A Carriage for the Midwife Read Online Free PDF

in the middle of the kitchen, her eyes blazing. Edward spoke up.
    ‘And I’ll come with you, Cousin Sophy.’
    At that moment the door from the passage opened and Martin marched in, bursting with importance.
    ‘Master Osmond, Master Edward and ye two little girls are to go straight up to y’r parents – and yeself too, Miss Glover.’
    He then briskly dismissed the indignant carrier and his son, who had brought the news of Lord de Bever’s death three weeks previously in London, aged sixty-eight.
     
    In the chill of her room Sophia studied the copy of her grandfather’s Will and the letter written in his archaic hand. In her emotional state she found it hard to follow the legal complexities of the first, but through her tears she was able to decipher the message of the second.
     
    I did not acknowledge thy Mother, but I now bestow upon thee, Child of my own Son, enough of this World’s most desired Commodity as will make thee happy or wretched, according to Usage.
I do thy young Cousins equal good Service by bestowing upon them the need to earn their Livelihood, for which they will not thank me or thee.
I know thy habits are not of Idleness or Extravagance, but beware of mercenary Suitors and use well the Power that Gold will give thee.
My days diminish, and I bid thee farewell, my Child. On thy Father’s and Mother’s graves forgive thy sorrowing Grandfather,
Humphrey de Bever.
     
    Turning back to the Will, Sophia gradually understood it to mean that while her grandfather had bequeathed Bever House to his nephew and descendants, she was to inherit a half-share of the old man’s fortune, a sum in excess of thirty thousand pounds. The other half was to be divided among the Calthorpes.
    She now recalled certain fond looks the old gentleman had given her during her last visit to London, at the time of the harvest supper. She remembered the tenderness of their farewell, more truly loving than at any time in her lonely childhood; and as she emerged from the shock and sorrow of his death, she began to realise what he had done for her. She was no longer dependent on her cousins; she could buy a house of her own in Beversley and live the life she desired, as a true friend and benefactress to the poor. Her prayers were answered!
    She kneeled down beside her bed.
    ‘Yes, dear grandfather,’ she whispered. ‘I
will
use it well, with God’s help!’
     
    Mr Calthorpe thought he understood the reasoning behind his uncle’s Will. His son Osmond would have to earn the right to lord it over Beversley as a landowner. With an Oxford degree he might make a career in the law or politics, and Edward might look for a commission in the army or navy, or perhaps take holy orders, in which case there were several comfortable livings to be had in the county. Selina and Caroline should be able to make satisfactory marriages to professional men, or even into the new rapidly rising mercantile class.
    All in all, Calthorpe bore no resentment against Lord de Bever, for he believed that his sons would benefit from the apparent harshness of the will. And he was happy for Sophia’s good fortune.
    Not so Gertrude Calthorpe. To her it was a cruel parting shot from a spiteful old man who had given with one hand and taken away with the other. Of what use was property without the wherewithal to live as property owners? They would be a laughing stock with all their economies!
    And as for that treacherous Glover girl, the sooner she was out of the house, the better. She must have used flattery on the old man, and carried lying tittle-tattle to him about life at Bever House. Why else should he have taken bread from the mouths of those he had planned to honour?

Chapter 3
     
    SUSAN WOKE SUDDENLY and sat up in alarm beside the still-sleeping Polly. It was pitch-dark. She peered down from the roost at the last fading embers of the fire.
    There it was again, the sound that had wakened her. It came from her mother, moaning as she stirred and turned