Downshire is a relatively small English county but like a pocket battleship it packs a lot in, a short but beautiful coastline, a channel port, the Ancient forests of Dancingdean and Pepperstock, the craggy ridges and manmade lakes of the Pepperstock Hills National Park, the rolling hills of the Downshire Downs, the beautiful Finchbottom Vale and farm land as far as the eye can see from the Trotwood’s and the Grace’s in the south to the home of the Downshire Light infantry, Nettlefield, and their affluent neighbour’s, Roespring and Tipton in the north, but our story begins in the East, or more precisely, 20 miles inland from Sharpington-By-Sea, equidistant between Finchbottom and Pepperstock Green, in the sprawling village of Denmead.
Owen Carrington’s
Uncle Glyn died on New Year’s Day and left him his Cottage and a small cash
sum, more than enough to keep him going for a few more years.
He left it
to him because he felt they were kindred spirits, he wanted to be a writer
himself but his father made him get a proper job, Owen really liked him and he
was a great story teller, and it was his Uncles colourful tales that helped him
when he was writing his novels.
His death
came as a great shock as it was sudden though not unsurprising given his life
health.
So that was
how he found himself living in a lovely Victorian Cottage in the quaint
Downshire Village of Denmead.
It was a
very tranquil place though not without its distractions.
From his
study he could look out through the open French windows and across the expanse
of lawn to a stand of ancient woodland, there was no fence to separate garden
and wood the two just merged.
And on the
other side of the wood was the hub of the village, the Green Oak, everyone
seemed to go there at some point, either for a drink, the restaurant or the
coffee suite.
Owen’s star
was definitely in the ascendency after the success of his first Romantic novel
“The Maiden Muse” but the change in the fortunes of his writing career were not
universally well received, his publisher liked it, his new agent loved it, the
bank manager was ecstatic about it but his mother was disappointed by it
because she thought it was a bit girlie.
But it
wasn’t just his writing career that was climbing high, so was his love life
thanks to his muse and lover, Juliana Molesworth, who had brought his writers
block to an end, and since she had become his muse he had become a writer of
bodice ripping romances which had proved to be an occupation which suited him
very well indeed.
And it
suited him in many ways, but the main benefit was that he was able to work at
home, so he had no tedious commute every day and his working day was flexible
to the point that some days he didn’t write at all.
This
afforded him the opportunity of playing a round of Golf during the working week
when most people had their noses to the grindstone or even taking a day out to
go fishing.
But all the
normally enjoyable pastimes that would ordinarily keep him entertained didn’t
distract him for the time Juliana was away at University, but he poured all his
love and longing into his second novel instead.
However as
much as the time may have dragged, the time of his lonely exile did come to an
end.
Juliana she
returned from Abbottsford on Friday night with her parents as Owen was in
Nettlefield at his publishers.
He spent
Friday night in the Prince Royal Hotel hoping to relax and catch his breath,
after all the frenetic activity of the day not to mention a long boozy lunch
and the associated meetings and he was completely knackered and he was
understandably looking forward to a good night’s sleep before Juliana’s return
from University.
However
there is a well-known saying about “the best laid plans”.
Things
began to go wrong at about 2 am when the people in the room next door got drunk
and started to trash the place.
Then after
the night manager had dealt with the disturbance he just drifted off to sleep
when a crack of thunder almost blew him out of bed and then the storm rumbled
round for hours after that, making sleep nearly impossible, he would just doze
off and then Boom, then things would calm down again and then Boom.
He gave up
eventually because after the 9th or 10th time the fire alarm went off so he
went downstairs and checked out and set off on the drive to Denmead.
When he got
back to the village and went to his bed but he’d not been asleep more than an
hour when he was woken from his slumber, not this time by drunks, thunder claps
or fire alarms but by the persistent ringing of his mobile phone.
He reached
a hand out from beneath the duvet and grabbed the phone
“Hello” he
said sleepily and he was snapped awake by the sound of unrestrained tears
coming from a distraught Juliana.
Once he had
calmed her down sufficiently that she could speak and having determined no one
had died he quickly washed and dressed and went out into the rainy morning and
trudged the relatively short distance to her house.
She was
still in tears when he arrived; though much calmer.
Her parents
were both out at Stephenson’s Supermarket where they worked so she had to
unload it all on him.
It took him
about half an hour of soothing words to get her to the point where she could
tell him what was wrong without bursting into tears again.
Ruth was
returning to the University at Roehampton at the weekend in time for her final
year although her first lecture was still two weeks away.
Juliana had
worked her socks off all summer at the Green Oak pub in order to earn enough to
enable her not to need to get another job in Abbottsford.
She already
had a little job in the University Library, which although it didn’t pay well
it fitted in perfectly with her studies, but she didn’t want to have to take
another job as well.
She had
calculated that with all the shifts she had done, on top of her future earnings
from the library added to the meagre savings she had left from the previous
year, she had sufficient to meet her needs and leave her enough to treat
herself to a new laptop, her old one being on its last legs.
But when
she had gone to the pub first thing that morning to pick up her wages she found
that she had been under paid by the sum of £300.
Juliana had
worked her socks off all summer at the Green Oak pub in order to earn enough to
enable her not to need to get another job in Abbottsford.
She already
had a little job in the University Library, which although it didn’t pay well
it fitted in perfectly with her studies, but she didn’t want to have to take
another job as well.
She had
calculated that with all the shifts she had done, on top of her future earnings
from the library added to the meagre savings she had left from the previous
year, she had sufficient to meet her needs and leave her enough to treat
herself to a new laptop, her old one being on its last legs.
But when
she had gone to the pub first thing that morning to pick up her wages she found
that she had been under paid by the sum of £300.
Furthermore,
even though it was the landlord’s mistake, he and his wife were on holiday and
the manager was unable to make reparation until they returned.
All of this
meant that after all the other out goings she wasn’t going to have enough to
fund her new laptop until she was home next.
She really
wanted that particular laptop but she said that she would just have to get
something cheaper and gave a weak smile.
Owen
managed to persuade her not to settle for less than she really wanted and just
soldier on with what she had for a couple more months and as every cloud had a
silver lining by the time she was ready to buy it would be at an even better
price.
Juliana
punched him for his sunny optimism but seemed happier with life.
He then
offered to go into town with her and keep her company while she did her other
shopping.
She gave
him a hug and a kiss and said
“No that’s
ok, I’m meeting mum for lunch”
When he
left her at the door she was altogether happier, he on the other hand was less
so.
In the
meantime he walked briskly, through the now pouring rain, to the cottage and
got in the car and drove into Finchbottom, he knew he could get there and back
before Juliana returned to the village.
The reason
for his sojourn was to purchase her a new laptop, printer and accessories so
she would have them to take with her when she returned to University after the
weekend.
Her parents
would have done the same thing if they could have afforded it, but they
couldn’t, they were nice hard working people and had no great wealth but
considered themselves rich beyond measure because of what they did have.
The last
thing he wanted to do was to step on their toes and steal their limelight so he
planned that they would present it as a joint gift.
They were
all going out for a meal that evening at the Leathern Bottle in Finchbottom but
they were meeting first at the Molesworth’s so they could present it to her
before they left for the restaurant.
He drove
back to the village, and when he got indoors he called her dad Greg, he span
him a line about getting it at a knock down price through a friend who used his
staff discount.
Owen
thought he wanted to believe him more than actually believing him but he was
pleased his daughter was getting her laptop.
He
repeatedly insisted on paying something towards it and Owen repeatedly declined
his offer and in the end they compromised.
He would
let Owen pay for the gift if he let him and Lavinia take Juliana back to
University on Monday morning and they verbally shook on the deal.
He knew Juliana
wouldn’t mind as they had already discussed the possibility.
Her parents
struggled at times to reconcile themselves with the changing nature of their
relationship, Greg in particular was feeling more than a little redundant.
It was
undoubtedly the way of the world but it was hard for a father to take in and
Juliana and he had no intention of exacerbating the situation.
That
evening he drove through the rain with the gifts in black sacks to keep them
dry, and he arrived at the Molesworth household at the allotted time and was
met by Greg who was standing by the open garage door.
This
allowed them to smuggle Juliana’s gift into the house unseen through the
internal door.
Lavinia was
in the kitchen and indicated the coast was clear so he stepped in and placed
the packages onto the counter.
As soon as
his hands were free Lavinia kissed his cheek and hugged him tightly.
“Thank you
Owen” she said, filling up, although he wasn’t sure what exactly she was thanking
him for.
Was it for
buying the laptop or letting them take Juliana to Abbottsford or for making
their daughter happy.
It could
have been any or all of the above.
He patted
her on the back and she released her grip and turned away to wipe her eyes and Owen
did the manly thing and shook hands with Greg.
A few
minutes later Juliana came into the kitchen, looking as lovely as ever, to find
the three of them standing in close order on one side of the room.
“Hello
darling” she said as she walked over and kissed him
“I didn’t
know you were here, I didn’t hear the doorbell”
Then she
realised something was amiss
“Why are
you all huddled over here?” she said suspiciously and tried to peer behind
them.
“Well there
is something we want to do before we leave for the restaurant” Gregory said
falteringly
“Owen?
Would you like to do the honours?”
“No Greg
you have the floor, the honour is yours” he replied rather pompously.
“Well we
know how disappointed you were this morning and also because we think you deserve
it” her dad said proudly
“So we got
you this as a going away present”
And with
military precision and not unlike the red sea, they parted to reveal the
brightly wrapped parcels.
“What’s all
this?” she said
“Open them
and you’ll find out” Owen said
So she set
about the task and as she ripped off the paper her eyes widened with delight
and she smiled broadly
“You
shouldn’t have,” she said with a frown that lasted a Nano second and then she
was smiling again.
Gregory and
Lavinia were hugging as they watched their daughter’s joy, no doubt remembering
long passed moments from her childhood, then Juliana hugged and kissed her
parents and when she turned to Owen he was expecting the same treatment but
instead she poked him, hard.
“As for
you” she said sternly and poked him again “all that tosh you spouted this
morning, “every cloud has a silver lining””
Another
poke
“And all
the time”
Poke
“You were
planning this”
Another
poke, and Owen nodded
“Pretty
much” he confirmed and then he got his hug and kiss
“I love you,”
she said
“Steady” he
said you’ll make me blush
“I love you
too”
That kind
of set the tone for the rest of the evening and they had a lovely time.
Midway
through the evening while her mum was in the loo and Greg had gone in search of
the wine waiter he took the opportunity to tell her that her mum and dad would
be taking her back to University and why he thought it was a good idea.
She leant
over and kissed him on the lips
“I really
do love you Owen Carrington,” she said
“And I
really do love you too” he replied just at that moment her parents returned to
the table and the moment was gone and it was such a great evening that he
didn’t think of it again.
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