Chapter 8

Sir Henry deposited Catherine at the Coleworth gate and asked her to make his excuses to her family. Catherine gave her mother the parcels, not mentioning her escort, and escaped to the chicken coop.

“There’s no shame in mindlessly feeding chickens”, she grumbled to herself. “Why should one worry about the place and the rights of the chicken feeder in society? Why should the chicken feeder be either an object of study or gain a voice for him or herself? What difference does it make? Perhaps it even hurts society to promote chicken-feeder consciousness. Shouldn’t we all just sing softly as we feed and eat chickens? Well, maybe not singing and eating at the same time. But surely one should just be tasting and enjoying with sweet music in one’s head.

Chick, chick, chicken
never leave a speck
cluckety, peckity, cluckety peck,

all you care

is that someone puts it there

What else matters?

“Reading is diverting and enlightening,” she thought after giving up on song-writing, “but there is such a thing as idle curiosity.” Sir Henry’s point about understanding each other came to her mind and connected with her. “Reading isn’t just about learning new things, it’s understanding other people. I like learning how they think and what they feel is important. Isn’t that nosiness? Hopefully people like to be understood. But does a chicken farmer need to be understood? I guess that’s up to others to decide and not the chicken farmer girl person.

“I wonder why he talked about casualties. Will Father or Uncle Josiah be punished for raiding Lord Essex’s library? Will we be punished for learning from it? It’s for certain that we’ll not be allowed to borrow any more books.”

***

“Henry,” bellowed Lord Essex as he met him at the door of the mansion, “I demand to know which tenant you are experimenting on.”

“‘Experimenting’ is better than ‘corrupting.’ Does that mean you’ve warmed to the idea, Father?”

“Hardly. I need to make sure that this foolishness goes no further.”

“Why don’t we wait for the results of my experiment, and then you can decide.”

“What sort of results?”

“Increased productivity.”

“If a tenant’s yields increase by his own education and independent thinking, will he not begin to feel he is outgrowing his position? He will also want to increase his property and his goods. How many more demands will he make for his family? The natural balance will be set off.”

“The various impacts cannot be fully predicted. I believe one must act on principle and not always with the status quo in mind as the top priority. It is not right to keep people in the dark. They should have the opportunity for educating themselves as much as they are able and care to.”

“I see that you believe your intentions are good, but I do not believe you understand the risks to society by this line of thinking.”

“Risks to our aristocratic society you mean.”

“When you observe tenants and servants, do you not find them happy in the simplicity of their existence? Do you not observe in our class, if you will, the burden of responsibility?” Are you certain you have considered this fully?”

“I believe the expansion of one’s horizon is worth the burden, Father.”

“Industrialization is already threatening the simplicity of the tenant arrangement. It’s one thing to have one’s horizons expanded in an agricultural setting, but what if that expansion leads to losing it?”

“I’m not sure that has to be so.”

“The risk is real, Henry.”

“Younger people aren’t as afraid of risk.”

“That is true,” Lord Essex granted. “I still want to know who you have been educating.”

“Why? What do you plan to do about it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Then neither do I.”