Bethany
Proverbs 17:17
A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
“Well, my dear, your sister has written to me, requesting that your niece, Bethany, be allowed to pay a visit. What do you think?”
Lady Hadassah looked up from a letter she was reading from her friend Juliana. She could be very funny, Juliana. “Oh, that would be wonderful, but… why?”
“Well, she doesn’t actually say, but I think, reading between the lines, that she is thinking that as Bethany will be coming out soon, and as you have just gotten married, you can give her some female counsel.”
“Me! Why, I’ve hardly been married two months!”
“I think that is the attraction, actually. I think that she worries that the speech of older women, who have been married for long years might be discounted. Whereas you, who are still in the throes of getting used to married life, will be able to relate more directly.”
“It seems odd. But certainly, it would be good for her to visit. Will her mother be coming too?”
“No. Nor any other chaperone except for a maid. I think, and she is more blunt on this, that she wishes for Bethany to have some experience in being ‘on her own’ before she is suddenly cast away to a husband.”
“That seems odd. But, then, my aunt does have odd ideas at times. What are you going to tell her?”
“Well, if you are not opposed, I will write to give my approval. You will need to understand that I will not lessen my demands on your time, however.”
Hadassah reddened and almost spoke. But it would be good for Bethany, however hard it would be for her, so she nodded and focused on her eating.
Her husband chuckled and reached for his pen. He scratched for a few minutes, and finally, Lady Ambrose plucked up the courage to ask, “When would she come?”
“Tomorrow morning, actually. As you know they don’t live that far away, so I will send a footman over with this note, and she says we can expect their carriage early tomorrow morning. You may have to cut your run short.”
Hadassah snorted. She had only managed to wake up to run once so far, but her husband enjoyed teasing her about it. And he had taken her out to the lawn in the afternoon twice to watch her run. She couldn’t imagine what the servants had thought of that!
Indeed she couldn’t decide what she thought of it! Whether to be exhilarated or humiliated. He had stood in the middle of the yard and she had run around the outside, her bare feet flying and her skirt hardly slowing her down. He had turned to watch her, grinning. As if… or, at least, so she hoped, as if he enjoyed ‘playing’ with her, even though he was too old to do the playing himself. As if she was some toddler with all of the adults watching? As if he was rejoicing in her freedom and activity?
Thank you for coming round Arthur’s Substack. I hope and pray it will be a blessing to you.
Arthur publishes with Wise Path Books and include the children’s/YA books:
The Bobtails meet the Preacher’s Kid: A Christian historical fiction chapter book about four orphans who go to live with their aunt on a dairy farm.
The Bobtails and the Cousins: The sequel to Preacher’s Kid. The aunt has married, and the cousins come to visit. Meaning town kids dealing with chores and manure and…
The Bobtails go to France: The sequel to cousins. The Bobtails, and Preacher’s Kid, get to take a trip to New York, London, Paris, and a small town in France. To get some cheese.
and
No Ordinary School: A brilliant but socially clueless boy gets recruited for a special school. Where he makes a lot of money, gets a girl, and solves a mystery.
As well as GK Chesterton’s wonderful book, “What’s Wrong with the World”, for which ‘Arthur’ wrote most of the annotations. The book is a series of essays on how modern politics has gotten the wrong prescription for the wrong diagnosis.
Quite a few chapters of the Bobtails and No Ordinary School are here on this substack as audio.
I also write as Von, and I encourage you to check out that substack. There is a lot of theology and politics there, as well as quotes, poems, other articles, and links to other Science Fiction. But ‘Von’ also is publishing some serial books and stories. Much more adult and serious books than here, for the most part. Some of them.