Legacy of Greyladies Read Online Free PDF Page A

a sad one.
    She wasn’t going to tell Corin about the baby in a letter, though, because she wanted to see his face when he found out. Like her, he very much wanted children.
    And if they had a son, then he could inherit Corin’s family home near Manchester one day. That would make her feel so much better about depriving her husband of his birthright.
    He said he didn’t mind, that what she did at Greyladies was a sacred trust and through it she did a lot of good in the world, but of course it made him sad sometimes to lose his home. She knew him too well for him to be able to hide his feelings from her.
     
    After some thought, Phoebe went into the new part of the house to pass on to Captain Turner what Mrs Pocock had told her.
    ‘Is she sure the fellow was advocating violence?’ the commandant said. ‘Perhaps the good lady misheard.’
    ‘It was Mr Diggan who heard it and he told Mrs Pocock. She’s nobody’s fool and says this Hatterson fellow seems to blame all Germans for losing his leg.’
    The captain glanced down instinctively at his own missing limb. ‘That’s foolish. No, no. The man may shout and complain, but I doubt he’ll actually do anything. Not in a small place like Challerton. Who would support him? They’re a friendly lot in the village, I’ve always found.’
    ‘Most of them are, but one or two families aren’t quite as friendly, and there are other villages and hamlets nearby, not to mention Swindon. If Hatterson’s been talking about it to one person in secret, he must already have found others who agree.’
    ‘Don’t worry. I’ll inform all my staff and we already keep a careful watch on the house and grounds at night.’
    But Phoebe still felt uneasy. She didn’t feel that the commandant was taking the matter seriously enough. She decided to take a good look at Mr Hatterson on Sunday in church, and try to eavesdrop on what he was saying to people in the churchyard afterwards.
    If he continued to urge violence against the internees, she might have to organise something herself, hire some of the village lads, perhaps. No one was going to damage Greyladies if she could help it.
    When she returned to the old part of the house, she told her two maids what Mrs Pocock had reported.
    Cook hesitated and said, ‘I’ve heard my cousin saying something similar. She hates the Germans since her husband was killed. She wasn’t talking about burning down Greyladies, though. What a shocking thing to suggest! I shan’t sleep a wink at night now.’
    That made Phoebe even more worried. She’d told Captain Turner that there were other disaffected people around, and that had immediately been confirmed by her own servant.
    She would speak to him again if she heard so much as a whisper of unrest.

Chapter Three
    As she walked past the church in Nether Bassett, Olivia nearly bumped into the vicar’s wife who was coming from the opposite direction. ‘Oops! I’m sorry, Mrs Simmons. I wasn’t looking where I was going.’
    ‘That’s all right. Excuse me saying so, but you look rather upset, Mrs Harbury. Are you all right?’
    ‘Not really. Does it show that clearly?’
    ‘That you’re angry? I’m afraid it does. Look, why don’t you come in and have a cup of tea? It can help to talk to someone and I never betray a confidence.’
    Olivia hesitated, then followed the vicar’s wife inside. ‘This is a lovely house. I always admire it as I walk past.’
    ‘It’s far too big for the two of us and I wish there were less of it to heat and clean. It took two years of pleading before the church would even put in a gas cooker and gaslights in the main downstairs rooms. I’d just like to see them cook meals on that monster.’ She gestured towards a large, old-fashioned kitchen range. ‘It still heats the water and it keeps the kitchen warm, but that’s all it’s good for.’
    She gestured to a chair. ‘I hope you don’t mind sitting in here? It’s much warmer.’
    ‘I don’t mind at