The Hardie Inheritance Read Online Free PDF Page A

something ought to be done,and now, of course, it’s become rather a large and dangerous task. I suspect that I shall continue to feel sentimental about it, and hope that the structure will last my time out. Shall we go down again?’
    â€˜Have you thought any more about allowing me to take some interior shots?’ asked Ellis as they half ran, half slid down the slope.
    Grace came to a halt and turned to face him. For a moment she seemed to be considering what she should say. When she did speak, it was with an honesty which Ellis found as touching as her earlier pride of ownership.
    â€˜You probably realized as soon as I told you that the cook was my mother that we can’t afford the domestic staff needed for a house this size – or, indeed, any staff at all. So I’m afraid the reception rooms, which I imagine are the ones which interest you, are out of use.’
    â€˜I appreciate your candour, Miss Hardie. But an architectural photograph is quite a different matter from the sort of photograph illustrating interior design. It might even be an advantage to me if the rooms are empty.’
    â€˜They’re not empty. Just – well, neglected.’
    â€˜Would you let me take a look?’ he asked. ‘I could promise complete confidentiality.’
    She continued to hesitate. ‘It’s not that we’re ashamed of the way we live,’ she explained. ‘But I do recognize that the house deserves to be better treated. I feel I’m letting it down. Letting your father down, as well. This can’t be how he expected his creation to look.’ She began to walk forward again, her head bowed in thought. ‘The funny thing is that it’s because I couldn’t bear to part with the house that we’re so short of money. In my father’s lifetime, the property was financed by the family wine business. The House of Hardie; you may have heard of it.’
    Ellis nodded. His modest home in London did not require the services of a firm which specialized in filling the cellars of gentlemen of good taste and deep purses, but he had read hisfather’s notes on the family for which Greystones was to be designed. He even knew the names of all the Hardie children who had been born before 1900, and the fact that two of them, David and Kenneth, were twins and would choose to share a large bedroom rather than to sleep separately. From studying those same notes he was even aware that the strong, healthy woman who had just raced him up the hill had once been a sickly child whose chronic ill-health was thought to be caused by Oxford’s marshy setting. It was for her sake that the house had been built on a hill and for her sake, as well, that the tower had been designed to give her an airy bedroom. But none of this had anything to do with her present lack of money. He listened with interest to her explanation.
    â€˜Well, you see, after the war one of my brothers wanted to use Greystones as security for a large loan to set the business on its feet again. Neither of us realized to begin with that the house belonged to me personally. But when I did find out, I refused to let it be put at risk. I’m very fond of Greystones, and I was afraid that if anything went wrong I might lose it. It made my brother very angry. He cut off our income just like that, as a sort of revenge. So I’ve held on to the house, but it does worry me that I’m not keeping it up properly.’
    â€˜There’s some damp on the roof,’ said Ellis, who had noticed the tell-tale signs from the higher viewpoint.
    â€˜I know. It’s all a bit of a worry. There’s enough land to sustain the three of us in a way that suits us, although it might seem odd to other people. But it doesn’t enable us to build up the sort of fund that’s needed for repairs. Still, to answer your question, there’s no reason, since I’ve admitted all that, why I should prevent you from seeing