Page 49 of Wild Swimming at Croftwood Lake
‘Good idea. We wouldn’t want anything to happen to it. Fancy Nora finding a gem like that in the china room? I never imagined there was anything of any value in there. It’s certainly not catalogued with the valuables.’
‘I can’t help but feel it’s somewhat letting the side down.’ He’d wondered whether Betsy and his mother thought that selling the vase was the smart thing to do, or were agreeing just to bail him out of the hole he was in.
‘Nonsense.’ Constance patted his leg. ‘We can’t live in a museum. The most important thing is to save the house for generations to come. Not every item in it needs to come on that journey.’
‘Thank you, Mama.’
It was a relief to hear that from her. Knowing what his sister was like, he had thought that between him being useless and Betsy erring on the materialistic side, that Constance may have felt pushed into agreeing.
‘You know if you die before Betsy, she’ll sell most of it in one fell swoop.’
Archie let out a roar of laughter. It was absolutely true. Betsy would want the estate and the house but she’d also want the money that went with that, and her husband, despite working in the City, wasn’t keeping her in the way she wanted to become accustomed to. But with her baby daughter Florence likely to be the heir to the Croftwood estate, she’d been much keener lately on having a say. ‘So cynical, Mama.’
His mother pursed her lips, and he could see she was attempting to suppress a smile. ‘I have no illusions where your sister is concerned. Besides, perhaps little Florence won’t inherit.’
‘I can’t imagine why not.’
‘You don’t think things are progressing with Nora?’
It was far too early for them to have discussed this, but Archie felt sure that neither of them planned to be first-time parents in their forties. ‘Not to that degree,’ he said. He imagined that if she had wanted children, it is something that would have happened with Julian.
‘I know I’m old-fashioned, but I would hope a gentleman would not stay the night with a lady without having honourable intentions.’
Archie wasn’t sure what to say to that but stopped himself from saying that yes, it is a rather old-fashioned view and that he was not proposing based on one night spent together. ‘It’s early days.’
‘As long as you understand that integrity and reputation are of the utmost importance. You’re not a young man but that does not mean that the same rules don’t apply just as they did when you were engaged to Clarissa.’
Archie could hardly believe they were having this conversation. ‘Forgive me, Mother, but I will not discuss this with you. As you have pointed out, I am not a young man and am old enough to make decisions about my personal life without any interference.’
Constance harrumphed but said nothing more. Archie’s heart was beating ten to the dozen. It wasn’t often he stood up to his mother but it felt necessary.
‘Just here,’ Constance directed, once they reached Croftwood Park and the entrance closest to the cinema.
Archie wordlessly fetched her bag from the boot, and watched until Constance was safely at the door of the cinema.
After dropping off the vase, he grabbed a quick sandwich in the kitchen with Ursula and Mrs Milton then headed to the estate office to meet the planning officer. When he arrived, Seb was chatting to the chap in the courtyard.
‘Archie, this is Ben Fletcher from the council. Ben, this is Archie, Lord Harrington.’
‘Good to meet you,’ Archie said, shaking Ben’s hand.
‘You too,’ said Ben. ‘Sebastian’s been filling me in on some of your plans. Where would you like to start?’
‘Perhaps you could start in the stables here, and then we’ll take a look at the lake. I’ve found the plans of the estate which might be useful as a reference for that. We can take a quick look at them beforehand.’
Ben seemed interested in Seb’s various ideas for the stable block. He didn’t seem to think there would be any problem securing planning permission for change of use.
‘If you’re thinking about retail, that’s another thing entirely. But workshops or offices are highly likely to be approved. You could even think about holiday accommodation.’
‘That’s interesting,’ said Seb. ‘We haven’t considered that.’
And with good reason, Archie thought. The last thing Constance would sign off on were holiday lets in the grounds. But he smiled and nodded, making a mental note to let Seb know it was a non-starter.
Rather than take Ben into the untidy estate office, which wouldn’t give the impression that they were running a well-organised machine, Archie brought the plans into Seb’s storage area on the pretence of their being more space to spread them out.
‘Before we head to the lake, one of our queries is whether we’re able to reinstate this gate without applying for permission,’ Archie said, pointing out where it was on the plans.
‘It opens onto the highway,’ Ben said uncertainly, ‘but it’s not a main road. ‘As far as I’m concerned, if the gateway is reinstated as it was, it’s unlikely to require permission. If you have any photographs of the old gateway that would be useful. We might want confirmation of what materials are going to be used and then I think we could do that on a planning notice under permitted development.’
