Chapter 7

-x-

Time passed. Miss Tyler received no letters from Mr Smith, just as he had told her she would not, and though she knew not to expect them, she could not help but feel disappointed. However, she continued to gain considerable attention from elsewhere, which helped ease the slight bruise to her ego that her absent friend had caused by his reluctance to contact her. It was flattering, having a gentleman or three call in to the House with the explicit intention of wanting to spend time with her and Miss Noble, and she found herself taking multiple turns about the garden in the wilting summer sun listening to various attempts at wooing her. Thus, in the fortnight following Mr Smith's departure, she discovered the company of others helped to distract her from his notable disappearance in her life.

Although she could not prevent herself from thinking that it was all rather tiresome.

She knew her mother was watching her avidly, of course, to see if she bore any attraction to the two naval officers and one somewhat arrogant inventor who had arrived in the village recently. Privately, Miss Tyler acknowledged that she did not regard any of the three with any remarkable romantic affection, nor did Miss Noble, who not very secretly had her heart fixed on young Mr Temple of the local mill, whom she danced with at any and every ball she attended.

The three new gentlemen, then – if they were gentlemen indeed, as Mrs Tyler professed yet Miss Tyler doubted – would be sorely disappointed, for nothing would come of their visits to Chiswick House. This generated feelings of guilt in Miss Tyler, not only for perhaps giving them false hope by entertaining her mother's tedious implorations for her to make new acquaintances, but also, for unwittingly encouraging a partial competition between the men, who each presumed that with a few well-intentioned gifts, they could win her heart. This was not the case, as a certain other gentleman (who Miss Tyler was completely indifferent to in such a way and was resolutely not thinking of) would attest to; she had professed to Mr Smith how she did not want to marry for anything other than love, not even if – and here she had made him laugh – not even if they bought her a mansion, a gallant horse, and some stables to keep him in.

Mr Mitchell, the aforementioned inventor and highly intellectual individual (and didn't he know it!) had begun to wear her out with his dismissive opinions about her actually rather valid views on the socio-economic issues currently prevalent in the nation. Therefore, he was not to be held in very high regard by her. Similarly, one of the naval officers, Mr Hart, did not appeal to her. He was flirtatious and humorous, to be sure, and these aspects of his character were not repellent to her; no, it was his callous and opportunist nature towards those around him which made her consider him unworthy of anyone's affection. In any case, to her it was plain to see that his Machiavellian tendencies would lead him into trouble one day, and though she was sure he would add a spice of adventure to her life, she was equally sure that his preferred type of adventure descended into a corruption she did not wish to be part of. Thus, he too was ruled out rather quickly.

This left only one who she genuinely liked. Granted, she liked him in a more familial way than he wanted, but he was very charming, and as time went on - and as the other two departed the village – she grew closer to the man in question, a Mr Jack Harkness, so much so that she regarded him as a dear friend within a month of meeting him.

It was this Mr Harkness whom she was conversing with in the library the day the letter arrived.

"Miss Tyler," Miss Peth, a maid at Chiswick House - who Miss Tyler had flourished a friendship with over the many years they had been in each other's company – called as she entered the room. She nodded her head towards Mr Harkness politely, continuing, "Sorry for the interruption." She glanced towards Miss Tyler and handed her a letter, trying to disguise her smile. "Miss, this is for you. It has just arrived."

Curious, Miss Tyler took the letter from Miss Peth and turned it over in her hands. Her eyebrows rose as she noticed Mr Smith's handwriting on the envelope. "Thank you, Astrid," she murmured softly.

"Something the matter?" asked Mr Harkness.

"No, no," assured Miss Tyler. She gestured towards the door. "I'll just be a moment, Jack, do excuse me." With that, she left the room, and Miss Peth hurried into the corridor with her.

Once away from Mr Harkness, and with a quick and hopeful glance at Miss Peth, who smiled at her encouragingly, Miss Tyler opened the letter. She whispered it aloud so that Miss Peth could hear; she had confided to her the desire to hear from her elusive friend, thus she felt inclined to inform her of the most recent development: -

"Miss Tyler,

Good news! Dear Wilfred has sent me notification that I am welcome back at Chiswick House should I pass by sometime soon, and as luck would have it, I shall be travelling near Leadworth very soon indeed. If you could pass on a message to him, I would be grateful – tell him that I might be there within the next week or so."

Here Miss Tyler paused in her reading to ask Miss Peth, "Why are you frowning, Astrid?"

"Oh, nothing, nothing, it's just..."

"What is it?"

"I thought perhaps this letter would be a little more..."

"What?"

"Romantic."

Miss Tyler laughed. "Astrid, Mr Smith is not that way inclined, nor would I want him to be. We are merely friends; that is all. Besides, it is perfectly gentlemanly of him to write in such a way."

Miss Peth raised a dubious eyebrow. "If you say so, Rose."

Miss Tyler cleared her throat and continued: -

"Apologies for not managing to communicate with you across this enforced distance between us."

"Oh! Here we are!" exclaimed Miss Peth, excitable again.

Miss Tyler rolled her eyes. "I tried, in vain, to find the time, but circumstances here forbade me from it."

Miss Peth frowned again. "He should put in more of an effort!"

"Astrid," Miss Tyler chided. "Stop thinking of Mr Smith and I as characters from the novels you read."

"I resent that implication," Miss Peth remarked cheekily. "I rather consider you as better entertainment than the couples I read about."

"Mr Smith and I are not a couple - " Miss Tyler exasperated, just as Mr Harkness stepped forth from the library, and Miss Tyler crumpled the letter behind her back in surprise.

"Ooh, should I be jealous, ladies? Who is this Mr Smith?" Mr Harkness waggled his eyebrows. "Is this the writer of the mysterious letter you received earlier?"

Miss Peth flushed prettily in embarrassment, despite it not being her he was questioning. Contrastingly, Miss Tyler was very calm and perfectly normal in her response. She cleared her throat.

"Mr Smith is a friend of mine," she told Mr Harkness, retrieving the letter from behind her back, then deflected, "You made me jump, Jack. Stop sneaking up on me all the time!"

Mr Harkness chuckled and retorted, "You like it."

Miss Peth giggled under her breath.

"In any case, he was just writing to inform me he will be visiting us next week."

"Oh, that is a shame – I won't be able to meet the gentleman, then."

"Oh!" Miss Tyler remembered. "Oh, yes of course, you're leaving with your regiment for a while, aren't you?"

"Yes," he agreed, sighing regretfully. "I leave Friday."

"Well, be sure to send Miss Tyler letters while you are gone," piped up Miss Peth with a smile.

Miss Tyler nudged her with her elbow, but Mr Harkness replied seriously, "Of course."

"Well, I am sure that at some point your and Mr Smith's visits to Chiswick House will coincide. Until then, you will be a mystery to each other," Miss Tyler smiled.

Mr Harkness smiled back, then said, "Ladies, I'm afraid I have to run a few errands in the village, so I'll have to leave you to your musings over Mr Smith's letter."

"Oh, didn't you say you needed to go into the village earlier, Astrid?" asked Miss Tyler.

Miss Peth nodded and Miss Tyler continued, "Jack, would you mind allowing Astrid to ride in your carriage there? It's awfully grey out there; I suspect those clouds shan't retain their rain much longer."

"Why yes, of course." He bestowed a dazzling smile to Miss Peth. "You would be most welcome. Would you like to leave now?"

"If you are sure it is no trouble..." murmured Miss Peth. She glanced at Miss Tyler, who nodded in encouragement.

"It is no trouble at all." He turned back to Miss Tyler and lifted her hand to place a demure kiss to it. "Good day, Miss Tyler."

"Good day, Mr Harkness," Miss Tyler smiled. "Be sure to look after my friend!" she called after him and Miss Peth, as they left the hallway. She laughed as she heard him mutter something about which one of them was she referring to, before the door closed behind them on their way out.

Miss Tyler smiled contentedly as she returned to the library, glad of some peace and quiet to finish reading Mr Smith's letter. She started just before where she left off in her reading aloud earlier: -

Apologies for not managing to communicate with you across this enforced distance between us. I tried, in vain, to find the time, but circumstances here forbade me from it. I regret that business in London can overwhelm my life, but it does, and though it is unfortunate, I must deal with the deck I have been given.

That is not to say I have not thought of Leadworth. Indeed, I have thought of Leadworth very much. I can hardly wait to return, so that we may resume our friendship once more.

Kind regards,

Mr J Smith.

Miss Tyler set the letter down on her lap and sat thoughtfully for a few minutes, pondering whether she ought to reply to him or not. She eventually decided that she would, and after informing Mr Mott about Mr Smith's message, she retired to her bedroom to write her correspondence.

Mr Smith,

I have told Mr Mott of your plans, and he is delighted. I must say, the whole village will be delighted with your return; hardly a week passes when I do not have several comments made to me about where the dashing gentleman known as Mr Smith is, or if, when, he will be back. Naturally these comments are made to me by the well-meaning mothers and middle-aged of Leadworth, all eager for your return so that they may marry off their female relative to you, be that a daughter, niece or sister. I wonder if they shall have success...I suspect, though, that you are married to your work, are you not?

In any case, I shall take it upon myself to inform you of all the recent news and gossip once you have returned; but to warn you in advance, I shall tell you this now, a pre-emptive move, so to speak: my mother will no doubt throw at you a barrel-full of suspicious questions about your absence. Do not hesitate to ignore her – I will not be offended if you do, as I do not hesitate to ignore her myself. She has developed an array of possible life stories for you in her head, none of which portray you pleasantly. I honestly have no inkling as to why she has taken such a dislike of you, but I assure you she is the only one who does not find your presence at Chiswick House fortunate, so do not let her make you feel unwelcome when you come back. Bessie misses you the most, I think – I did tell you not to spoil her, so if she starts barking at you for treats as soon as you step through the door, you know you have no one to blame but yourself!

See you soon, Mr Smith,

Miss Tyler.

-x-

Some days later, Mr Smith opened her letter, and smiled. He set off for Leadworth within the hour.