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Chapter 27
‘When are you coming to The Potting Shed again to continue with my accounts?’ whispered Lili, handing Abigail a glass of wine. They were standing with all the other members of staff outside the conservatory at Somerville Hall. Abigail took the glass of wine and looked at her sheepishly. She hadn’t been back since that episode when, unbeknown to her at the time, she’d been quite rude to Oliver.
He had subsequently apologised to her, saying that he was the one who had been rude, and that he would be back to The Potting Shed again. Abigail had been relieved to hear it, as she had not wanted to lose Lili a customer. However, she was conscious of the fact that she’d been spending so much time at the Hall working on the estate’s accounts that she hadn’t found the time to return to The Potting Shed over the last three weeksand that she’d neglected her friend.
It wouldn’t be long before her trial period at the Hall ended. Oliver, who hadn’t wanted her there to begin with, was now asking her – or rather demanding in his usual brash, short-tempered way, which she had become accustomed to – when she would make a decision about the permanent contract. It seemed that he now wanted her to stay.
‘I want you to work miracles on my accounts, like you have on theirs,’ Lili whispered in her ear again. ‘I wouldn’t mind a windfall too.’
‘It’s not a windfall, Lili, it’s a tax rebate.’
‘Yes, but it’s paid for refurbishing the conservatory, and I hear they can start work on the roof too.’
Everyone was standing with a glass, ready to toast the newly refurbished conservatory, which had been made possible by Abigail’s diligence and hard work in turning around the accounts at the Hall. She’d discovered that for the past five years, the Somervilles had been overpaying tax, and as a result they’d received a large tax rebate.
Abigail whispered back, ‘I will, I promise. It’s just that over the last few weeks I’ve got a bit caught up in Somerville Hall.’
‘Don’t you mean the Somervilles?’
Abigail threw her a look. ‘I don’t know what you mean.’
Lili raised her eyebrows and cocked her head toward Oliver. ‘I think you do.’
‘Just because we spend a lot of time together, in his study—’
Lili smirked.
Abigail nudged her arm. ‘It’s nothing like that.’
Lili knew they weren’t romantically involved. But she’d seen the way Oliver looked at Abigail. There was definitely something there.
She’d settled into life at the Hall. She’d found out more about the family, through talk she’d overheard among the staff about Oliver and the hurt he carried round in relation to the death of his mother. Unlike easy-going, carefree Joss, Oliver was complicated and taciturn, and yet Abigail saw right through him to the hurt little boy who spent his life feeling indebted to his family for what he perceived he had done – even though what had happened was not his fault. She also noticed a distance between Oliver and his father. Unlike Carys, who appeared to have a close relationship with her father, she got the impression that Oliver had a difficult relationship with Lord Somerville – to say the least.
Lili leaned in and added, ‘I heard that’s not all you’ve been doing.’
‘Yes, I went out with Carys and Oliver to The Anchor Inn for a meal to celebrate the tax windfall.’ Abigail pursed her lips and lowered her voice further. ‘Oh, alright, and he took me on the tour of the house.’ She’d told Oliver, one day, that she’d have liked to join a tour group, to see other parts of the Hall, but felt that because she worked there it seemed a little odd to do that.
Oliver had said to her, ‘Don’t be silly. I’ll take you on the tour myself.’ And that’s how it had happened. The private tour, just her and Oliver, venturing into some parts of the house that weren’t even open to the public.
In between sips of wine, Lili asked, ‘And did you find out anything more about Daphne, on your private tour?’
Abigail wished Lili hadn’t emphasised the wordsprivate tour,but she had actually discovered something unexpected. ‘There were old family photos in little frames on a piano in one of the rooms. I recognised Daphne in one photo from the home movie reels I showed you that I found in the cottage, so I picked it up and asked him who the couple was. Of course I knew it was Daphne in the photo, but I couldn’t just outright ask,who is that man with her and can you tell me more about your late Aunt Daphne?He’d wonder why I was asking and how I knew her name.’
Abigail glanced at Oliver and his sister, who were checking their watches. Everyone was waiting for Lord Somerville to arrive before they could toast the reopening of the conservatory. That wasn’t the only reason they were raising a glass. The staff were there because Abigail and Carys had persuaded Oliver and Lord Somerville to open the conservatory with the café and gardens seven days a week. Not just for the public tour groups to use, but for the use of the staff on their breaks, too.
‘So, did he talk about her?’
‘Oh, yes.’
‘What did he say?’
‘She led an interesting life, married to a colonel in the army. They travelled the world together.’
‘Okay. That explains why she rented out her place. Speaking of which, did he mention the cottage?’
Abigail shook her head. ‘It’s weird, though …’
Lili looked at her. ‘What is?’
