Prue Phillipson - Hordens of Horden Hall by Hearts Restored Page B

on our first day in London that they would both be after you.”
    Their maid brought the tray of drinks from the kitchen.
    “Set it in the parlour, Jane.”
    The parlour, like the small dining-room had been partitioned off from the great hall when the custom of the master and mistress dining at a high table with all the retainers below had finally gone out of fashion. There was also an office to the right of the stairs where the estate records were kept and beyond it Nathaniel’s study. The alterations meant that the stairs, the great fireplace and the main doorway were no longer symmetrically placed but the dimensions of the hall were still impressive and the heraldic shield of the Hordens had been moved to a point above the archway that led to the steps to the kitchen, midway between the new parlour and the dining-room.
    Daniel felt sure that Diana’s admiration on her first entrance had not been feigned and he was now highly irritated with his mother.
    No more was said then. The guests came down presently for the refreshments and Nathaniel returned from the village with news of his father. To them he said little but afterwards to Bel and Daniel he confided, “I like not the colour of his skin. It is yellowy and he seems very tired. My mother is fearful since he has rarely suffered any illness. She told me privately that she has no desire to outlive him for she cannot conceive of life without him. If he is not better soon I think we should call a physician to him. He would like to see you, Bel, when you can spare the time but this evening I think you should ride over, Daniel, before supper. They long to set eyes on you again, they both said.”
    Daniel went alone, much to Diana’s disappointment.
    “I would love to meet your grandparents,” she said, “but if your grandfather is ill perhaps –”
    “Quite so,” was all he said.

CHAPTER 10
    Riding the familiar track to the village Daniel thought he had been a little abrupt with Diana. I mustn’t listen to my mother. I’m afraid she’s jealous. This is the first young lady with whom I have spent much time and she finds she doesn’t like it.
    Grandmother Wilson was at the vicarage window as he rode up. It was a straggling Elizabethan house much added to for clergymen with large families and the old couple lived in only a few rooms of it.
    “Daniel!” she cried when he dismounted and flung the reins over the gate post. She drew him inside. “Ah how my heart lifts to say that name. I wish you could have met your Uncle Daniel, my sweet boy. I will never get over his cruel death as long as I live and if my Joseph dies I will have no will left to live at all. But come in and see him.”
    Daniel stooped his head at the low parlour door. Grandfather was reclining on the couch with a rug over his knees though the evening was fine. His skin was parchment-coloured and loose over the bones of his face. Daniel thought he had aged years in their absence.
    He took his hand and perched on the edge of the couch beside him.
    “Well, you have seen the world, my boy.” The voice was weary. “And you have met some fine company I am sure, your dear mother’s family whom you never saw before. And they are come back with you, grand French nobility. Your father wonders how they are to be entertained, especially the young ladies who have never seen England before, and in so remote a part as this.”
    Daniel smiled and pressed the thin flaccid hand.
    “Oh I believe they will ride and we may hire a coach and take them about a little – to see the coast at Tynemouth perhaps.”
    Joseph Wilson looked concerned. “Will your father not get into debt with such expenses as well as the cost of feeding his guests?”
    Daniel shrugged his shoulders. Debts came and went with the quality of the harvests and the ability of the tenant farmers to pay their rents.
    His grandmother sat on a high-backed chair, hunched like a bird of prey; the most prominent feature was her nose poking out amidst