Sweet Sanctuary Read Online Free PDF

Patch—Punch is his father."
    "And that one?" She looked at the third dog, a spidery object on very thin fluffy legs which had a high, excited yap when it barked.
    "No connection—Poppy came to us from a family who were leaving England and couldn't take her with them. Punch and Patch despise her. She's rather a silly animal, actually. I don't blame them."
    Did he approve of Sylvia's desire to get rid of all the animals who at present inhabited Sanctuary, she wondered, or was he, for all his expressed irritation, secretly quite happy with them?
    The high flint wall which ran around the estate was, she saw, totally enclosing, and the land which lay within it was a considerable area. In the twilight it was hard to see exactly how far the Sanctuary land extended on all sides, but it gave the impression of being a great green park, dotted with trees and the grazing shapes of animals, with the wall appearing and disappearing in the distance.
    "You do have a lot of land," she said, gazing around with a fascinated look. "Is it only used for grazing animals?"
    "At present, yes," he said slowly. "I would like to throw down the walls and add the park to my farm."
    "Farm? You have a farm?"
    "Of course." He looked at her with amusement. "Sanctuary is an estate farm—I have a tenant who farms it. His family have always farmed my land. He would dearly love to have the Sanctuary park land, but while Aunt Elaine lives here he's unlikely to get his wish."
    "Would he graze sheep or cattle on it?"
    "No, this is first-class arable land, or would be if it Was released and properly prepared to take wheat or oats. It's flat and fertile, well drained, and poor old James would be in heaven if he got his hands on it. It lies right in the middle of his farm, you see, cuts his land in half. If I gave it back to him he would be able to double the size of his yield."
    "But the house? That would mean pulling down the house, surely?"
    He shook his head, standing still to point out features of the landscape. "No, see that slope to the lake? We would cut across there, draining the lake, of course, and taking in all that land. Then the house would stand with just a small garden back and front, with a path leading to the main road as it is at present. Most of the park lies in front of the house, luckily."
    "Sanctuary would still be ruined," she said sadly, gazing back through a rising mist to the house. It looked warm and inviting, with its yellow squares of light from the windows, and the small curl of white smoke from the kitchen chimney.
    Nicholas groaned. "Aunt Elaine certainly found the sort of girl she was looking for! I imagine she had to interview half London before she found you!"
    "Well, you need worry no longer. I shall leave tomorrow," she returned with dignity.
    "Look," he said, staring down at her, "will you listen to me first? I need your help even more than my aunt does."
    "You do?" Kate lifted her head to look at him, her brown eyes serious.
    "I'm desperate," he went on, grimacing.
    Desperate for. love of Sylvia? she wondered. Was that what he meant?
    "My fiancée and my aunt are in the middle of an all-out war, and the chief casualty so far has been me! I can't go on living like this, with sniping going on over my head. I've got to force a decision somehow." He bent to smile at her hopefully. "That's where you come in, Kate."
    "I don't want to get involved," she said hastily, turning to go.
    He caught her by the arm. "Please listen to me," he pleaded, his grey eyes fixed on her face.
    She hesitated, feeling angry and alarmed at the same time. Why did she feel so confused and anxious? she asked herself. These people were nothing to her. Let them settle their domestic squabble among themselves. They should not drag outsiders into the affair. It was all childish, anyway. Why couldn't they live together peacefully instead of making all this fuss?
    She started to give Nicholas her views, and he listened eagerly, nodding.
    "Of course, you're right.