A Crowded Coffin(82)

‘Well?’ Penelope looked at her.

‘Very well, I suspect,’ Harriet nodded agreement. ‘Rory is looking a lot more relaxed than when he first arrived last week. Edith seems to have no regrets about leaving the States and is ready to plunge into working here full-time. Lots of plans in the pipeline. Let them get on with it; at least they’ll be company for each other.

‘And if you meant me, well I’ll be fine too. I’m limping from all the bruises, my shoulder is giving me gyp and I don’t know when I’ll manage a whole night’s drug-free sleep without waking up with the screaming habdabs, but I’ll get there, don’t worry. Sam being next door will be a huge help. How about you, Penny?’

‘Much the same. It’s such a bonus to have Edith come home to live. It’s put new life into Walter. And Rory is the icing on the cake. Even if they don’t make a go of it, we’re so happy to have the old quarrel mended.’

Penelope looked pensively at a rabbit that had sneaked in under the fence and was heading across the garden to the vegetable patch round the corner. ‘Shhh, let’s not frighten him off. But Elveece will be cross – his vegetables are his pride and joy! That’s another blessing, Elveece and Karen. How can we be so lucky? Such a delightful couple and soon a baby about the place.’ Penelope shot an involuntary look over at Edith, who was in earnest consultation with Sam, while Rory looked on, then she smiled fondly at Harriet, and settled back to doze in the sunshine.

Rory ambled over to join Harriet when she got up to lean over the garden wall, surveying the fields.

‘They’ll be at it all night,’ he grinned, nodding to Edith who had now produced her tablet and was making notes as she and Sam brainstormed. ‘She just rang the agricultural college at Sparsholt, up the road, to make an appointment for someone to come over and give advice, and then she invited the new manager over to join their discussions, you know, the guy who takes over in September, because he’s keen to get things on the move. The plans they’ve got.…’ His mouth twisted in a wry smile. ‘Art shows in the barn – that’s apparently going to be my pigeon; weddings and mediaeval banquets in the Great Hall; an official dig with Roman history displays, of course, and the stables turned into holiday lets and God knows what else. They won’t be happy till they open the Locksley Hilton.’

Harriet laughed out loud at the prospect. ‘Did you know Walter is after a new tenant for the vacant farm?’ she asked. ‘He’d like to go in for some rare breeds and make the farm accessible to people, school visits and projects and so forth. It’ll be a major undertaking but with the prospect of money from the paintings, he’ll be able to think about it seriously. Old Misselbrook’s house needs gutting from top to toe but it could be a really decent family home for the right people.’ She gazed over the fields again, basking in the warmth of the sun. ‘I believe there’s even talk of looking into planning permission for a farm shop over there, as there’s road access.’

‘You’re glad about Sam taking on the job of helping here, aren’t you?’ Rory asked. ‘He’ll be a godsend to Cousin Walter; there’ll be a shedload of paperwork. I’ll help where I can but I’ll be pretty occupied once term begins.’

‘It’s a godsend to Sam too,’ she smiled. ‘He’s really interested and I’ve not seen him this animated since Avril died. Moving to Locksley will be good for him, though I’m not so sure about his plan for our joint attic.’

Rory cocked his head.

‘It was all one house once,’ she went on, turning away from the fence and heading back towards the house. ‘Sam’s planning to open up the connecting door on the landing and the one downstairs too, which is fine by me, but he also wants to turn the attic into one enormous layout for his model railway. All kinds of plans on the cards, apparently.’

‘Harriet.…’ Rory changed the subject so abruptly that she halted in her tracks and stared at him. ‘What Sam was saying, about when we were up on the roof … when the vicar fell, did you think it was a heron that flew at him?’

‘No,’ she said quietly, glancing upward with a shudder. ‘For one insane moment – and you have to remember I really was almost insane with grief and rage having just seen Sam shot dead, as I supposed – if you must know, I thought it was the angel, the one that appeared to the Roman, come to rescue its own.’

Rory’s sigh of satisfaction confirmed her suspicions and he ducked his head away from her penetrating gaze.