They had their tea in silence, and when he was finished Hubert left the kitchen and she heard him go along the hall and into the front sitting room. That meant he must have lighted a fire for himself there. She would have two grates to clean in the morning, and the back sitting room to do, if she could do it. She would not look at it until morning. The damage would all be very clear then. She poured herself another cup of tea. It was warm in the kitchen, and there was no hurry about clearing up. She didn’t mind the thought of tomorrow as much as she might have. She kept going back to Hubert’s remark about her keeping house for John. There was more in that remark than met the eye. Sometimes people said more than they meant to say. She wondered if Hubert had realized what he was saying. He had probably meant it for a sneer at John, at the idea that John would ever be given a parish. But why should John not be given a parish? It was very likely that he would get one, sooner or later. Of course it might be a long time, but she could wait. Her family was long-lived on her mother’s side. If anything happened to Hubert, she could sell this house, keeping only enough of the furniture and other things to make John’s new home look familiar to him. She would make a new cover for the armchair he always liked, and a new cover for the cushion that had the mysterious stain on it. She would manage his house for him. The first few days would be strange, but after that they would settle down as though they had never been apart. She would become known in his parish as a very holy woman, and everyone would look up to her. His vocation would be her vocation. Everybody would say what a devoted mother she was, an example to all. All the ladies would consider it a privilege to have tea with her, and she would invite some of them. She would wear only black. John and she would have a great deal to say to one another, there would be no end to their conversations. She saw quite clearly now that all this was going to happen. It might be thirty years before John got a parish, but then again it might not take anything like as long as that. Whenever it happened, she would be ready. She would always be ready to go to his side, whenever he needed her. All she had to do was wait. There was no doubt that what she foresaw would happen, and when the day came she would pack up, sell out, and go straight to John, and after that it would be roses for the two of them all the way, roses, roses all the way.

Family Walls

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