It was at tea that Rachel asked if his mother was on the Church Council.
"No," he answered, "but she is on everything else. She is as good as a Curate. I can't tell you what she has done for me since I have been here. It has made all the difference to me having her. You will get to love her I know."
"I shall never love her," thought Rachel, "but I must try, I must for his sake, and he shall not find out if I can't."
Luke looked at his watch, and rose quickly. "I must be going," he said.
Left alone, Rachel tried to check a slight feeling of homesickness that attacked her. The room was so small and rather dark and yet it was scarcely time to light up. She flung the window open and stood by it looking out into the little yard with the sad looking bushes. Should she ever get used to her surroundings, she wondered, or would she always have the feeling, almost of suffocation, that she was experiencing this evening? It was all so different to her home in the country. From the drawing-room window at Heathland she could see a wide expanse of country and could even feel the wind that blew from the moors. It was not a large house but a thoroughly comfortable one, standing in four or five acres of land. They had lived in a much larger place, in Rachel's childhood, but her father dying, they had moved about ten years ago into what was called Heathland cottage.
Rachel had lived a life of perfect freedom, her only definite duty being that of taking care of her invalid mother. She knew nothing of housekeeping, her elder sister was the housekeeper, and as for cooking! She scarcely knew how to boil a potato.
She forgot that tea was still on the table, and was startled by Polly's voice asking her if she might take the tea things away, as she thought Mrs. Greville would be coming in by-and-bye, and would not be pleased to see them not washed up. Might she take them?
Rachel gasped at the remark. Was she then to be under Mrs. Greville's eye, or rather, was her mother-in-law to instruct Polly as to what to do?
Polly's words had the effect of arousing her from her dreams, and she set to work to help the girl to clear away, leaving her to wash up while she began to unpack. She earnestly hoped that her mother-in-law would not pay her a visit, but determined that she should find her ready to receive her should she appear.
It was rather late when Rachel made her way downstairs. The house was in darkness. But she heard Polly moving about in the kitchen.