The Vicarage, Oatfield
‘You are seriously considering throwing everything you have ever worked for away to wander the length and breadth of the country with a tramp?’ Marion was aghast as Pam Philpott outlined her plans. ‘Surely you are not serious? I would have thought you’d have got that out of your system once and for all. I have never heard anything so ridiculous. What do you say, Barney?’
Unwilling to be drawn into an argument, Reverend Philpott placidly continued to fill his pipe and did not look up from the tobacco pouch in his lap for some seconds. ‘I believe I am experiencing a period of déjà vu,’ he said, putting the pipe between his teeth and tamping the bowl with his forefinger while he gave it an experimental suck. ‘I do know that any reservations we may have had when we had this same conversation a few months ago, were unfounded.’ He leant to one side to reach into his trouser pocket for a box of matches. ‘I also know that it has been a long time since I have seen my sister so happy.’ Returning the tobacco pouch to the table beside him, he lay back in his armchair and crossed his legs while he concentrated on lighting his pipe.
In contrast to her husband’s casual attitude, Marion sat primly straight and clasped her hands on knees which could not have been more closely pressed together. She looked at Pam, but could see little difference to how she had looked before, and what change there was could hardly be called an improvement; her hair was in need of a good cut and she was wearing no make-up whatsoever. If anything, she looked more solemn; she was rarely without a smile and at times she thought her sister-in-law’s exuberance inappropriate, although she had to admit that she was very good at dealing with the recently bereaved where she was often at a loss to know how to strike the right balance in that situation herself.
‘I do believe,’ Barney continued, shaking out a match and puffing a cloud of smoke. ‘That our Pamela...’ he dispersed the smoke by waving his hand. ‘Is in love.’
‘BARNEY!’
Both women shrieked his name, but while Pam covered her reddening cheeks with her hands and laughed, Marion looked nothing less than horrified.
‘Pamela, tell me that isn’t true!’
‘I can’t, Marion, I’m sorry.’ Pam’s face was as red as the sweater she wore but she wasn’t so embarrassed that she wanted to deny the allegation completely. She pretended to glare at her brother but couldn’t stop smiling. ‘I didn’t want to say anything just yet, but...’ she shrugged. ‘You may as well know the truth now you’ve guessed.’
‘Ah!’ Reverend Philpott puffed contentedly. ‘Not a guess, a deduction.’
‘You’re almost right. I wouldn’t say love, but I am very fond of him.’
‘But he’s a....’
‘A wonderful man,’ she stopped Marion from going any further. ‘He may not be your idea of a perfect partner but I haven’t felt this close to a man since Ian. Wyndham knows me almost as well as I know myself....’
‘In the biblical sense?’
‘Marion, that is none of our business.’
Marion bridled at her husband’s reproof, mild though it may have been. He may not have thought things through, but she certainly had. How could he possibly condone such a relationship and ignore the fact that his sister was about to ruin her life by pairing up with a man who no one knew a thing about, and become a gypsy? The idea was ludicrous; he could have been in prison; a murderer, or have committed any number of heinous crimes. He could have a wife...or wives, nobody knew anything about his background at all!
‘No, it’s alright, Barney, I don’t mind telling her, if she’s interested. It doesn’t matter to me.’ She turned to Marion again and met her hostile expression with a gentle smile. ‘The answer is ‘No’, Wyndham and me shared everything including a bed space, but we didn’t have sex. We didn’t have sex when we got back to my place either. I don’t even know if he wants to have sex with me or even if he’s able. I might ask him when I see him. He could be a woman for all I know; I’ve never seen him fully naked either....although I did catch a flash of his bum when he was swimming.’
‘There’s no need to be so......earthy.’
‘What’s earthy about it? You wanted to know, and I’m telling you. If we’d had sex, I would have told you that too. Barney’s right, it really wasn’t any of your business but since you asked, I answered. Is there anything else you want to know?’
‘How soon are you taking off again?’ Barney asked, ignoring his wife’s meaningful glare. He supposed he was meant to ask more pertinent questions and put a stop to Pam’s plans for the future but there was a light in her eyes now and it would be very wrong of him to say anything which might take that away. Ian had been a good man, and he knew that Stephanie’s accident had brought back unhappy memories for Pam of his tragic death. It had taken over twenty years to find a man who touched her heart in the same way and if Wyndham made her happy, he couldn’t care less if he was a traveller or a millionaire.
Pam chuckled. ‘I’ve got no idea....mainly because he’s got no idea I’ve made all these plans! I’ll drive and see him next weekend and we’ll take it from there. He might not want me, there’s always that possibility.’
‘Let’s hope he’s got more sense than you have.’ Marion stood up and smoothed the front of her skirt. ‘I’m going to go and get dinner on.’
