BooksBarbecue
Back Plough the Furrow Save as PDF
Chapters (53)
  1. Cover
  2. Title page
  3. Dedication page
  4. One
  5. Two
  6. Three
  7. Four
  8. Five
  9. Six
  10. Seven
  11. Eight
  12. Nine
  13. Ten
  14. Eleven
  15. Twelve
  16. Thirteen
  17. Fourteen
  18. Fifteen
  19. Sixteen
  20. Seventeen
  21. Eighteen
  22. Nineteen
  23. Twenty
  24. Twenty-one
  25. Twenty-two
  26. Twenty-three
  27. Twenty-four
  28. Twenty-five
  29. Twenty-six
  30. Twenty-seven
  31. Twenty-eight
  32. Twenty-nine
  33. Thirty
  34. Thirty-one
  35. Thirty-two
  36. Thirty-three
  37. Thirty-four
  38. Thirty-five
  39. Thirty-six
  40. Thirty-seven
  41. Thirty-eight
  42. Thirty-nine
  43. Forty
  44. Forty-one
  45. Forty-two
  46. Forty-three
  47. Forty-four
  48. Sow the Seed
  49. Reap the Harvest
  50. About the Author
  51. ALSO BY MARGARET DICKINSON
  52. Acknowledgements
  53. Copyright page

She told him how she had come to this place, walking through the night to arrive out of the early morning mist at Sam Brumby’s farm. How she had made herself useful to Sam and how, by the time he died, she believed that the old man at least had had some affection for her in his gruff way.

‘From the moment I arrived here, Matthew was – well – after me. I always vowed I’d never give way to any man before marriage.’ Bitterness crept into her tone. ‘I wasn’t going to bring another bastard into the world!’

‘Oh, sweetheart,’ she heard Jonathan murmur.

‘I knew there was something between him and Beth but when the squire refused to give me the tenancy of Brumbys’ Farm in my own name just because I’m a woman . . .’ At the indignation in her voice, he raised her hand to his lips and held it against them. ‘I just never stopped to think. Matthew wanted me, asked me to marry him and I agreed.’

There was silence. ‘But – but why, darling, if you didn’t love him?’

‘I liked him well enough. He was the only one of my own age round here who’d been friendly. But it was the farm. I wanted the farm – a home of my own. Somewhere I could belong, and I had to be married to get the tenancy. It was the only way. The only way.’

‘Then he – he must have loved you, Esther. He wouldn’t just ask you to marry him for no reason.’

She buried her face against him, aware of a kind of shame only now when she had learnt the difference between real love and mere physical lust. ‘He – he only wanted me – physically.’

There was a long pause, then Jonathan said quietly, a little ruefully, ‘Well, I can hardly blame him for that, now can I?’

She curled up against him, winding her arms around his waist, pressing her head against his chest. ‘I think Beth truly loved him, and at the bottom of him I think he loved her. But you see Matthew’s the sort of man . . .’ She hesitated for a moment searching for the right words to express a knowledge that she was only just becoming aware of herself. ‘He’s the sort of man who can’t resist a challenge – any sort of challenge. Do you know what I mean?’

‘I think so.’