A Weeend in the Country

Author's note: This story was inspired by the lovely English actress Christina Cole, and her performance in the movie 'Marple: Murder at the Vicarage'.

* * * * *

Late one Wednesday afternoon during the last week of July, 1952, I was sitting at my desk in my room at Oxford. I was trying to concentrate on an essay that I was writing that was required by Friday, and was far from finished, when my roommate Tony came rushing in.

Tony was a rather excitable sort of chap, and something obviously was up. "James, old pal," he said, "what are you doing this weekend?"

It was the August Bank Holiday weekend, which of course meant that there were no lectures on Monday. "Well, I hadn't really made any plans," I replied. "Thought I might just go down to London and visit my parents."

"What would you say to a weekend in the country?" asked Tony.

A weekend in the country, I thought, in what promised to be glorious summer weather. I knew that Tony's parents owned an estate somewhere in Buckinghamshire, although I didn't know exactly where it was. It certainly sounded better than spending three days at my parent's town house in London.

"Sounds good!" I replied enthusiastically.

"Thing is, old man, I was rather hoping that you could do me a favour," said Tony. "My sister is making her debut on Saturday, and the chap who was supposed to escort her has come down with the measles, or mumps, or something. Anyway, he's in quarantine and can't go to the ball. Tish is frantic. And so I thought that you might be able to help out."

Even though we had shared a room at college for two terms, Tony had only mentioned his sister Tish a couple of times. From the way that he had talked about her, I had assumed that she was about fifteen or sixteen. And 'Tish'? I had always meant to ask him what her real name was, but I had never done so.

"Your sister?" I said, surprised. "Is she old enough to make her debut?"

"Oh yes," said Tony. "She turned eighteen last month. I would accompany her myself, but I'm escorting another girl, one of my distant cousins."

I had never been to a Deb ball, so I thought, why not? "I'd be glad to help," I replied.

"Thanks awfully, old man," gushed Tony. "I'll go and telephone right now and tell Tish the good news," and he rushed out of the room.

I returned to my essay writing, which along with lectures, kept me very busy for the next two days, so I didn't give much thought to the weekend and the ball. But then Friday afternoon arrived, and I managed to hand in my essay on time.

With my week's studies behind me, I now had time to think about the weekend ahead. Of course I had no clothes with me that were suitable to wear to a ball, so I had decided to drive down to London that evening, spend the night at my parents' house, and collect my best dress suit. Then I would drive to Bucks the next morning.

The weather on Saturday morning was glorious, warm and sunny, and it promised to be a perfect weekend weather-wise. The roof of the MG TF was folded down, as the roof of all sports cars should be, and I basked in the sun as I sped along the main road. I had been working hard at my studies, and for the first time in several weeks I felt completely relaxed. A weekend in the country was just what I needed, I thought.

For the first time since Wednesday, when Tony had first asked me to do this, I thought about his sister Tish. Tish? I really must find out her full name, I thought. I had never met her of course, and Tony didn't seem to have a picture of her, so I wondered what she would be like. Then I had a terrible thought – what if she is really unattractive? Tony was hardly what one might call handsome. My enthusiasm started to wane a little. But then I decided, well, it's just a ball, stupid, you're not going to marry the girl! So I felt better then. And besides, Tony would owe me a BIG favour in return.

Tony's directions were vague at best, and I became completely lost. About noon I decided that I really needed help, so I stopped at a pub in a delightful little village for lunch and directions. After a delicious lunch, the innkeeper was most obliging with his directions, and about twenty minutes later I arrived at my destination.

The estate was impressive! I had no idea what business Tony's father was in, but it obviously paid very well. There was some cleared land but most of it seemed to be the original forest. It was really beautiful.

As I drew up on the gravel in front of the house, Tony rushed out to meet me. "There you are at last!" he called. "We were all getting worried. Thought that you might have become lost."

"I did get lost!" I said. "Your directions were terrible! Don't ever think of becoming a surveyor."

Tony looked aghast at my suggestion. I'm sure that he hadn't the slightest idea of becoming a surveyor. One day I must ask him what he plans to do with his life, I thought. But then I looked at his house, and I suspected that he intended to go into the family business, whatever that was.

We went into the house, and I was introduced to Tony's parents, Lord and Lady Ashbury. Another surprise! I realised then that Tony and I don't talk very much, well, not about family anyway. I didn't suppose that he knew much about my parents, either.

"Thank you for doing this for Letitia, James" said Lady Ashbury. "She would have been so disappointed if she wasn't able to go to the ball."

"It's my pleasure, Lady Ashbury," I replied. So Tish's full name was Letitia!

"You'll want to meet Tish," said Tony. "I'll see if I can find her," and he disappeared up the stairs. While he was gone I chatted with his parents who, in spite of their impressive titles, were really very pleasant. Then I heard Tony's voice say, "Found her!" and I looked around.

Tony was leading Tish down the stairs. She was wearing slacks and a simple top. Her hair was in curlers, and she had some sort of beauty cream on her cheeks and forehead. "Tish, this is James," said Tony by way of introduction. "James, Tish."

Tish stepped forward and gave me a radiant smile. "Lovely to meet you, James," she said in a sweet voice. "Thank you so much for doing this. I promise that I'll look much better tonight than I do now."

Tish's eyes sparked as she spoke, and right then I saw past the face cream and hair curlers and realised that she was a truly beautiful woman. "I'm delighted that Tony asked me to do it," I said smiling, "and I think that you look beautiful already."

Tish blushed a little at my complement. "Thank you, Sir James," she said. "But now if you will excuse me, I must go and finish preparing for the evening." With another smile she turned and left the room.

I knew then that I need not have worried about Tish. In my mind's eye I could see her in her ball gown, and she looked dazzling. I started to look forward to the evening.

Tish did not appear for tea, which was served on the terrace, and I chatted with Tony and his parents. Then after tea, Lady Ashbury announced that it was time for her to get ready for the ball. I spent the rest of the afternoon with Tony and Lord Ashbury. They showed me around the estate, with special attention to the stables. Lord Ashbury was apparently well known for breeding champion show horses. I had done a little riding, but I really knew nothing about show horses, or show jumping and the like, so I just tried to be interested and polite.

We returned to the house and dressed for the ball. Tony had to leave to pick up the girl whom he was escorting. Then as Lord Ashbury and I waited at the foot of the stairs, Lady Ashbury appeared at the top. She moved aside, and Tish appeared from behind her.

Tish was beautiful! Really, really beautiful! Her gown was pale blue, and she wore long matching gloves. Her blond hair was piled high on her head, and finished off with a jewelled tiara. She wore a simple locket around her neck. As she made her way gracefully down the stairs I just stood and stared. "You are so beautiful!" I managed to gasp as she reached the last stair. "Thank you James," she smiled. "Shall we go?"

Tish held out her arm for me. I took it and escorted her through the front door to the car waiting outside.

At the ball, we were announced as 'Miss Letitia Gordon-Smythe and Mr James Bowden, Earl of Stratford'. Tish looked at me in surprise when the announcement was made. I don't often use my title, but I had decided that it would be appropriate on this occasion. Well, I had thought that it might impress her friends.

Apparently it impressed her parents also, as I found out later.

The ball was a great success, and I had a lot of fun. Tish of course was very much in demand as a dance partner by the other young men there, but I managed to have a couple of dances with her. I guess that my dancing skills are fair to average, but Tish was an absolute delight to dance with. I did dance with other girls, but my mind the whole time was on Tish.

The ball continued until the early hours of the morning, until Lord Ashwood announced that it was time for us to leave. Tish chattered happily the whole time during the drive home, and she smiled at me a lot. Clearly she had had a good time.

We all slept late the next morning. There was a bit of a rush to finish breakfast so that we would not be late for Morning Service. I had never attended Services in a country church before that day, and it was an inspiring experience.

We returned to the estate, and then we ate luncheon on the terrace in the sunshine. When we had finished eating, Tish excused herself and went into the house. When she reappeared she had changed into white shorts and a little white top. She looked absolutely gorgeous! "Anyone for tennis?" she asked.

Tony and I changed into suitable attire, and then we adjourned to the tennis court. As there were only three of us, we had to take turns playing. I delighted in watching Tish play. She was a good player, and she was very competitive, and she easily beat Tony. When it came my turn to play Tish I decided that I would be a gentleman and let her win. I needn't have worried! I was able to put up a better defence than Tony had done, but Tish had no trouble in winning the match.

We played tennis until tea was announced. Then after tea, Tish took me aside. "I want to show you something," she whispered. "Shhh! Come with me."

She led me around to the back of the house to the stables, and then up a ladder to a loft. "This is my secret place," she confided. "I only bring my special friends here."

The room was set up as a potter's workshop. "This is my passion," said Tish. "I just love working with clay."

I admired some of the pieces that she had produced. While I was doing this, Tish set up some wet clay on the potter's wheel. "Come and have a go!" she invited.

I have to say right up front that I am totally useless at creating anything with my hands, but I tried my best, which as it turned out, wasn't very good. The clay just wouldn't go the way that I wanted it to go.

"Let me show you," said Tish. She moved in and stood very close to me. Then she put her hands on mine, and showed me how to shape the clay. I did my best to follow her, but my mind was not on pottery. It was focused completely on the amazing sensation of her hands on mine, mixed with the wet clay. This was the first time that we had actually touched, as at the ball last night Tish had of course worn gloves for the whole evening, and so our hands had not touched. I had held hands romantically with other girls, but I had never experienced these sensations. I suspect that she felt it too, as her breathing quickened and her speech became a little breathless.

We stayed like this for a few minutes, quite a few minutes it seemed, and made no visual impact on the piece of clay. The suddenly Tish pulled away. "You're hopeless!" she said, and then we both burst out laughing. "We'd better go back to the house and get cleaned up," she said. And so we did.

At dinner that evening, Lord Ashbury announced that he and Tony would have to go up to London tomorrow, even though it was a holiday, as there was some crisis that required the attention of them both. "But please stay for the day, James, if you like," he added. "Thank you, sir, I would like that," I said smiling at Tish, who smiled back at me.

"Latitia," said Lady Ashbury, "Perhaps you and James could go for a hike up into the hills tomorrow. It is really beautiful there this time of year. You could take a picnic lunch with you."

"That's a wonderful idea, Mummy," enthused Tish. "Want to?" she asked me.

"Of course," I said.

The next morning everyone was up bright and early. Lord Ashbury and Tony had to leave for London, and Tish and I were keen to get started on our walk. So straight after breakfast we collected our picnic lunch from the kitchen, put it in a couple of backpacks, and set off.

We walked to the back of the estate where the hills started. They were quite gentle hills with a well-defined path, and we chatted as we walked up them. Tish knew the way, of course, and after a couple of hours we reached the top of the tallest hill.

The view was magnificent, and we both just sat and stared at it for quite some time. Then I started to think about lunch. It was too windy on the hilltop for us to eat there, so I suggested that we go down a little way to have our picnic. "I know just the place!" said Tish. "Follow me!" And she scampered off down the hill.

We retraced our steps for about half a mile, and then Tish turned off the path and we walked towards some trees. In the middle of the trees was a small clearing, and a small stream ran through it. It was a perfect place to have our picnic.

We were both very hungry after our climb, and so we didn't talk very much while we were eating. Afterwards we were laying on the grass listening to the babbling of the steam when Tish said to me, "James, what are you going to do when you finish at Oxford?"

I was a little surprised by her question. "Well, dad wants me to go into his business with him, naturally," I said, "But I would prefer to join the Foreign Office. I rather fancy being a diplomat in some exotic land."

"Oh that sounds so exciting!" said Tish. "Will you really do it?"

I reflected for a few seconds. "Yes, I think so," I replied thoughtfully.

Thinking about my career put other thoughts of my future in my mind. I looked deep into Tish's beautiful eyes and my heart took control of my mind. "And what about you, Tish?" I asked. "Do you think that you would like to be the wife of a diplomat?"

Tish moved very close to me. "I think I should like that very much," she whispered, as her lips found mine.