Hannah
October

I have just had a letter through the post. It is most curious. It reads as follows:

To whom it may concern:

On the 14th of October, I will be meeting with the representatives of Lord Howard of Glossop in regard to our house purchase plans. The meeting will take place at the Estate Offices, at 11 a.m. I shall be lunching at the Norfolk Arms Inn which is nearby the meeting place at about 12.30 p.m., after the meeting, and would welcome any of the participants in the scheme to join me at that time, to discuss any concerns you might have.

Then handwritten at the bottom,

“Hannah, I do hope to see you there.”

Is he really inviting all and sundry to come to that meeting - or is he really only inviting me, but using the formal invitation for a screen to cover up our actions? I rather think it is the latter, but if this letter has been sent to everyone, then we will have no more privacy there than we would do at any other place. But knowing Horatio’s mind, I think he intends this as our special time alone, and I must send him a reply to let him know that I am happy about the plan.

Annie doesn’t usually get home from school until 5 anyway, and on that day, I shall ask if she can go to her friend Mary’s house for tea, and to stay until I arrive home. She could go next door but she would enjoy it more spending time with her friends.

I will find out what time the bus goes to Glossop. If necessary I can hire a taxi but I am under the impression that there is a bus service from Marple to Glossop at least five times a day. Horatio will probably have hired a carriage for the day, and might be able to drive me home, and then drop me at a bus stop somewhere, to avoid suspicion.

I have spent much time thinking of Horatio, especially during September when he and his family were in Brittany. I wonder if his wife is suspicious. I wonder if he was intimate with her. I hope not, but after all he is a man, and she is his wife. It is likely they were sharing a bed. But he suggests to me that she is not interested in that sort of thing, so he might have been able to engineer it to avoid such contact with her.

Fred has not approached me recently, although he is friendly enough when we run into each other in the lane. I think he suspects that when I went to the meeting at Mr. Wainwright’s house, that I did not come home alone. There are certainly plenty of gossips around who would be pleased to spread rumours about anyone, whether they were likely to be true or not, so I must be especially careful on this trip to Glossop to make sure no one suspects that I have anything to do there other than what I say.

Just then Mary came over for a chat, and I offered her a cup of tea.

“You are looking right perky, Hannah? Did you have good news in the post?”

“Well, not bad news anyway. I have to go to a meeting in Glossop in a few weeks’ time, and I will just thinking about how I would go about arranging it.”

“Annie can always come over to me if there is a problem of that sort.”

“Thank you, Mary, I know that. But she has a friend just down the road who she goes to school with, so it is likely she would go to her house if I were not back in time. I have every intention of being back by 5, but with depending on bus services, you just cannot predict these things exactly.”

“So what is this meeting about then?”

“Oh, just to do with some investments that I have made.”

“Not to do with your plans for buying the house then?”

“Well, the subject may come up - as it is my invested money that I would be spending.”

“I do hope you know what you are doing, Hannah. It has been sometime now since that fancy Mr. Whittington has called any meetings for you lot, hasn’t it?”

“I believe he and his family were away for much of September.”

“Well, I know these things take time, and don’t expect that it will happen without a great deal of hoo-ha from the officials involved. Presumably, Lord Howard’s man would have to come to inspect this property - which he owns but not doubt has forgotten about over the last fifty years - to see what sort of price he thinks he can get from you for it.”

“Oh, I am sure there will be surveyors, and they will need to measure sizes of rooms and such like. The land will still be under Lord Glossop’s overall control, but that doesn’t mean that we cannot use it as we see fit - just that we have to pay him a yearly rent for it.”

“And how much is that likely to be?”

“I don’t know. It probably depends on the size of the plot, and that will depend on their surveyor measuring it.”

“Well, just remember, you can always pull out of the deal, if you feel it is not right for you.”

“Yes, I do know that, Mary, and I will be sure that what I am doing is right and sensible before I give over my money. It is Annie’s inheritance too, and I mustn’t waste it.”

“Well, ta for the tea, luv. I must be getting back and doing some baking.”

“Bye Mary.”

She went back to her house, but I am not at all sure her curiosity was cured by our conversation. She is a canny one for thinking things through.