Irresolute Catherine

by Violet Jacob

The religious emotion that had such a hold upon his character was gone for the time being and during the rest of the meeting he followed what was going on mechanically, his mind struggling with problems that took him far from the place in which he sat and the sermon to which his ears were deaf. He was nothing if not shrewd, and he was groping on the edge of a new suspicion. He was perplexed and disturbed, for the two facts of Susannah’s love for him—almost incredible as he found that love—and Catherine’s flight from her house struck him as pregnant ones when taken together. He remembered his cousin’s odd want of cordiality when she received the girl. He resolved to evade her, if he could, when his neighbours dispersed.

Mrs. Job, who was in chapel, was occupied with his affairs too. It was some time since she had seen the shepherd; and the last sign she had had of him was the sound of his horse’s tread on the night when he had ridden from Pencoed with Catherine. Though she had no acquaintance with Susannah, she knew her by sight and was one of the few who had observed her stealing into the place of worship. It did not take her long to make the discovery that the stranger had come neither to pray, nor to listen, nor to sing.

From where she sat, Susannah’s face was perfectly plain to her, and when she saw how her eyes were set on her cousin, and how no movement of his, no turn of the head, no tone of the voice, escaped her, the devout Mrs. Job ignored her Bible and let her thoughts dwell, unrebuked, upon the pair. What revealed itself to the shepherd revealed itself with a thousandfold more conviction to her. She was not accustomed to take much notice of love at any time; but her warm affection for Heber made her acutely alive to everything that concerned him. While she was assured that Catherine Dennis was not good enough for him, Susannah’s air brought revulsion to her Puritan nature. She began to dislike her with all her strength.

Almost at the final words of the final prayer Heber rose from his place and made for the door, and Susannah, who was on her knees with the rest of the assembly, had not courage to follow; for she was hemmed in by a woman and two men, who had entered later than herself, and who knelt immovably by her side. The shepherd gained the doorstep just as the minister’s voice ceased, and one or two people looked up, curious at his unusual haste. He was often the last to go.

He crossed the grass road hurriedly and went to the other side of Mrs. Job’s house. From an outsider’s point of view the deed was ignominious, but his plain intention was to avoid Susannah, and, as usual, he took the most direct way of doing it. He had meant to spend a little time with his friend, but he left her dwelling behind him and hurried towards the nearest dingle. Beside his distaste for the discovery he had made, the sight of his cousin brought back his trouble afresh.

Susannah and Mrs. Job came out of the chapel at the same moment. The former looked round in search of Heber. He was nowhere to be seen and she wondered if he had gone into her companion’s cottage; with that probability in her mind, she bid her good-day, introducing herself as a member of the shepherd’s family.

Mrs. Job replied shortly to her greeting and made no comment on the information. They went across the grass, side by side, and when they had reached the doorstep without any suggestion of hospitality passing between them, the younger woman spoke again.

“Is Heber here?” she asked, nodding towards the walls.

“I’ll see,” said the other; and with that she entered, leaving her companion outside.

Susannah’s lips closed in an angry line; it was evident that she was to get no encouragement. She was ignorant of the reason for this plain hostility; but it only made her more certain that her suspicion was correct and that the shepherd was not far off.