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

Cora would not be coming but it was good of Joshua to have made his way to the cottage. However, as she approached the lobby, she caught a glimpse of a strange car parked in front of the cottage before she recognised Samuel Handysides waiting at the door.

“I have to be honest,” Bella began, having opened the door and greeted him. “You’re the last person I expected to see on my doorstep. Actually, I thought it might have been Cora or Joshua.” The feeling of excitement she’d experienced since waking up rose to a new level. “Come in!” He accepted the invitation with a smile as she held the door open. When they were both in the lounge, he turned to her and spoke.

“You’ve got your wish, Miss Foxton. I’m ‘ere to talk about Ruth Flint. Ruthy as we all used to call her.” The use of the past tense didn’t escape her. “With what I’ve got to say I thought it best to come up and see you rather than talk at The Lamb.” Bella was still trying to take in the fact that he’d turned up, let alone what he’d come for.

“Would you like to make yourself comfortable, Samuel?” She indicated the settee. “Perhaps a tea or a coffee, first. I could certainly do with one myself!” He could see his visit had taken her by surprise as he realised his mouth was really quite dry.

“Cup o’ tea’ll do me fine, thank you.” With a smile she turned away towards the kitchen as Samuel looked about him, recalling the last time he’d been inside Willow Cottage.

“Been many a long year since I been in ‘ere, I can tell you!” Bella had left the room, though, and hadn’t heard him, her mind too occupied with thoughts of what else he had come to say.

“Where to start, Miss Foxton, that’s the thing, eh? Where to start?” It seemed to Bella that Samuel was thinking out loud rather than speaking to her so she felt no need to respond. She was seated in an armchair opposite her visitor who was perched on the edge of the settee as if he wouldn’t allow himself to get comfortable. He wore slightly shabby-looking fawn trousers and a creamy-coloured sweater which appeared to Bella to be hand-knitted. While waiting for him to start she couldn’t help wondering when he had last bought any new clothes for himself.

“There’s one thing that I needs to know, Miss Foxton, before I goes a-tellin’ you anythin’ about our Ruthy…”

“And that is?” Now that he was here, Bella was impatient to hear what he had to say.

“You’ve got to give me your solemn word that you won’t repeat any of what I tells you to another livin’ soul.” She looked incredulous. “I means it, Miss. Unless you promise me that, you won’t be ‘earin’ anythin’ from me. Now, will you do it for me?” Bella was absolutely nonplussed by the unexpected development but could see no reason not to comply with Samuel’s request. Looking and sounding mystified she did as she had been asked.

“Ok. You have my word. Whatever is said in this room stays between the two of us.”

“And I’ve got your absolute promise on that, ‘ave I?” She nodded, wondering if he wasn’t just playing for time and wishing he’d get on with it. Out of the corner of her eye, she spied Joshua coming up the drive, heading for the side of the house. Samuel nodded, as if to show he was satisfied with her response but was still harbouring doubts about her eventual reaction.

“You are definitely sure, you wants to ‘ear about all this?” One look at her face gave him his answer so, grasping the nettle, he pressed on before she had a chance to reply. “All this around ‘ere was your uncle’s, once upon a time,” Samuel began, staring into the distance as his mind took him back. “Them were good days then. Folk were gettin’ on with their lives, after the war, puttin’ all their ‘ardship an’ troubles behind ‘em, so to speak. Leastways, tryin’ to. Seemed like endless, hot summers, plenty of work and the village were in its heyday, I reckon. No-one ‘ad ‘eard o’ redundancy, unemployment or any of those other fancy words for not ‘avin’ a job. There were plenty o’ kids in the village, then. Lively place, it was.” A wistful look came over him as he scanned through the memory of those times in his mind. Then his face suddenly brightened into a warm smile.

“Your uncle, Lord Easterbrook, would call into The Lamb from time to time. Not often, mind, maybe only once or twice a year but he were a lovely man, a real gent. Never acted like he were the boss. Most everyone round ‘ere liked ‘im.”

“When are you talking about exactly, Samuel? The sixties, the seventies?”

“Oh, the sixties it’d be Miss an' then the seventies, after. We were still struggling a bit for quite some time after the war, then it all seemed to sort o’ come right somehow.” He coughed, the dryness in his mouth beginning to irritate and he reached for his cup of tea. Bella took the opportunity to have a drink, too, as she waited for him to resume.

“We saw a bit more of your father, o’ course,” he said, as he put his cup and saucer back on the table. Bella thought he looked slightly uncomfortable but it could have been her imagination. “You would never ‘ave taken the pair of ‘em for brothers, those two…”

“How do you mean?” Bella interrupted, anxious to know more about Patrick. Samuel gave a hollow laugh.

“Ha! They was so unalike in their ways they might as well ‘ave been from different litters. Your father was known as The Irishman in these parts and more folks were pleased to see him go, when he left after a visit, than ever there was lookin’ forward to his comin’.”

“Why ever was that?” Bella