The fine weather had ended last night. The drive had puddled and the road would most probably be worse. As he anticipated the visit to church that morning, he thought a difficult trip would prove fitting. It would be his first attendance at a service in months, and all for publishing the banns. Jeremy had departed early, before Richard even came in to breakfast, which was, as usual, very early indeed. He had been surprised that Jeremy, with his habitual good humor, had not found some way to tease him about yesterday’s incident, to ignore his display of temper. It had been unwise to reproach the two of them, despite appearances. He realized that he had come to rely unthinkingly on Jeremy’s capacity to bear abuse. Certainly if confronted by similar pique in another, he would have found pressing reason to leave. Yet Jeremy had never taken him seriously before, much to his own unending irritation. Why should he do so now-and before breakfast? “The devil take them,” Richard muttered, staring moodily at the walls of his dining room.
