Chapter Three
When Miranda looked across at him again, Mr Parker asked gently, ‘Would going to live in Wiltshire interfere with your long-term career plans, Ms Westerby?’
She shook her head. ‘I don’t have any. I’ve always seen accounting more as a reasonable way to earn a living rather than as a career I care deeply about. I have no desire whatsoever to climb the so-called corporate ladders in the profession. There’s more to life than checking columns of figures and outdoing your colleagues at attracting new clients to the firm you work for, don’t you think?’
He smiled. ‘I agree absolutely. I’m fortunate that I enjoy my job but I don’t think I’d enjoy one that meant dealing with figures day in, day out. It’s people I find interesting. Was there nothing else you wanted to study or do for work?’
‘Not really. I’d been vaguely considering studying architecture, but my great-aunt refused point blank to pay for me to do that. It was accounting or get into debt for the university fees and spend years paying them off. Only I didn’t dare get into debt because I had no other family members to turn to if anything went wrong. So I accepted her offer, got my degree and I presume that’s what led to my inheriting and therefore my absolute independence, which is something I shall value highly.’
He was silent, frowning slightly.
‘Is something wrong?’
‘You won’t be independent in some senses while you’re living at Fairfield House. Will that upset you?’
She hadn’t meant to mention the current situation which had already made her apply for a couple of other jobs, but it slipped out. ‘Unfortunately, at the moment we have a new team leader at work and he’s going to get a slap across the face if he bumps into me or brushes against certain parts of my body again.’
He gaped at her in shock. ‘He’s that bad about harassment? In this day and age?’
‘Yes.’
‘Why haven’t you reported him?’
‘Because he’s very cunning about when and where he harasses me. I think he must have been honing those skills for years. It’s been going on for months and there have never been any witnesses nearby or I’d definitely have challenged him publicly. When I warned him privately he just smiled and said that if I accused him of anything he’d sue me because I have no evidence. And CCTV cameras aren’t allowed inside our office complex, only at the entrances and exits.’
She couldn’t help shuddering. ‘He smiles as he eyes my body up and down after each incident. I find him very creepy.’
‘I’m sorry to hear that. I had no idea things could still be so bad.’
‘Oh, they can, believe me. I only mention this to show why this inheritance is particularly timely. It will give me a good reason to leave my job suddenly and I’ll be financially independent afterwards. Please tell me a little more about this family home I’d be living in. I looked up online where the village is situated in Wiltshire but what’s the house like?’
‘I’m only allowed to tell you that sort of thing after the paperwork has been completed and you’ve agreed in writing to move in for two years.’
That made her stare. ‘My great-aunt wasn’t very trusting, was she? Well, all right. If this house has been the family home for nearly two centuries, I would very much like to see it, even without the financial inducements. History is one of my hobbies.’
‘Apparently both house and garden are quite large, so it should be a pleasant place to live.’
‘Good. Because my flat feels to be growing smaller each year and you can’t help acquiring new possessions, especially books, can you? If this house is in pleasant surroundings, I could perhaps set it up as a holiday home after my two-year sentence to live there full time has been completed. I could go there sometimes at weekends on my own or with friends, or even hire it out.’
He shrugged. ‘You won’t be legally allowed to hire it out, but after you complete your two years there it will be up to you how often you use the house as your home or simply leave it empty. You still won’t be able to sell it. And by then you might have become fond of it and want to live there full-time.’
‘Who can tell how I’ll feel about it afterwards? I’ve never had a whole house to live in.’
‘She must have been. Though quite frankly, I think only a fool would refuse such a bequest. I’m told that Miss Westerby was good at organising people into doing what she wished.’
‘Chivvying them into it might be a better way of describing it.’ Miranda was unable to hide her bitterness about her own dealings with her aunt, or lack of dealings unless Phyllis wanted something from her.
He looked at her and added, ‘I’ll deny that I said this, but from reading my colleague’s records, I think you’re right. At times it did seem more as if she was tricking people into doing what she wanted.’
She looked at him in surprise and couldn’t think what to say so kept quiet and left it to him to continue the conversation.
When she didn’t say anything else, he took over again quite quickly as she’d expected. Some people were in more of a hurry than others to fill a conversational silence. ‘Well, I’ve told you everything I was required to but I shall need you to sign a contract agreeing to adhere to your aunt’s conditions before we go any further.’ He opened the folder and took out a piece of paper.
The contract was very brief and straightforward, though of course no less binding for that. She read it quickly and looked at him. ‘Is this the last of the paperwork?’
‘Yes.’
‘I’ll sign it, then.’ She reached out for the pen that was lying on the desk.
He put out his hand to stop her. ‘Just a minute. I’ll have to call in my senior clerk and the receptionist to witness this properly.’
They must have been waiting to be summoned, so the signing was quickly dealt with and once the two witnesses had left, Mr Parker opened a lower drawer in his desk and took out a small padded envelope, pushing it across the table to her.
‘These are the keys to your new home and to the safe. They’ve been changed recently, to keep you more secure there.’
‘Good idea. Where in the house shall I find this safe?’
‘I have no idea, I’m afraid. The address of the house is written on the envelope and that’s all I can tell you about it. A safe shouldn’t be hard to find, though. Most of them are too big to be easily hidden and they don’t usually look like pieces of furniture. Now, is that all?’
She nodded.
‘Then I hope you’ll be happy living there. And do get in touch if you find any problems when you arrive, though I doubt there will be. Our clerk was there as soon as we heard about your aunt’s death and he took a female colleague with him to pack the housekeeper’s things. They made sure that even she couldn’t get inside.’
She stared in surprise.
‘We didn’t know what items should be there so made sure that nothing could be taken away. Our firm has not had good relations with the housekeeper, you see. She has a very sharp tongue and can be very demanding. She got on well with your aunt, though, which is what mattered.’
‘Well, thank you for being so careful.’ She took the envelope from him and stared down as it, wondering what sort of life this would lead her into.
He asked quietly, ‘Do you like living in the country, Ms Westerby? Is it something you’re used to?’ 34
‘I’ve never tried it, never even had a whole house to live in. But I’ll still have my flat in London to fall back on afterwards if I don’t like it in the family home, and I shall be able to live anywhere I wish once the two years are over, shan’t I?’
‘Yes, indeed.’ He took a couple of other folders out of a drawer and clipped his old-fashioned pen back into the breast pocket of his jacket as if making ready for his next client.
She didn’t stand up straight away, just ran through mentally what he’d told her in case she had any other questions. She didn’t intend to do anything that jeopardised the inheritance, whatever she had to put up with. No way.
This inheritance would make such a wonderful difference to her life. She’d been independent for a few years because she had been determined to own a home of her own since her mother died, absolutely determined. But all she’d been able to afford was a very small flat, on which she had paid off the mortgage the previous year.
And now, here was the opportunity to as good as own a decent-sized house for the next two years and save like mad during that time in case she needed to buy a new home somewhere else afterwards. She wasn’t going to waste this opportunity. Independence was something she treasured. Her present flat might be small but it was in an increasingly popular area with good transport links and had gone up nicely in value since she bought it. She would be able to sell it easily after the two years were up and put the money towards whatever she managed to save.
She didn’t expect to like a home that had been lived in by her great-aunt, but if she did like it, she’d stay there and rent the flat out. She could feel herself grimacing at her own deep need for independence and security.
She was speaking more to herself than to him when she added, ‘I shall enjoy living somewhere more spacious than the flat, I must admit, but I’d prefer it to have been in a leafy London suburb, where I’d still be fairly close to my friends. Is the house in a village or near a town at all?’
‘I gather it’s at one end of a small village but set a bit apart from the other dwellings on an acre or two of land.’
‘I hope it’s a pretty village, then.’
He started tidying away the pile of papers dealing with her affairs, then clicked his tongue in annoyance and took the top one from it, holding it out to her. ‘Dear me! I nearly forgot to give you this. Will you please let us know officially that you’ve settled there by signing this and sending it to me a month after you take up residence? You can perhaps get some local council official or a shopkeeper to sign this statement to the effect that you’ve been living in the house during that time.’
She looked at the piece of paper in surprise. ‘My great-aunt never trusted anyone, did she?’
‘It doesn’t seem like it. And the family trust is still rather old-fashioned, says the money is to be paid quarterly and your ongoing residence in the family home needs to be confirmed each time, which seems a bit excessive. Without that signed witness statement, we can’t transfer the payments into your bank account. There are more copies of this form in the folder.’
She didn’t say it aloud, but she thought it: trust Phyllis Westerby to make stupid, fiddly conditions, trying to control her from beyond the grave. She took the piece of paper and stuffed it into the file any old how, amused to see him wince at how that crumpled it. ‘Very well. I’ll do that.’
‘And if you find any earlier financial information about the family among the documentation at Fairfield House, I’d appreciate a copy so that I can add it to the family records, which our firm will still be looking after as accurately as we can. I’m afraid you won’t be able to change lawyers where this family residence is concerned.’
‘I see no need to change and I’ll be quite happy to continue dealing with you and your firm, Mr Parker. My great-aunt’s penchant for bossing people around during her lifetime, and even after her death, is not your fault and you’ve handled it all as carefully as you could. Tactfully, too.’
He gave her a genuine smile at that. ‘Thank you for your understanding. And by the way, any information you send us will be kept secure, I promise you. Even if our offices were to burn down again, we have now made very careful arrangements to have all our clients’ information from previous decades stored digitally as well as on paper. Some of the former senior managers were, I’m afraid, reluctant to move to more modern ways of conducting business but the lady currently in charge of our firm is not old-fashioned, thank goodness.’
She nodded and picked up the folder he’d given her, then realised he was looking at her as if he wanted to speak. ‘Is that all or is there something else?’
‘There is one other thing I’d like to say to you, Ms Westerby.’
She settled back on the chair and waited, wondering what would be raised next. It wasn’t paperwork as he’d put the folders away.
But he seemed a very pleasant chap so she was happy to listen to whatever he had to say.