30. Sunday

The next day being Sunday we attended church. While I am not an overly religious person it is important that we attend when we are at Rogeringham Hall, noblesse oblige and all that. After the service, Dr Locksley asked me if it would be possible to look at some documents about the 1st duke, that he was using for a piece for the local antiquarian society.

I invited him to lunch.

Over some nice ham and boiled potatoes, I asked about his work.

"I was hoping to see some letters that Sir Henry sent about his nephew and niece, Your Grace. They were reportedly living as man and wife, you know?"

I nearly dropped my fork. "The deuce you say, doctor! I knew that there were rumours but I did not know that they were living together as man and wife!"

"Oh yes!" Dr Locksley said, before hurrying on to say, "But their relationship is not what I am interested in ..."

"But? Surely, that was - is - a terrible sin?"

Astonishingly Dr Locksley smiled, and wiped his spectacles. "You'd think so, Your Grace, would you not?

"The Old Testament - Deuteronomy to be precise - would have it so for the Hebrew tribes. But for us gentiles it was not. Ancient kings and queens were at it all of the time, you know? The marriages of the pharaoh-kings of Egypt were incestuous more often than they were not. Even these days it is not uncommon for it to be found within a family. Some people hold that incest is a mortal sin in the eyes of the Lord, but it seems that many people do not."

Was the vicar making a comment? "And you, doctor? What do you think?"

"I think from the church's point of view it is more complicated than that. Christ teaches us that Love is the greatest of all things, so if a thing is born out of love, how can it be a sin?"

"But if such behaviour is so common, it must make the courts busy," I suggested.

"Far from it," he said, "There is no actual statute against incest in English law."

"Good heavens!" Was all I managed to say.

"Quite!" He said, fixing me with his bright blue eyes. "However, while the act may not be a crime, the results are often terrible. For every act of love there are others. The girl violated by her father, thrown out of the house and a child born out of wed-lock - lives ruined, Your Grace, needlessly. For the most part these girls - for they are the most common victims - end in the bedlam hospitals and asylums. They are confined with the insane, their children taken away from them, and the poor wretches are effectively forgotten, left to rot.

"If I were in a preaching mood, I would rail against the sin of lust, for that is the mechanism at work in many of these cases. For every case where the parties involved live a contented life, there are many where the results lead to misery."

I did not know Dr Locksley very well, but I have never seen him angry like that before.

"That is the true crime, Your Grace, that lives are wasted because of acts of lust."

I placed a glass of the better madeira before him and he gulped it down, shuddering as he did so.

"Forgive me, Your Grace. It is a bad memory that haunts me."

"Think nothing of it, doctor," I told him, "We all have those."

With that I showed him to the family papers in the library - he knew where they were better than I did, and I left him happily copying down details of my long dead ancestors.

I on the other hand, sat down and composed a letter to Mr Langton. I specifically asked him about the statutes about incest, emphasising that I was enquiring in relation to Emily Dodgson and her daughters, in particular and whether Sir Montague's "revelation" would affect her if it came out in court. With that sent off, I went to find my mother.

I wanted to tell Helena what I had learnt from Dr Locksley, but there was no opportunity to talk privately as Helena had taken the opportunity to invite William and Eugenie Barthomley to afternoon tea.

I was, of course, included in this, but I had not been to see the mare Naiad in a couple of days, so I took some time after I had sent off the letter to slip down to see her before going up to prepare for meeting Hermione's prospective mother- and father-in-law. The mare seemed glad to see me but she seemed tired of being in a loose-box all the time. I asked whether she could be turned out into one of the home paddocks during the day? Which apparently was considered permissible. And the last thing I saw before I had to leave, was the mare kicking her heels up as she stretched herself and ran around the paddock.