Читать книгу Thaddeus Lewis Mysteries 5-Book Bundle - Janet Kellough - Страница 51

The following day was a Sunday and Betsy helped them spit a nice piece of beef for dinner. Then she and Lewis and Martha walked to the Methodist meeting, leaving Daniel with strict instructions regarding the importance of frequent basting.

The Elliotts had retired to their rooms after breakfast and had not re-emerged since, which surprised Lewis a little. Clementine had gone to great pains to acquaint herself with the inhabitants of the village, and Lewis had assumed that she would consolidate this beachhead by making an appearance at one of the Sunday services. Perhaps there was no church of her persuasion here, although there were plenty enough to choose from — his own Methodists, the Presbyterians, the Anglicans, and even the Roman Catholics, who presided over not only a church but a boarding school that housed nearly a hundred students.

This school existed largely due to the efforts of one Archibald McFaul. McFaul had arrived from Ireland as a penniless boy and through intelligence and industry, had risen to become one of the most successful businessmen in Wellington and a leader in the community. His success had been shouted to the world when he built a large brick house on a knoll overlooking the lake. It was an extraordinary building, grandly constructed with stone lintels, four large chimneys, and elegant French doors that graced the façade. McFaul had dubbed it “Tara Hall” in honour of his Irish origins.

It was McFaul who was in a large part responsible for the lively Catholic presence in Wellington. As soon as he had been able to afford it, he had fetched a priest from Ireland to establish a church and a school. And then, a few short years later, he turned his graceful house over to the priests. There were differing motives ascribed to this astounding gift — some said it was McFaul’s sense of piety that was responsible. Others claimed that his extensive enterprises, in particular his far-flung shipping business, had suffered heavy losses and that he could no longer afford to maintain the massive home. Whatever the reason, the gesture had only elevated McFaul’s status within the community. The church elected to use Tara Hall as a boarding school, and soon Catholic families across the province were sending their offspring, boys and girls alike, to be educated in Wellington. On Sundays, these pupils traipsed along to the wooden church that had been built behind the school.

If Lewis had been forced to guess, he might have expected Mrs. Elliott to attend this church. For some reason he had a vague notion that there were many Catholics in the southern states. But there were many other denominations, as well, and he supposed it wouldn’t be surprising if Mrs. Elliott belonged to one that was peculiar to that part of the country, and therefore declined to attend services here.

It was not really any of his business what the hotel guests did, he reminded himself. The Elliotts could honour the day in any way they thought fitting.

When Lewis and his family arrived at the Methodist meeting house there was a knot of people on the sidewalk passing the time of day before they went in. All of the conversation was about the ice storm and the damage that had been done. Of particular interest was the fate of the missing Anthea.

“We can only hope they read the weather signs before they left Oswego,” said Alonzo Jones, who had fished the waters of Lake Ontario nearly all his life. “If they were out in the lake, they’d have been in trouble with all that ice on their sails. Their only chance would be to steer for Main Duck.”