Chapter 23
‘There.’ Back in his office, he pointed to a photograph on the wall.
The room had been the original head gardener’s office and handed down over the years.
I loved that it still had a fireplace, even if there was no need for it now that summer was peering round the corner.
Here there was a feeling of those who had gone before, a real sense of history.
‘Yep. Plenty more than we have today but then a lot of things were different then.’
‘Some of them look so young.’
‘Because they were. People think they’re so hard done by today, whingeing about having to go into an office when half of them would rather be sat on their arse, watching Netflix.
Yet these men were glad of a job because they knew it was that or starve.
And yes, they were lucky, just as we are, that the family were good, decent people who paid a fair wage and took care of their staff, but it was still hard work.
These three were fourteen.’ He pointed to the front row where three boys sat cross-legged, two looking nervously at the camera, one sporting a grin.
There was something familiar about him. ‘Doing a full day’s hard graft. Can you imagine it now?’
I shook my head.
‘Not that I’m saying that’s the way it should be.’
‘I know.’
‘This one,’ he pointed to the one with the cheeky grin. ‘That’s my great uncle, Stanley.’
‘I knew there was something familiar about him!’
Isaac smiled, but it was poor imitation of the cheeky grin in the photo. ‘Two years later, when the First World War was declared, he and his pals signed up. Most of the men in that photo actually, other than a few that were exempt due to age or infirmity.’
‘A Pals battalion?’
‘Exactly.’ He seemed both surprised and pleased that I knew the term.
‘My dad was in the army and he’s pretty up on his military history. I guess some sunk in by osmosis.’ I looked back at the photo. ‘Wait, you said they were fourteen. Two years later, they’d still only be sixteen, too young to sign up.’
‘They lied about their ages, like so many did. Working on the land, they looked bulkier than some lads their age but, truth was, the authorities were so desperate for soldiers, even if they knew they were fibbing, they’d have likely turned a blind eye.’
‘I’m afraid to ask…’
Isaac touched the grinning boy in the photo. ‘All three were dead by the end of the first day of fighting at the Battle of the Somme.’
‘Oh God, Isaac.’ My legs felt weak and I half-stumbled into a chair. ‘I’m so sorry.’ Tears stung my eyes, one already making a break and tracking down my cheek.
His eyes were still on the photograph. ‘Only a third of those men came home. Bearing in mind they were all from the village, you can imagine…’ His voice cracked and he left the sentence unfinished.
We remained in silence for a full minute, absorbing, as much as we could, the horror of those numbers multiplied so many times over across the country.
‘It’s part of why I spoke to Edward about restoring the kitchen garden.
Every day, I look at that photo. Every day, I think about what they did, what they worked for, the care they took and now it’s all just turf.
There was no one left to work it and of course, the whole social structure was changed. ’
‘And then the Second World War changed things even more.’
‘Yeah, that was the real death knell for a lot of stately homes. The family here were lucky that they’d invested wisely in places like America and were able to keep and build on their wealth.
They did a lot for the widows and children of the men from their staff that died too which is more than can be said for the government. ’
‘Are you the only one that’s followed in your great-uncle’s footsteps?’
‘Nope. My dad was head gardener here before me. I’ve been coming here since I was a tot. Lawrence and my dad were friends.’
I smiled at the thought. ‘As are you and Edward.’
‘Yep. He’s never been a toff. Well,’ he rephrased, ‘he’s a toff but not in a bad way.’
‘I’m sure he’ll be glad to hear that.’
‘He’s one of the good ones. As soon as I suggested the possibility of the revamp, he was right behind it. Obviously it’s not cheap but, once we’d costed it out together and talked it over with Barney and Lady Penelope, he gave it the green light straight away.’
‘Did you tell him what your driving force was?’
‘Didn’t need to. He already knew. Like I said, he’s one of the good ones.’
There was something in Isaac’s tone that made me look up.
‘What?’
‘What?’ he parroted back.
‘That felt like it was directional.’
There was a pause before he stuck his lower lip out. ‘Don’t know what you’re talking about. Now, get back to work before I get him to fire you, fiancée or not.’
‘Fiancée?’ Krish’s voice came from the door and we both spun round. ‘Sorry. Didn’t mean to eavesdrop. I forgot my phone. Just popped back to get it and thought I might…’ His eyes darted to me, then Isaac.
‘Oh, God, not my fiancée!’
‘You don’t have to sound quite so relieved!’ My hands were shoved on my hips.
‘I wouldn’t have… you know… if I’d known you were engaged…’
‘Oh, I’m not—’
‘Upset. She’s not upset,’ Isaac finished for me. ‘She’s actually pretty chilled for a girl.’
I kicked him.
He rubbed his shin. ‘Most of the time.’
‘To be fair, you asked for that one, mate,’ Krish said. ‘So, your fiancé works here too?’ he continued.
Isaac snorted. ‘You met him earlier.’
Krish frowned then looked at me. ‘Edward? The lord of the manor is your fiancé?’
‘And thank you for looking quite so surprised. Seriously!’
‘No, I don’t mean… I just, I kind of expected him to have some hoity-toity type, not…’
‘You’re going to need that excavator to get yourself out of that hole you’re digging yourself there, mate. It’s a good job you’re not actually asking her out as I think she’d use it to bury you.’
‘Ha! Yeah. Quite probably. Right, I’m going to,’ he pointed back out the way he came, ‘get back to work.’
‘Good plan.’ Isaac grinned. Behind him in the photo, I saw his ancestor matching it and sat back down in the chair.
‘You all right? You upset about that?’
‘What?’
‘Krish. He’s obviously got the hots for you.’
‘He seems nice, yeah. It’s been a while since I met someone I liked but, of course, when I actually do, it happens to coincide with when I’m fake engaged to my boss!’
Isaac screwed up his face. ‘Bummer.’
‘It is,’ I said on a sigh as my eyes drifted back to the photo. ‘But not the end of the world.’
* * *
‘I hear you’ve made a friend.’
‘What?’ I said, handing Penelope the hot chocolate I’d just whizzed up in the Velvetiser Edward had bought her in town.
‘I was chatting to Isaac.’
‘Oh?’
‘The handsome Krish apparently had his eye on you.’
I pressed the button and the machine began whirring my own drink.
‘Yes. Apparently. And thanks to your machinations, I can’t do a thing about it!’
Penelope pulled a face. ‘I am sorry about that.’
‘Do anything about what?’
‘Edward! I didn’t think you’d be home from London until tomorrow.’ Penelope’s eyes lit up at her son’s early return.
‘The meeting went a lot better and a lot quicker than expected so I thought I’d come home tonight instead. So, what did I miss?’
‘Nothing. Hot chocolate?’
‘If there’s one going. Thanks.’
‘The new chap, Krish. Ever so handsome.’ Penelope’s eyes widened.
‘Yes. I met him. Sickeningly good-looking. What about him?’
‘Rather keen on Emmeline. Was planning to ask her out until he overheard Isaac talking about your engagement.’
‘Oh. Right.’ Edward seemed at a bit of a loss as to what to say. ‘Sorry about that.’
He didn’t sound all that sorry if I was honest.
‘Have you had a good day, other than that?’
His casualness irked me. ‘Other than missing out on an opportunity to date my possible soul mate because of having to pretend I’m with you? Yes, other than that, everything’s tickety-boo.’
‘He’s hardly your soul mate. You only just met him.’
‘Is there a time limit that you have to pass for someone to qualify as your soul mate?’
A strange look shuttered his face for a moment before it cleared. But perhaps it was just the light.
‘No, of course not. I just meant you’ve barely spoken to him. That’s all.’
‘That’s not the point. And I don’t actually think for a moment he’s my soul mate but that’s not the point either. He could have been and I’m stuck in this situation with you.’
Edward’s jaw tightened just a fraction. ‘I do realise that it’s not ideal.’ He flashed a look at his mum, who had found a particularly interesting article in the magazine I’d brought up with me and was studying it intently. ‘I didn’t realise you felt quite so appalled by it, though.’
I blew out a sigh. ‘I’m not appalled by it. That came out wrong and I’ve had a long day. I just meant it’s inconvenient and I’m not going to be made to feel bad for saying so.’
‘No. I can see it is inconvenient for you.’
‘And you!’ I interjected.
‘Less so for me as I’m in no great rush to dive back into the dating pool whereas clearly, you’re more keen to at least dip a toe in.’
The machine finished whirring and I poured hot chocolate into one of the Royal Worcester cups and handed it to him.
‘Thank you.’ He took a sip and the atmosphere felt thick and uncomfortable. ‘Is there anything I can do with regards to why your day was long? Do you need more assistance?’
‘No, no. It’s not that.’ I sunk down into one of the squishy, antique chairs next to Penelope and took a sip of my own chocolate. ‘Isaac was telling me about the men that used to work in the garden. How many of them never came back from the war.’
Penelope shook her head. ‘Such a terrible waste.’
‘Great-Uncle Stanley?’
‘Yes,’ I looked up at where Edward was still standing. ‘He was just a boy. They were all just boys.’
‘War is hell.’
‘And they shouldn’t even have been there.’
‘No,’ Edward said simply. What else was there to say? ‘I’m sorry it’s upset you.’
‘I’d be worried if it didn’t upset me. It should upset anyone with a beating heart.
That’s not to say Isaac shouldn’t share that story “in case someone gets upset”.
It’s what happened. The godawfulness of it all.
That shouldn’t be forgotten. They shouldn’t be forgotten because someone might get upset about it.
Those boys deserve to be wept over so that their sacrifices weren’t in vain. ’
Edward was staring at me.
I opened my mouth to apologise for the mini rant but then closed it again. The truth was, I wasn’t sorry. I meant every word.
‘Never a truer word spoken,’ he said eventually. ‘It’s why I’m so enthusiastic about Isaac’s plans for the restoration. It’s a tribute to those men and the ones that came before and after and if it’s important to Isaac, it’s important to us.’
Whoever my soul mate was, if even such a thing existed, which I wasn’t convinced of, I hoped that he had as good a heart as Edward Ashington.
Being fake-engaged to him might be an inconvenience when there was a dark-eyed hunk wanting to ask me out but there were definitely worse people I could have been pressed to spend my time with for the summer.
‘Oh! I forgot!’ I said, sitting up a little straighter and veering onto a cheerier subject. ‘Freddy was over the moon at your offer for her to come and stay at the cottage with me. She’s got a couple of things to tie up and can be down the day after tomorrow if that’s all right?’
‘Great news! Sounds perfect.’ Edward seemed genuinely pleased about this. I had a feeling once he saw my bestie, he might want to swap fake fiancées but bearing in mind Isaac was pretty much in love with her just from her picture, he’d have competition.
‘Oh, do come to dinner that night, then. Say you will?’ Penelope asked.
‘Mother. I’m sure Freddy will be tired from travelling and they’ll have plenty to catch up on between themselves.’
‘Oh, yes, yes, of course. But later in the week?’ The light in Penelope’s eyes had died a little.
‘Freds will be fine. She’s got a strong constitution that takes more than a little travelling to throw her but how about lunch the following day? That’s Saturday so we’d have more time then before having to shoot off.’
‘That would be perfect!’ Penelope clapped her hands! ‘Wonderful! Now, neither of you are vegan or anything?’
‘Nope. Both eat whatever’s put in front of us.’
‘Excellent! Shall we say midday?’
‘Perfect.’
From the hallway, a grandfather clock chimed nine.
‘I need to get back and to bed.’
‘I’ll drop you back.’
‘It’s fine. I cycled here. I found an old bike in the shed and gave it a clean-up.’
‘It’s my old one. Hasn’t been used for about twenty years!’ Penelope said, laughing.
‘Waste not, want not.’
‘OK then, well, I’ll see you out at least.’
I said goodbye to Penelope and Edward and I walked out together, down the front wide stone steps to where his Range Rover glinted in the moonlight and my far less glamorous transport leant against the wall.
‘I am sorry if things have been made awkward for you, relationship-wise.’
‘It’s fine, Edward. I’m sure it wouldn’t have worked out anyway. They don’t usually.’
‘What does that mean?’
‘It means there’s a reason why I’m free to pretend to be your fiancée.’
‘Something I find hard to understand.’
I mounted the bike. ‘I’m already “engaged” to you,’ I said, balancing the bike between my legs while I made bunny ears, ‘you don’t have to flatter me when there’s no one around.’
‘I’m not flattering you. I’m saying what I think.’
I looked up at him, the moonlight catching on the aristocratic bone structure and casting a long, solid shadow around his bulk. A smart-arse reply died in my throat at the sincerity on his features.
‘Thank you.’
‘You’re welcome. I’ll see you in a couple of days.’
I waved and pushed myself off, praying to my own god and a couple of others for good measure not to fall off the sodding bike in front of him.