The Knapthorne Conspiracy by Malcolm Ballard (best english novels for beginners txt) 📕

tilted it back, then moved it back and forth in a circular motion a couple of times to exercise her neck muscles, which were feeling tense. “And I thought things were beginning to work out quite nicely here," she murmured.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

With her mother’s visit only a couple of days away Bella had decided that a cooling-off period would be better as far as she and Cora were concerned. She didn’t want her domestic upsets interfering with what little time she and Maria would have together. After her mother had left, Bella would then go round and see Cora to find out if she was coming back. Hopefully by then the dust would have settled sufficiently to let bygones be bygones so that her housekeeper could resume her duties. But who was to know with someone like Cora Flint? And why had the mention of Ruth’s name had such a disturbing effect on the woman? The more Bella thought about it the less able she was to work but she couldn’t get Cora’s sudden departure out of her mind. Some time later, on Thursday morning, she had gone down to invite Joshua in for coffee but she couldn’t draw him on the subject of Mrs. Flint. It was difficult enough trying to make conversation with him anyway unless it was relevant to his work. Finally she gave it up as a bad job, making an offer to run him home when he had finished. Joshua politely refused stating his intention to walk back across the fields. When he had gone she was left with a distinct feeling of being unsettled and realised the need for some constructive physical activity. The mood she was in meant writing was out of the question. With Cora absent it gave Bella the opportunity to have a good clean round and a tidy up as well as getting Maria’s room ready. She had often found housework to be an excellent therapeutic exercise when faced with some kind of a drama in her life or at those times when she needed to distance herself from her writing and seek inspiration.

Following an early night, when she had gone to bed exhausted but pleased with her day’s work, Bella awoke in a positive frame of mind on Friday morning. Having redirected her mail to the cottage the postman had begun to come quite regularly and Mickey had called in, after breakfast, adding his particular sparkle to her day. Now, as she sat at the kitchen table opening the mail, Bella realised that it was exactly a week ago that she had been so looking forward to Kyle’s visit. Where had the time gone? And what was going through his mind, right now? She hadn’t expected him to call after his amazing departure and she had been proved right. Her thoughts returned to how they had met and come to the cottage after the accident. Then there was the trip to Fordingbridge followed by his disastrous visit. Even with everything that had happened Bella couldn’t deny that there was something about him she found irresistible. A grin came easily as she imagined Jane’s reaction.

“Are you insane, darling, or what?” It prompted Bella to think about messaging her to let her know what had happened but it was still too fresh in her memory to joke about it with her friend. It certainly hadn’t been a joke at the time.

There was nothing of significance in the post and she left the mail on the table to be dealt with later. As she got up to put her mug on the drainer a bird flying past the window drew her eye to the garden and, for an instant, she pictured Joshua there, a broomstick through his sleeves and straw sticking out of his hat. She smiled at the thought then Cora came to mind and Bella wondered how she was feeling. Was there any likelihood that she would come up to Willow Cottage today? Bella doubted it but was beginning to think that, with the way her life was going, anything could happen. By the afternoon the weather had turned nasty and, according to the weather forecast, a slow moving front would be sitting over most of the south-west of the country for the next few days. Bella was probably one of the few people who had greeted the news cheerfully as it would provide her with the perfect opportunity to work uninterrupted over that time. She would not have to feel guilty then when she spent time with her mother.

One thing that she had noticed since being at the cottage was how her phone had stopped ringing or giving notifications. In London it was not unusual to get a stream of messages or e-mails every day from friends or acquaintances but, as soon as she had moved away, it was like a tap had been turned off. Maybe just a case of out of sight, out of mind, she supposed but it didn't concern her greatly. Bella had wanted to create the optimum atmosphere for her writing with as few interruptions as possible. That was the way she had wanted it and, if she were honest, she enjoyed living in the vacuum it had created knowing that it wasn’t going to be a permanent arrangement.

As it turned out, the forecasters had been proved right and the weather was at times over the weekend atrocious, due to high winds and heavy rain. Bella took full advantage of the conditions and, putting all the drama of the past week behind her, lost herself in her work. Late afternoon on Sunday, she had been overtaken by tiredness and knew that she had to give up. Having been at the keyboard until nearly midnight the night before then making an early start that morning Bella was more than satisfied with what she had achieved. As she made her way downstairs to get herself something to eat, it occurred to