Seb chuckled as the creatures nibbled the grass in a clearing up ahead. Helen pulled him along in the opposite direction so as not to disturb them.
“I’m seeing them more often now the area’s been left to grow wild,” she whispered. “There are more birds too, which means more insects, more habitat. And there’s a wider variety of flowers. Manicured gardens are beautiful to look at, but people’s quest for neatness has such a damaging effect on nature.”
Totally. They’d stepped back in time here. Back to the days ofPride and Prejudice,Robin Hoodand Shakespeare. Which pretty much summed up his visual references of England.
They headed toward the manor, crossing an expanse of lawn which looked like it had been mowed, but not recently. “Do groundsmen still look after the place?”
“Only enough to keep it attractive to buyers. But I haven’t seen or heard anyone here for a while. And most of my correspondence with the estate manager is done by email.”
“Still no buyer?”
“I don’t think so, and long may it stay that way.”
They stopped at the top of the hill and gazed at the manor house in all its fading grandeur.
“Me, Tom and Emma hope the new buyers will turn it back into a home, but that’s unlikely. The best we can expect is that it’ll become an exclusive retreat.Exclusivebeing the operative word. I’d hate for the place to be overrun with loud parties, tour buses and whatnot. This is a tiny piece of England, rewilding itself. That’s so rare these days.”
Helen led him to the back of the house, unlocked a dark heavy door and swiftly disabled the alarm system. They then stepped into a large stone-floored kitchen. A series of sinks lined one side and a long chunky table stood in the middle. Copper pans hung from the whitewashed walls, dusty and dull. Running his hand along the solid wooden counters, Seb could almost see the cooks from days past rolling out dough and plucking game birds.
“The Pendleburys lived here after the war when it was used as a convalescence home for wounded soldiers.” Helen led him to a wide hall painted a deep red. They walked up a dark wooden staircase to a mezzanine floor with doors leading to several different rooms.
“Ada used to play here with the Pendlebury children when she was a girl. She remained close friends with Ruth, the youngest daughter, for decades. All those vintage clothes I have? Ada gave them to me. They belonged to Ruth.”
Helen pushed open a heavy door which revealed a large, high-ceilinged room with tall windows overlooking the front of the building and the same rolling hills that could be seen from the cottage’s garden. “Ruth passed away after a long illness the year before Tom and I moved here. Ada always said we came at the right time. We needed her, and she needed us.”
“Didn’t Ada ever marry?”
“No.” Helen stepped to the window. “She had boyfriends and marriage proposals, but for one reason or another, they all involved her moving away from the cottage. She always said none of these men loved her enough to stay, and she didn’t love them enough to leave.”
They explored the adjoining room where beams of daylight seeped in through the shutters onto dustsheet-covered furniture.
“When Tom and I walked around here with Ada, she used to talk about the parties she attended, and everything came alive for me. I could almost hear the music and clatter of dinner plates. Even smell the food.”
Seb glanced up at the chandeliers above his head. There were a lot of cobwebs, but he saw only the brilliance and sparkle of shiny crystals, heard a string quartet, dancing and laughter.
They made their way back downstairs and out to the terrace, spotting more deer roaming the grounds. Swifts screeched and swooped against the dusky pink sky.
“This place is so … idyllic,” Seb said. “It’s beautiful. So quiet and peaceful.”
Helen wrapped her arms around his waist. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“For liking my surprise.” Her hands slid down to his butt. “Shall we eat now?”
“Actually …” He recognized that look in her eyes. “Lord Clarke wishes to cut straight to dessert.”
Thanks to Alexa’s latest gift—which Seb had been delighted to find Helen wearing under her shorts—desserttook a long, slow, satisfying while. The sun had already begun to set by the time they retrieved their scattered clothes.
Fastening her bra, Helen shot him a knowing look. “A million pounds says you never expected to dothisduring your summer in England.”
“You got me there.” Seb buttoned up his shorts, watching her dress. The way she covered up that slinky body in crappy clothes always did strange things to him as if he alone knew the secrets that lay beneath. “A million bucks says you didn’t expect to do this either.”
“Frolic with an Olympian in the grass?Pfft. I do it all the time.”
Seb grinned. They’d more than frolicked, but he liked the sound of that word. He followed Helen back to the terrace where she’d planned for them to picnic on the wide stone steps that overlooked the vast garden and the symmetrical, bush-lined path that cut through it.
Sitting crossed-legged, Helen helped herself to a sandwich. “When I was small, I’d see places like this on TV or in books but I never thought they were actually real, and as for seeing the countryside, Dad often took us to the local park but that’s as close as we ever got to nature.”
