldn’t always be there!’ my wife cried in exasperation. ‘You’d be out, or be off on your travels. Just because we would be living in a different house wouldn’t mean that you would change your habits. Master Overbecks is providing Jane with a baby, but not one of her own, who might become a burden or a nuisance, but one who can be picked up when she wants him and then discarded when she doesn’t.’
‘You’re hysterical,’ I said more nastily than I intended, because a faint worm of uneasiness was beginning to gnaw at the pit of my stomach. ‘You forget, Adam won’t remain a baby for ever.’
‘No. But there may be others.’ She blushed slightly and lowered her gaze.
This gentle reminder of the more intimate side of our relationship gave me pause. I decided to change tack and see what a little persuasion and tenderness could achieve. I walked round the table, ignoring her look of apprehension, and put my arms about her.
‘Sweetheart, you’re being unreasonable. Think of it! Six rooms! Maybe a small yard at the back. We can’t waste such an opportunity, one that may never come again.’
She drew a deep breath. Then, ‘No,’ she repeated. ‘I won’t be in thrall to John and Jane Overbecks for the next six or seven years of my life. I like John very much. I think he’s a good man. But, in this, I don’t trust his motives.’ I dropped my arms back to my sides, so, being Adela, she decided to go on the attack. ‘And how dare you keep secrets from me? You’ve had those two gold pieces since you returned from London, last February, and you’ve never so much as mentioned them! You’ve hidden them away under the floor as though I’m some spendthrift who can’t be trusted with money! I find that very offensive.’
‘I’ve kept them for an emergency,’ I blustered. ‘An emergency such as this. Suppose I were to accept Master Overbecks’s offer and take the children with me to High Street? What could you do?’
Adela laughed shortly. ‘Nicholas isn’t yours to take. And who would feed Adam? No, my dear, if you do that, I’m afraid it will just be you and Elizabeth.’
I was shocked: it was the first time since our wedding that she had reminded me of the divisions within our family. And although I was well aware that I could force Adela’s hand by informing the brothers at Saint James’s Priory that we no longer required this cottage, and refusing to pay any more rent, I also knew that it would be the end of all harmony and comfort in our marriage. I was the head of the household. My word was law. That was the theory, anyhow. But in practice, Adela and I had never thought like that. We relied on each other for our strength and happiness. We worked together and respected each other’s point of view. This was the first major disagreement we had had. Neither of us could bear the idea that it might split us asunder. Yet one of us had to carry the day and whoever won would leave the other with a deep feeling of resentment.
I picked up my pack again.
‘I’m going out,’ I said. ‘We’ll discuss this later, when I get back. Perhaps, by then, we’ll both have had a chance to think things over. I’ll leave seeing John Overbecks until tomorrow.’
‘I shan’t change my mind,’ Adela said stubbornly, raising her chin. ‘And don’t forget to take the dog.’
I glanced towards Hercules, to where he had collapsed on his bed, head resting on his paws, tongue lolling out of one corner of his mouth, eyes closed.
‘It’s too hot for him outside,’ I snapped. ‘He’s exhausted. Can’t you see that?’ And I quit the cottage, without any word of farewell to either Adela or the children.
I felt ashamed of this graceless departure before I had gone even a few yards, but, like Adela, I too could be stubborn and I refused to turn back. I walked blindly, unaware of my surroundings until someone spoke to me.
‘Why are you in such an almighty hurry, Chapman? You won’t find many customers down by the river.’
I started and looked about me. Only then did I realize that I was abreast of the Dominican friary, walking towards the banks of the Frome. The man who had addressed me was one of the brothers who had been fishing the previous evening when I had discovered Walter’s body.
I laughed awkwardly and pulled up short. ‘I wasn’t really conscious of where I was going,’ I explained. ‘A quarrel with my wife.’
‘A bad one, judging by the expression on your face.’ He continued to hoe a patch of garden on the other side of the paling. ‘There’s a lot to be said for the celibate life.’
I was about to agree fervently, but something stopped me. Honesty reared its inconvenient head. However much I tried to persuade myself otherwise, I knew deep down that I should hate to be a bachelor again. Instead, I found myself asking, ‘Do you go fishing every evening? Were you down by the river on Tuesday?’
He screwed up his eyes, considering the question. ‘Brother Thomas and I do get out our fishing rods and lines most evenings after Vespers in the summer months. When it’s fine, of course, that goes without saying. I’m Brother Martin, by the way. We probably were on the river bank on Tuesday. One day’s much like another to me. Are you the young man who found the body? I seem to recognize you.’
I admitted the charge. ‘The man who was drowned,’ I said, ‘did you happen to see him down by the river on Tuesday, towards dusk? It must have been then that he slipped and fell in.’