Then he explains: “There was another landscape designer before you. He promised to create a typical Victorian garden, but after three months he gave up because – according to him – the place had been left to die for a hundred years. None of the original topiary or shrubs survive that long and it would take a miracle and a lot of years to make any kind of garden.”
I wish I hadn’t started down this path; he’s already looking at me with the kind of concern you feel for an idiot with grandiose ideas. Someone who plans to freeze himself until science finds a cure for cancer. The way my family used to look at me when I talked about my dreams or showed any big ambition. “Don’t get carried away, Evie,” my mother would say. “Keep your feet onthe ground. You’re not Bill Gates.” And my father would agree. “Go into any old pub and you’ll see some drunk in the corner talking about his big dreams that crashed around him.”
“Evie?” Osian sounds worried. “Are you okay?”
I smile to show him he doesn’t need to worry about me.
I’m better than okay, and I can prove it.
Even if it’s hard to explain.
“With landscape, there’s a…” I search for the right word. “A trace. You can read the ground. For example…” I get up and go to the balustrade. Immediately, he joins me. “Look towards that dip in the terrain at the back. It’s not a valley because the rest of the land is level. I don’t know what it is – might be a river, but it’s quite likely a ha-ha. They used to be very popular in the nineteenth century.”
“Ha-ha?”
“A ha-ha is something to stop deer and other animals from running into your garden. You create a slope downwards”—I sweep my hand down to illustrate—“and it comes to a sharply vertical end, like a retaining wall.”
As I’m talking he finds his phone and Googles the term.
“Sounds like a lot of effort. Why not just build a wall to keep the animals out?”
“Because a wall would obstruct the view. A ha-ha is sunk or recessed fence which is flush with the main level of garden.”
The pictures that come up on his phone are much better than my words at explaining.
If I can see his screen, we’re too close. Close enough for me to smell his shower gel and the coffee on his breath when hespeaks. It’s been years and years since I was in love with him, but there is no need to remind myself of that time. I take a small step sideways away from him.
Better to focus on the gardening talk.
“So you see, that’s a double clue. Because why would they build a ha-ha if not to protect a valuable garden, something too beautiful to allow animals to mess with?”
“And I guess…” He scans the distance. “It’s a triple clue because it means the way they landscaped the rest – on the other side of the ha-ha – was beautiful.” He turns to me, eyes gleaming. The polite, slightly pitying look of before has been replaced with admiration. “Because…?” He pauses, waiting for me to fill in the blanks.
“Exactly. Because they didn’t want it hidden behind a wall,” I answer
How unusual is this man?
Most men don’t give you room to speak – they’re too busy showing off their superior knowledge. And God forbid you should prove them wrong about anything, they crank up the arrogance and start mansplaining as if you’re an idiot.
Osian, though, has this generous modesty. When he’s been put right, he steps back and gives you room.
“How long will it take you to explore?” he asks.
“A few days. Maybe longer. What about you? What are your plans for the south east plot?” My turn to step back and give him room to talk.
“Vegetables,” he says.
“Veg…” I repeat, confused. “As in cabbages and carrots?”
“And fruit. Maybe berries. There are some fruit trees there but I think mostly dead.” He turns away, back to watching the landscape. He doesn’t seem willing to say more.
Surely, it can’t be fruit and veg. He can’t have invested in a place like this just to plant something you find in any kitchen garden.
Unless…
Unless he’s going to create an organic garden. The farm-to-table movement is growing in popularity, with more and more restaurants relying on their own kitchen gardens.
“Are you aiming for the MICHELIN Green Star customers?”
