Free Lady of Lincoln by Ann Barker Page A

Oliver.
    ‘Thank you,’ Emily replied. Clearly she was not going to be allowed to escape without at least making some kind of future arrangement for climbing the tower.
    Mrs Trimmer was with her housekeeper, but she stood up as soon as Emily came in with the boys. ‘Thank you, Mrs Gibson,’ she said. ‘You see, Miss Whittaker has come to see me just as she promised. I shall soon be able to give you all the information you need about procuring necessities for the house.’
    Mrs Gibson curtsied and withdrew at the same time as the boys groaned. ‘Oh no, not shopping,’ they declared, in despairing tones.
    ‘Shame on you, boys,’ declared the deep voice of Sir Gareth from the doorway. ‘It’s the duty of every gentleman to learn to enjoy shopping; otherwise, who would be able to escort the ladies and appreciate the purchases that they made?’
    Emily, looking at his smiling face, could well imagine the kind of shopping to which he referred. It would be a frivolous expedition, no doubt, conducted in Bond Street, or one of the other London thoroughfares, of which she had read but which she had never seen. ‘I don’t suppose we engage in the same kind of shopping,’ she surmised.
    He smiled and inclined his head. To her great surprise on his face was an expression that might have been pity. ‘Then you will have to instruct me,’ he told her. ‘If you and my sister wantto engage in making any kind of purchases, then I will consider myself committed to accompany you. And,’ he went on, before anyone could interrupt him, ‘I will promise to carry any purchase made, whether it be eggs, turnips, or a dead hen, still with its head and feathers.’
    Emily had to smile at that, but Mrs Trimmer assured her brother that they would not be making any such purchases. ‘A dead hen indeed,’ she exclaimed. ‘The very idea! I am simply calling on Emily’s expertise to show me which shops can be relied upon, that is all.’
    ‘But this is excellent!’ the gentleman exclaimed. ‘I may take all the credit for being gallant enough to offer to carry your purchases, without the inconvenience of actually having to do so.’
    ‘Now you are being absurd,’ retorted his sister. ‘Do you really mean to accompany us?’
    ‘Certainly,’ he responded at once. ‘And in addition, may I make a suggestion? After we have discovered all that the shops can offer, perhaps if Miss Whittaker is not too fatigued, she might be willing to escort us up the tower of the cathedral.’
    ‘Us?’ queried Mrs Trimmer.
    ‘Oliver, James and myself,’ he explained. ‘You know they will not be content until they have been right up there, and I would be glad to see the view, I must admit.’
    ‘Perhaps Emily does not want to climb the tower today,’ Mrs Trimmer ventured.
    ‘Oh no, I should be quite happy to go,’ Emily assured her. ‘It is a favourite view of mine.’ The boys, who had wisely kept quiet whilst this matter was being discussed, let out a cheer.
    ‘Why do you not play in the garden until we return?’ said their mother. ‘Nurse will keep an eye upon you.’ This they agreed to do, whilst protesting vigorously that they would have no need of Nurse’s attentions.
    In no time, the three adults were walking out of the cathedral precinct and through the Exchequer gate into Castle Square. There they paused for a few minutes to look around, and SirGareth asked Emily to tell them about the castle.
    ‘It was built by the Normans, but this part of Lincoln was a stronghold even in Roman times,’ she informed him. ‘It is where the assizes are held, and the sheriff’s court, and it also houses the county gaol. I don’t like going there much,’ she confessed.
    ‘Then you must behave yourself better, and thus avoid being committed so frequently,’ Sir Gareth replied in tones of mock severity.
    She stared at him uncomprehendingly, then made the same sound, half choke, half chuckle, that Mrs Trimmer remembered from the previous day. Sir