Page 13 of Wild Swimming at Croftwood Lake
‘Mmm. Inferior materials. Probably been blown off in a storm. They should have replaced it with lead since this place is listed.’
Archie nodded. ‘We always intended to replace it properly when funds allowed.’
‘You want the whole thing sorted now, or do you want a patch up job?’
‘Whatever you can do that isn’t going to bankrupt me.’
Simon laughed, assuming Archie was joking.
‘And here are the pots you might want to sort before next winter.’ Simon pulled up a photo of the damaged chimney pots on his phone. ‘If you leave them, the rainwater will get in the cracks and they’ll shatter.’
‘That’s rather dramatic.’
Simon shrugged. ‘That’s what happens with terracotta.’
‘If you could let me have a quote for the bare minimum, please. And a separate one for the chimney pots because they might have to wait.’
‘No problem, mate.’
Archie walked Simon back to his van which was parked outside the estate office, waved him off and went to find Seb who was doing something or other in his side of the courtyard.
‘Seb?’
‘Up here!’ Seb was standing on one of the rafters that ran across the roof. The roof space was open and he was planning to turn part of it into a mezzanine.
‘This roof is in better shape than the one at the house, apparently.’
‘Ah, you’ve seen Simon?’ Seb lowered himself down onto the top of a stepladder, which wobbled precariously until he had both feet on it.
‘Yes,’ Archie said glumly, perching on top of an old tea chest. ‘Looks like that’s where the profit from this year’s Christmas market will end up. It’s depressing that I’ve spent the money before we’ve made it.’
‘This Christmas, the market will be bigger and better than last, so at least you have an idea of what to expect.’ Seb sat down on an exercise bike and leant forward on the handlebars, all his attention on Archie. ‘Have you thought any more about opening the house?’
Seb had suggested the idea of opening some rooms in the manor house to the public. There was enormous interest locally, driven partly because during the Second World War it had been planned that the young princesses, Elizabeth and Margaret, would have been sent to the Court if they’d had to evacuate London. There were rumours that all the things that had been sent to prepare for their visit were still stored in the cellars.
‘I haven’t found the right time to ask Mama yet.’ Because he knew what she would say. It would be a firm no. And he didn’t want to share with her how bad the finances were because he didn’t want her to worry. If she knew the truth, she’d give in and allow the public to visit, but he knew she’d see it as a failure on his part as well as a violation of her privacy and something unbecoming of the family name.
‘What about the swimming lake idea?’
‘I went down to the lake and met the woman. Her name is Nora.’
‘And what did she say? Does she know much about it?’
‘I’m not sure I asked,’ Archie said, casting his mind back to his brief conversation with Nora and finding that he couldn’t remember much other than how lovely she’d looked bundled up in her swimming robe, smiling and chatty once she’d realised he hadn’t been about to evict her from the lake. ‘She did say it was a very inviting lake, and she didn’t seem to mind that there are fish in there.’
‘So you didn’t exactly milk her for information.’ Seb said, shaking his head but grinning.
‘It wasn’t the right time. She was about to get in the water and I was holding her up.’
‘It’s your lake and she was trespassing.’
Archie winced. ‘Well, I hardly think it counts as trespassing, Seb. But I take your point. I’ll pop along with Tatty and see her on another morning. She swims every day.’
‘Does she? Perhaps I should come with you armed with a list of questions if it makes you uncomfortable to ask her.’
‘No need,’ Archie said, feeling that Seb’s presence might spoil the moment. Because now that he’d met her, she was forefront in his mind and he wanted to see her again. He certainly didn’t want to scare her away with an interrogation. ‘But if you could give me an idea of what may be useful to ask, I’m happy to.’
‘What’s she like then?’
