Sidney Chambers and The Shadow of Death (The Grantchester Mysteries)

to find himself next to his hostess. He looked at the placements.
     
    Nigel Thompson MP
      Miss Daphne Young        The Hon. Amanda Kendall
      Mr Guy Hopkins        Mr Mark Dowland
      Mrs Mary Dowland        Miss Jennifer Chambers
      Canon Sidney Chambers        Mr Jonathan Johnson
    Mrs Juliette Thompson
     
    ‘This all looks very congenial,’ he said to his host.
    Nigel Thompson was anxious that everyone should appreciate his reasoning. ‘Guy,’ he called out, ignoring Sidney’s gratitude. ‘I haven’t put you next to Amanda because I am sure you have been seeing quite enough of each other recently. And besides, I rather want her to myself.’
    ‘You can have her on loan,’ Guy called out. ‘Like one of her paintings. I shall need her back at midnight.’
    ‘I am no Cinderella,’ Amanda replied.
    ‘And I am no Ugly Sister,’ Mary Dowland chipped in. ‘Canon Chambers, I believe I am seated next to you?’
    Sidney passed her the plan.
    ‘I see Jennifer and Johnny have been seated next to each other,’ Mary observed. ‘Shouldn’t we swap?’
    ‘But that would mean putting a brother and a sister side by side,’ Juliette explained.
    ‘Of course,’ Mary Dowland stood behind her chair. ‘Not that I have anything against sitting beside you, Canon Chambers . . .’
    Jennifer cut in. ‘Don’t go on about it, otherwise he will think that you do. He’s very sensitive about these matters, my brother. He’s always complaining about how disappointed people look when they discover that they are sitting next to a clergyman.’
    ‘But this is not just any old clergyman,’ Juliette Thompson explained. ‘Sidney is one of the most charming men I know. That’s why he’s sitting next to me.’
    ‘Now, now,’ Nigel announced. ‘You’ll embarrass the man. I presume we can rely on you to say grace, Sidney.’
    ‘Blimey, Jenny,’ said Johnny Johnson under his breath. ‘It’s a long time since I’ve said that.’
    ‘You only have to say “Amen”, darling.’
    Sidney began: ‘ Benedic, Domine, nobis et donis tuis, quae de tua largitate sumus sumpturi, et concede ut illis salubriter nutriti, tibi debitum obsequium praestare valeamus, per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen. ’
    ‘Amen,’ the group affirmed.
    Johnny pulled in his chair. ‘And I wasn’t expecting Latin, Sidney.’
    The meal consisted of French onion soup and then the braces of pheasant that Guy Hopkins had brought as a gift from his Boxing Day shoot. This was accompanied by roast parsnips, carrots, cabbage and game chips; followed by a lemon meringue pie. Nigel Thompson had provided several amicable bottles of Beaujolais. He also promised champagne for the chimes at midnight.
    The conversation drifted aimlessly as the guests discussed the best kind of house party, the merits of a London home over a place in the country, and the right kind of carpet for a dining-room floor. The Thompsons were, apparently, ‘between carpets’ and so the dining-room floor, for the moment, consisted only of the wooden floorboards.
    Sidney was a little disappointed. He had been expecting an advanced level of political and cultural debate. The increasing international escalation over atomic weapons had created the possibility that, for the first time, mankind held the means of its own extermination. Tensions between Eisenhower and Khrushchev were on the rise; and questions remained concerning German rearmament, the rescue of the Atlantic alliance and the building of a new framework for the collective defence of Western Europe. Yet here they all were talking about carpets.
    Sidney was surprised that people took the conversation so seriously but was happy not to have to respond to gambits which presumed that Christmas must be his ‘busiest time of year’. Instead, Mary Dowland was keen to tell him about the prospective arrival of a panda at London Zoo, while Daphne Young informed Sidney that her current paying guest was a clergyman in search of a new challenge who needed a little advice.
    ‘I’m not sure anything I say could be of much benefit.’
    ‘Nonsense,’ Daphne replied. ‘Nigel tells me that you are one of the brightest clergymen in the Church of England.’
    ‘I think that is only because he is a friend of mine.’
    ‘He’s a good friend to have. And I imagine Grantchester’s a fine living. Perhaps you need a curate?’
    ‘I have considered it.’
    ‘Then come and meet Leonard. He’s frighteningly intelligent.