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The Mist of Time Ch. 01

By: Kezza67



This story was originally posted on another site. As 'A Glimpse Through the Mist of Time' under my other pen name of Texrep. The story is fiction so please do not comment that my characters act illogically, this is fiction. You want reality? Go read a newspaper. This story is my intellectual property and copyright to Kezza67 and Texrep. 

THE MIST OF TIME

The Past is but shadows seen through a Mist

CHAPTER ONE

I had never believed in the theory that something mystical called Fate would guide you through life's pathway. I was a pragmatic, sometimes hard-headed businessman who had built a solid, successful concern buying, renting and selling property. Where I was today had resulted from decisions based upon experience and the opportunity to buy at the right price and sell when circumstances offered a good profit. So why was I here? Looking over these acres of agricultural land that I had bought on little more than a whim; as I contemplated I started to berate myself for ignoring the pragmatism that had guided me up to now and my hopes wilted. Land like this was completely out of my business plan; it was doubtful that the local council would ever grant planning permission for the land; therefore no developer would approach me begging to buy this parcel for far more than I had paid. Yet I was here having bought it and now it seems that unknowingly I have re-purchased the land my family owned almost one hundred years ago!

It started when Brian Morestead came to see me in my office in Bethnal Green. I knew him from deals we had worked on together sometime as partners in a project; sometimes as me being the seller and he the buyer. This time he came as the seller hoping that I would take this land off him. "Daniel. I will be straight with you. I have over-extended and the Inland Revenue are getting heavy over last year's return. I can sort that from reserves but I need cash quite quickly for wages and rents. I have some land up in North Essex. I bought it quite cheaply as a long term project. I have hopes that eventually the land will be zoned for housing. I am happy to pledge that property as collateral if you would advance me the capital I need for running expenses. What do you say?"

"I need some more detail, Brian. Show me this land you want to use as collateral." He got out the land registry maps and the local authority maps and showed me where the parcel was. He then showed me the deeds to the property, proving that he did indeed own the land. The deeds only dated from nineteen forty-eight, which was unusual. He explained that the land had been owned by the Ministry of Defence for many years before that date and a bureaucratic muddle so typical of civil servants resulted in the original deeds being unavailable. Not lost or mislaid, civil servants never lose anything; they file documents in the wrong place or do not have them to hand at this time. They never lose them. The small estate of one hundred and ninety acres was in essence mixed, mainly pastoral land with grazing rights and some arable which Brian told me was rented to local farmers. 

The land was situated about fourteen miles east of Stansted airport. Stansted's single runway is configured north-east to south-west, so the land I was looking at would not be directly under the flight path. It was also equidistant from Stansted and Colchester. Both Stansted and Colchester were within easy commuting distance from London. I had to agree with Brian. The land was ripe for development. It just needed the local authority to agree. With the pressure of Government on local authorities for more housing, that may not be too far in the future. This could be a treasure, but one which would take a few years to unveil. I also had a problem looming with the Inland Revenue. The last year had been good and my accountant, Chad Martin had advised me to tie up some capital in a long-term investment to set against my profits. This bit of land could be just what I needed. I typed a message on my keyboard; my desk top was linked with my secretary's desk top computer. "Brian, I am sorry but I cannot lend you the money."

His face fell and I let him suffer for a few moments before I said. "However, I may be able to take this land for you if we can agree on a reasonable price."

He shook his head. "No, Daniel. I couldn't let it go."

"Ok. I'm sorry I cannot help you."

"Now let's not be too quick here, Daniel. I suppose I could let it go, but I would be looking in the region of two and a quarter million." I pulled a face and waited for a moment. Sure enough my screen showed up with agricultural land values for Essex for purchase and for letting. Tina my secretary was red-hot in more ways than one and she had replied very quickly to my message. Two and a quarter was imagination gone wild. However we had established that Brian would sell. All we needed was to settle the price.

"Given that it is a very long-term investment; and there is doubt that it will ever be zoned for development I couldn't go over one and a half."

Brian spluttered. "Wh...What?"

"Oh come on Brian. I'm doing you a favour here. I am buying what could well turn out to be a pig in a poke."

"Two, then." He offered.

"One and three quarters, and I cannot go over that."

"You're a bastard, Daniel." He reached over the desk and offered his hand. I shook it. Deal done. 

"Tracey" I shouted. The intercom on my desk bleeped. I pressed the key and asked, "Yes?"

"Don't shout at me. We have the intercom; all you have to do is press the key and speak nicely. You know very well my name is Tina, not Tracey. Now what do you want?"

"I want a deed of sale drawn up. I have all the details here."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"I'm doing my nails."

"You're doing your what?"

"You heard. I am doing my nails."

"Why do I employ you?"

"Because I wear short skirts and I have big tits."

"You're a tart."

"And you are a dirty old man."

"You're fired!"

"No I'm not. I was going to come in tomorrow wearing a really short skirt and a top I can fall out of if I'm not careful. So if you fire me you'll never get to see that."

"O.k. You're not fired, you are a wonderful person the sight of who cheers me up every day and fosters my dirty old man thoughts about you. I need this deed of sale done quickly, so could I plead for your help?"

"Oh alright. Bring me the papers and I'll do it."

Most people when buying a property will get their solicitor involved. People in this business do not. We don't like paying a solicitor the huge sum he will want; usually a percentage of the purchase price; to do something quite simple. We buy and sell so often we can do all the necessary searches ourselves. Actually Tina, (yes I do know her name, I call her Tracey and many other names to wind her up.) does all of that. She had worked as a conveyancing clerk for a solicitor before I lured her away. She is quick and accurate and she can move around the internet and the Land Registry site as easily as she moves around her own home. She would make all the searches we needed and it would be done in as little as three days, whereas a solicitor would take a month at least to convince his client that it was very difficult thereby justifying the fees he would charge. As we had signed up with the Registry we can download any documents we need. It took Tina twenty minutes to prepare the deed of sale and made two copies. Brian and I read through the agreement and signed. I gave him a cheque for the amount payable in seven days. That gave me the breathing space to get the Land Registry documents needed. Little things like their records matching the documents that Brian had shown me, and that he was actually the registered owner of the land. 

I was sure that Chad Martin had mentioned that he lived somewhere in that area so I decided that a visit to his office may offer more information. I put my head around the door to Tina's office. "Tracey I am going to see Chad for a moment, so you can get on with your nails."

"Why did you get that intercom when you either shout at me, or put your head round the door?"

"I like looking at you, and if you don't come in tomorrow with the blouse you have promised, you are fired."

"So if I came in topless?"

"You would get a big rise, and I am not just referring to my nether regions."

"You are a disgusting old man!" She told me with a smile on her face.

"See you in a while, Tina."

"Hah! The thought of my tits and your memory is restored."

"Not only my memory."

"Pervert."

"Slut." I left her to her own devices.

I realized shortly after Tina came to work for me that she enjoyed such banter. I also realized that it was just banter. If I had ever made a move on her she would leave and I would lose a very valuable employee. Tina had a nose for research; she knew where to go on the internet for information over and above that which the official sites would reveal. Our banter was a way of making our work enjoyable. I left the office and turned right to walk the couple of hundred yards to Chad's office. When we first met I was surprised that a very clever accountant, as Chad undoubtedly was, would work from this area. Bethnal Green not being the most salubrious area. When he explained that it helped with keeping a low profile and why he wanted a low profile I understood. When I started my business I couldn't afford flashy offices and even when the business became profitable I eschewed the idea of a glamorous location as others such as Brian used. It was an overhead I could do without. Whilst I was not exactly an East End boy; I had grown up in Islington; I knew by rumour the names of some of Chad's clients. He assured me that the majority of his clients were law-abiding and honest as I was. 

That description of my work was amusing in a way, as property speculators, as I described myself were viewed in general as mendacious and manipulative if not actually crooked. I considered myself straightforward. That I was honest and straightforward was down to my mother.

I knew my father only from hearsay. He vanished when I was four. From what I gathered he was one of those men who always had great ideas for a get rich quick scheme. To that end he would borrow money from wherever he could. Unfortunately his schemes never worked and the money he borrowed would not be repaid. When he exhausted the regular sources of funds he approached other sources. His luck didn't change and when his irregular source of funds came pressing for repayment he vanished. Years later I asked my mother if she knew where he was. She shrugged her shoulders and gave me a wry smile. "Drive round the M25." She suggested. "I am sure your dad will be performing a very important job in supporting the foundations of one of those bridges." I was old enough to work out her meaning. It appeared that mum discovered early that her husband would never offer her security. She had bought the house and with the growing knowledge of her husband's schemes she remained adamant, despite my dad's pleading, that she would never allow him to use her property as collateral for his borrowing. When dad vanished she changed her work from part-time to full time. Our next door neighbour became a sort of foster mother to me. She took me in when I came home from school and during school holidays. She was Auntie Flo to me. When I was fourteen mum let me have a key to our house so that I didn't have to bother Auntie Flo, but Auntie Flo always had a meal for me if I turned up at her door. It was as if I had two mothers. Mum died when I was nineteen. Headaches that she had believed were from eye-strain were eventually diagnosed as a brain tumour. It was too late to do anything.

It was mum's acumen that started me on my path. Her estate was the house and an insurance policy that seeded my business. I sold the house, just as Islington was becoming the nest for the chattering classes, those dilettante's who espouse socialist ideals, yet ensure that they are isolated from the effects of socialism. I didn't have any political leanings at that time, but I could smell hypocrisy as well as the next man. The house brought me far more than I believed its value to be. My idea at first was to buy cheap property for rent. I started with four inexpensive terraced houses in Stepney. The rental from those bought me another two houses in the same area. My tenants were mainly immigrants living on Job Seekers allowance and Housing Benefit. I learned as I went. After a small explosion in one of the properties when the tenant tried to interfere with the meter, hoping to get his gas for free, I talked to the contractor who made good the damage. From that day on none of my properties would have gas for cooking or heating. The cost of the frequent examinations by a licensed installer and the regulations imposed by the local and national government would be a constant drain on my income. All gas appliances were taken out and the meter disconnected, then the supply pipe was capped. Electricity was safer with pay as you go meters. 

I tried to be straight with my tenants and asked them to be straight with me. Most were, but there was always the bad'un. If they didn't pay the rent, I gave them two months to catch up the arrears. If they didn't play ball, I descended on them, hopefully when they were out. Their belongings were bagged into black plastic bags and those and their furniture was left on the pavement outside. The locks were changed. Those who were getting Housing Benefit had to sign a release that enabled me to get their benefit paid directly. I could not see any reason why I should subsidize their feckless way of life.

I built my empire up to some sixty houses and the income was such that I looked for other ways to invest. That step came to me when a developer wanted to buy three of my adjacent properties. I was innocent at that time and whilst getting a healthy profit on the properties I learned later that I could have got a lot more. Without my properties his development would stall. I learned that lesson. The trick was squeezing as much out of him as possible without pushing him into adjusting his plans.

One of my investments was commercial property, I owned the building where my office was and the rent paid by the tenant of the shop below my office covered my business rates and the rates on my flat, which was the top floor of the building. I met Chad when we were in competition to buy the freehold of the building where he had his office. I withdrew from the bidding when he offered to take care of my accounts at a low rate. I got on well with him and in time we gradually became friends. I had met his wife, Lily one day when she was there. Lily was a lovely woman after you looked past her disfigured face. It turned out that she was there that day as she had an appointment with the surgeon who had operated on her face.

I pressed the button on the entry system. "Chad, its. Daniel." I called when he asked who was calling. The buzzer sounded and I pushed the door. The stairs began almost immediately and I climbed them to the first floor. Chad had already opened the door.

"It's good to see you, Daniel. Can I get you a coffee?"

"Thanks, Chad. I am here to pump you for information." I followed him into the back room where he put out mugs for coffee.

"Oh?" He filled the kettle.

"Yes. You live up in North Essex, Don't you?"

"Abbess Roding actually. What is your interest?"

"I have just bought a parcel of land up there. It's just north of Braintree and fourteen miles from Stansted. It is an estate called Chetford."

He shook his head. "I can't recall such an estate. Where exactly is it?"

"It's slightly south of Tilbury-juxta-Clare."

Chad's face cleared. "I think I know something about that. If I am right it was a training ground for the Army. When the Colchester barracks was run down the army let it go." He paused and looked at me with a question on his face. "Why have you bought it?

"I think it to be a long term investment. I hope, with good reason, that I will eventually get planning consent for the land. Then I will be able to sell to a developer for much more than I have paid."

"Well for the meantime it will give you something to set against your profits for this year, but I doubt that you will ever get planning consent. The local councils are very strict. I wanted to build a small extension. They turned down the application. A neighbour of ours wanted to erect a conservatory, same story...application refused."

"Oh great! Cheer me up Chad." I changed the topic. "How's Lily?"

"She's fine. She will be going into hospital soon for another operation. They will never get her back to how she was though. We are hoping that they will manage to hide the burns sufficiently for make up to cover the rest."

"What happened, Chad?"

"Long story, Daniel. If Lily wants you to know she will tell you one day."

I finished my coffee and got up to leave. "Thanks for the coffee and information."

"No problem. Next time send Tina down, it's much more fun looking at her than looking at you."

"There are other Accountants, you know."

"Yeah. Try one and see how much more tax you have to pay." We both grinned and I left.

To be continued...

The Mist of Time Ch. 02



Tina was doing her thing when I got back to the office. She had sent off email enquiries to all the relevant authorities and was now sitting at her desk perusing the land registry plan and comparing it with a large scale map she had brought up on the computer. "You know there's a house on this property, don't you?" 

"I wouldn't say a house; I thought it was described as remains."

"Yes, that is there, but here." She pointed. "There is a house, right down at the south east of the land; on the ordnance map it appears to be a separate property but according to the land registry plan it is part of the property."

"Interesting. I wonder if that is rented. Brian didn't say anything about it though."

"I'll get on to the Braintree Council site and check if Council Tax is paid on that house." She hesitated and then went on. "Mr. Morestead said that some of the land is rented, but his plan does not indicate where that land is."

That stopped me in my tracks. "There must be some note, somewhere."

Tina shook her head. "I have looked, Boss. I can't find any reference."

"Bring everything in. Maps, registry plan and deeds. We'll go through together." We did, scouring through all the documents and charts yet found nothing to indicate what land was rented. The only clue came from one of the maps. It had been drawn up by a local estate agency and I assumed they were the managing agency, collecting rents. Perhaps they could throw light on this apparent anomaly. I made a note to write to them letting them know the change of ownership. I noted the river running through part of the property; it was called the Chet; not to be confused with the River Chet in Norfolk. Presumably the estate took its name from the river.

Usually when I bought property I would go and inspect. Having done this for many properties I knew now what to look for. I hadn't planned on going to see this land but now I was intrigued. I checked in my diary and scribbled a note for two days next week. I was intrigued by the lack of history of this property. Usually with old property the deeds will give you enough to go on, but as the Ministry of Defence had created replacement deeds there wasn't any history before nineteen forty-eight. I asked Tina if she could find anything online to fill in the gap. "I've tried, but all I could get is that the army have owned the land since nineteen-fifteen. Before that it is blank." She seemed disappointed for her lack of success; she prided herself on discovering the answer to these little mysteries. She brightened up. "When you are there try the library. They often have local histories which don't get published nationally as they refer just to the local area. You may even find a local historian who will have stuff that hasn't even been published." She smiled cheekily. "Perhaps if you don't have the time, I could come with you and do the research."

"Oh! Do I have to book another room?"

"Yes you do. I couldn't be bothered with a dirty old man slobbering all over me. Ugh!" She shuddered.

"Thanks a lot, Tracey. Actually it's probably a good idea. You can go and do your research amidst those dusty old tomes and I can go and wander about in the clean fresh air."

"You're a cruel man as well as being a dirty old man with a particularly bad memory. It's Tina."

"Book two rooms at the Holiday Inn, make it for two nights, It may take you longer than you think."

"And what will you be doing? May I ask?"

"After looking over the property, I shall be making a call on the planning department to see if I can get some idea of their forward planning."

Tina giggled. "Presumably carrying brown envelopes stuffed with cash?"

"No Tracey. I shall just give them your telephone number."

"Now the dirty old man is trying to pimp me out. Do your talents ever end?"

"That, young lady is something you will never discover."



The drive up to Braintree did not take long. I took the M11 and turned off at Bishops Stortford onto the A120. I wasn't a fast driver but my Volkswagen Passat ate up the miles effortlessly. Tina asked me why I didn't have a more luxurious car. My point was that London was so well served with public transport that having any car was superfluous. Buying and keeping a luxury car was pointless for the few trips I made outside of London. We checked in to the Holiday Inn and immediately I drove Tina to the Library so she could start her research. I then drove north to find my property. It wasn't easy as I had in mind that the property was near Tilbury-juxta-Clare. Actually it was closer to a village called Great Yeldham. I had to ask in Great Yeldham for directions and I was lucky to find a Postal van. I waited until the driver returned to the van and she gave me directions. My road map didn't show the small lanes clearly enough. She pronounced the name as 'Chefford'. I assumed that was the local idiom. I followed her instructions.

She had told me that I would go over the river and the land on the right hand side was the 'Chefford' estate. Having crossed the bridge, the lane started to rise gently. On my right there was a hedgerow of Blackthorn, interspersed with an occasional tree. The Blackthorn was overgrown and needed layering. I was looking for the house that the map showed, however the hedgerow blocked the view completely. The lane levelled out and a turning to the right appeared, I turned into this lane and after driving some thirty yards I could see the house. It was obvious that the Blackthorn hedge had been planted deliberately to preserve privacy. There was the remains of a driveway; I could only turn in for a few yards as there was an iron gate blocking the drive. I stopped the car and got out. I could see the house quite clearly from my position. At first sight it didn't seem to be Victorian. It didn't have that look of an institution, gloomy and forbidding as most Victorian houses. Instead it could have happily fitted in any town in the American Deep South. The feature that gave it that look was the veranda that extended across the front, broken only by the three steps that led up to the front door, and round the southern side. The veranda was wide with a slated roof and a balustrade. It would have been an excellent place to sit on lazy afternoons or long warm evenings. The windows had been boarded at one time, now remnants hung haphazardly and the frames were missing leaving blank openings in the fabric of the house. The door had also been boarded but that boarding had been ripped away all but a few planks and the door itself was long gone. I imagined that itinerants and tramps had done that as they sought somewhere for shelter. Dressed as I was in suit and black shoes I decided not to investigate now, I was sure that inside the house I would encounter nauseous odours and mess on the floors. That adventure was for another day.

Back in the car I reversed out into the lane and continued further. I had not gone too far before another driveway to the right presented itself. The hedges along the land had grown thick and wildly and the drive was little more than a suggestion that once there had been an entrance here. I stopped and got out. There was a vestige of a path through the hedge and I ventured carefully for a few yards before being brought to a halt by iron gates. I was astonished as this was not just a gate; it was an ornate entrance that announced a great house. The pillars stood tall and were surmounted with globes; the gates were at least six feet tall, containing vertical bars. The tops were folded rails highest at the hinge edge sloping down to a small curlicue where the gates met. It declared that passing through these gates took you from the ordinary to the extra-ordinary. The gates were slightly open although when I pushed the left hand gate it would not move; presumably welded by rust to stand slightly agape until time and weather eventually crumbled it to iron oxide. I had no intention of exploring on this trip, I merely wanted to find the place and get a feel of the land. 

I returned to the car and consulted the land registry plan. I noticed that my property extended beyond the stream for a hundred or so yards. I backed up and turned and drove down to the hump-back bridge again. I parked in a gravelled area just before the stream and walked up to the crown of the bridge. The stream didn't appear to be deep, just a matter of twelve inches or so, although from the vegetation on either side I thought it could become quite deep in periods of heavy rain. The map didn't give it a name, although I did think it may be the Chet, lending its name to the estate. I knew not where it rose but I imagined that at some point to the east it would flow into the River Colne. The land to the north of the stream rose to a crest and another hedgerow running along that crest. By comparing with the land registry plan I assumed that was the boundary. I was disheartened as there was no development at all, nor had I seen any signs after leaving Great Yeldham to indicate that development was a possibility. I slumped back into the car and thought. Brian must have known that there was little chance of re-zoning. I smiled a bitter smile. He hadn't actually said the land was ripe for development, I had believed far more than he inferred. I made a mental note to look into who was renting land and under what terms. Maybe there was enough there to pay the costs of the capital. I retraced my steps to Great Yeldham where I had seen a road sign for Braintree. 

In Braintree I found the Council offices and then sought out the planning department. They thoughtfully had put up a map of the area with designated development areas shaded in red for commercial, blue for residential and green for where development was not allowed. There was no sign of red or blue anywhere around Great Yeldham it was all green. I asked if I could see the planning officer. It was always a good idea to cultivate this officer. Often building consent can be granted if the developer was prepared to take on some civil engineering as well; like straightening a road, or making improvements to a road junction. I was wasting my time. There were no plans for any development in the area around the Chetford Estate. I mentioned to him the house on the estate. I wondered if I could do anything like pulling it down and building two or three high-class properties on that land. He looked shocked at the suggestion. That would set a precedent for the area and the Council would not grant planning permission for that. Of course if I were to restore the property, that would be fine, as long as I didn't increase the footprint of the property.

I left the Council offices in a bad mood. I certainly seemed to have bought a pig in a poke. I couldn't blame anyone else, it was my fault entirely. My bad mood persisted as I drove back to the Holiday Inn. I found Tina in the bar. She was far more upbeat than I. Even after telling her of my disappointments of the day she remained upbeat. I would have thought at the least she would be dismayed as I was. But no, she wasn't. "I have found out quite a lot. I had to go to Chelmsford to the Records office. I took a taxi and I have the receipts."

I looked up. "A taxi? You could have gone by train!"

"Taxi was much faster, and you will want to know what I have discovered."

"It had better be good." I grumbled.

"The Estate was owned by the same family for some four hundred years. The last owner was killed in nineteen fifteen in France. He had no descendants and there was a lot of money owing, so the estate was taken by the Inland Revenue in lieu of taxes. That's how the land fell into the hands of the Army. The house was burnt down in the same year and was never re-built. The army used the land as a training ground for the Kitchener volunteers. During the Twenties and thirties it became a training area for the Garrison at Colchester and during the Second World War was used by the parachute regiment and the American Airborne as a drop zone." Tina paused and looked as if she knew a secret and was bursting to tell. "The thing is, Mr. Chandler." She emphasized my name. "The thing is that the name of the family that owned the Chetford Estate was Chandler!" She sat back awaiting my reaction. I think she believed that this fact would excite me, but I remained calm. Tina shot me a look of exasperation. "Don't you find that odd?"

I shook my head. "No Tina. Chandler is not an uncommon name. If you went through the telephone directory you would doubtless find quite a few. Possibly some of them would be related, but having a surname in common doesn't automatically mean that you are related."

"Oh, you are impossible." She declared. "Any way I am going back to the records office tomorrow. There's someone I need to meet. He seems to be the unofficial historian of Essex. Perhaps you should be there as well; it will save me the trouble of making lots of notes and telling you later."

"I may as well. From what I have discovered today there is little chance of any kind of development on that land."

Tina grinned. "Losing our touch, are we?"

I shook my head. "Just remind me in future not to do favours for property speculators up shit creek." 



I then changed the topic. "What's the name of that Pole we use for renovation? I may have a job for him."

"Aleksy. It's the Polish name for Alexander." I perked up. Tina had come back so quickly I wondered if there was something going on. Tina noticed my expression so she continued. "It's none of your business but I have been going out with Aleksy for nearly a year now. He's talking about our getting married."

"And you keep teasing me with your short skirts and plunging necklines."

Tina grinned. "Well I have to keep you interested to keep my job. I have always hoped that the more I flash the more you will pay me."

"I pay you too much as it is."

"Huh! You are a miserly employer."

"And you are an impudent employee."

"Yeh. But you love me really." Tina smiled sweetly and fluttered her eyelashes. "What job do you have for Aleksy?"

"The uninhabited house. If that was thoroughly renovated, I believe I could get quite a lot for it."

"Ok. I'll get him to go and have a look."

"Well, while you are organising everything, just keep in mind that I need to be informed. In fact I think I will come up when he goes to do the inspection."

"Spoilsport!"

I drove us down to Chelmsford the next day. I had no other reason to stay in Braintree. Tina guided me to the library. You couldn't actually go to the records office, but with the right accreditation could access their data from the library. However according to Tina we were going to meet someone who had seemingly total access to the records. She also informed me that this guy was an amateur historian who had published quite a few books on the history of Essex. Mr. Prescott, the historian was waiting for us as we went through the doors to the library. He greeted Tina cheerily, who wouldn't? Then transferring his lap-top to his left hand shook my hand. "Mr. Chandler. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Mr. Prescott. Thank you for sparing us some time."

"Oh, it's no trouble at all. Miss Barker's questions pointed me to another facet of this fascinating county. I have set up in one of the research rooms, shall we go?" 

We followed him along the side gangway, passing the racks of books, thousands of them and all dedicated to history. As we walked Tina muttered to me out of the side of her mouth. "See. He already remembers my name. I have worked for you for three years and you can't."

"He's obviously impressed by you."

"He obviously looks further than the size of my boobs."

"He doesn't know you as well as I do." 

We stopped and Mr. Prescott opened a door, asking us to come in. It was quite a small room dominated by a desk with a computer terminal and a Microfilm viewer. He invited us to sit down and ignoring the terminal and the microfilm viewer, he opened his laptop."Your query has led me into a story with a little bit of mystery. The Chetford estate was held for many years by a family called Dechienne. Sometime after sixteen forty-eight during the Civil war they left for France. It would appear that they were supporters of Charles the First, but not so supportive as to stay and face the parliamentary forces. As with many such estates it was confiscated by Parliament and sold to the family Chandler. They would have been supporters of Cromwell else they would not have been able to buy the estate. After the restoration of the Monarchy they were able to hang on to the estate. Charles the Second had promised not to seek revenge on the people who had benefitted from confiscated estates, but he did get payback in many subtle ways. I would imagine that Charles extracted quite a lot of money from people like the Chandlers with subtle suggestions of preferment. Charles was always short of money and he created many Baronets and Lords. I am not sure what the going rate for a Baronetcy would have been, but I am very certain that the Chandlers came up with the right amount as Charles ennobled the current Chandler.

I cleared my throat. "This is very interesting, but can you throw light on how the estate came into the possession of the military?"

He nodded. "Yes I can, but the reason for that started in the middle eighteen hundreds. The Baronet of that time." He consulted his computer. "Ah! Sir Dennison Chandler." He paused. "I have been struck by the family's quirk of using quite unusual names for their first born son, and their insistence that that name began with a 'D'. Well it appears that Sir Dennison was a bit of a rakehell. He gambled, drank, and from contemporary reports amused himself with ladies of the night. It was also suggested that he sired more than a few illegitimate children. His legitimate son, Sir Dashwood followed in his father's footsteps. He spent a huge amount of money on building another house on the estate. It was called the Dower House, but it seemed from contemporary reports that it was used mostly for parties with his cronies and ladies who, how shall I put it? Were very convivial. The grandson of Dennison, Sir Danbury had a completely different character. He inherited the estate, the house which was in a very dilapidated condition, and a mountain of debt. He inherited in nineteen oh six at the age of twenty-four and set about getting the estate back to profit and trying to pay off the debts. Unfortunately the First World War intervened and Danbury, having joined up was killed at Ypres in nineteen fifteen. He wasn't married so there wasn't an heir, although one of the local papers suggested that he was intending to marry a girl called Arabella Swinson. The estate was claimed in lieu of taxes by the Exchequer and the Army took it over. Shortly after the big house caught fire and was later demolished as it was unsafe. The Baronetcy lapsed as there was no heir." 

I was impressed that Mr. Prescott had been able to gather so much material in such a small time frame. I said something to that extent. He demurred. "Most of this was already available in the records; it was just a matter of getting to the right data. The record office came into possession of the archives of a weekly called the Colchester Gazette, which was founded in eighteen seventy-seven. The staff of the records office have been transferring such archives into computer files. Such information that isn't on computer we can get from the microfilm. Newspapers have been storing their back issues for quite a few years on microfilm. For historians such as I, this has been a tremendous boon." 

"You talk about an estate. I bought approximately one hundred and ninety acres. That isn't an estate, more of a large farm." I suggested.

"In the early eighteen hundreds the holding was some seven hundred acres." Mr. Prescott replied. "When the Dechienne family departed the estate was some fifteen hundred acres. The Chandlers however bought an estate of seven hundred acres; Parliament at that time had many supporters to reward so splitting the estate rewarded two families. I imagine that some of that acreage was sold to fund the dissolute lifestyle of Dennison and Dashwood. I am surprised though that so little was left."




The Mist of Time Ch. 02



Tina had been listening quietly until now when she returned to the question of an heir. "Why no heir? You mentioned illegitimate children; surely one of those could have inherited."

Mr. Prescott nodded thoughtfully. "In certain circumstance an illegitimate son or daughter could inherit if the inheritance was simply assets. However, there was a title involved and no illegitimate issue could inherit a title, and a female could certainly not inherit even if she was legitimate. In any case there was no claim, not surprisingly as claiming the inheritance meant taking on a huge debt." At this point he switched on the Microfilm viewer. He loaded the cassette and started it. Pages of records flashed quickly by until the counter showed where he wanted to be. He scrolled through slowly now until a picture came up. He invited us to come round to his side of the desk. "That is a picture of the Dower House taken in nineteen oh eight." I looked at it with the memory of the house that I had seen yesterday. The semi-derelict house I had seen yesterday was a shadow of the house depicted in this photograph. Even in sepia the house was very much more welcoming than the ruin that it was today. 

Tina interrupted my thoughts. "I have heard the term Dower house quite frequently. Why are so many places called that?"

"It comes from the word dowager. As you know the wife of a deceased Peer is addressed as the Dowager Lady, Countess or Duchess or whatever her title had been. The son who inherited the title was probably already married and his wife would become mistress of the house and take the title displacing the widow who became the Dowager. Having two mistresses in one house is a recipe for disaster, so the Dowager would move to what became known as the Dower house and set up her own household. The Dower House at Chetford was called that although the widow of a Baronet was not entitled to call herself the Dowager Lady. However it served the same purpose." 

"Keeping the peace." I suggested. 

"Just so." Said Mr. Prescott.

"Men!" Spat Tina.

Mr. Prescott flicked through the microfilm and found another photograph. This showed a large house possibly Georgian in essence but altered by Victorian additions. "This was the big house in Nineteen oh one." He said. "As you can see it is well past its best and needed a lot of capital if it was to be restored."

"From the state it is in it would be easier and cheaper to knock it down and re-build." I remarked. 

Mr. Prescott paused with his finger over the key to move to the next photo. "Mr. Chandler. Miss Barker told me that your name and the name of the owners of Chetford is simply coincidence."

"Yes."

"That may be but having met you I somehow doubt that." He replied enigmatically. He pressed the key. The next photo was of the big house again but much closer to the main door. The family and the staff were arrayed in their order of seniority. Mr. Prescott pointed to the head of the family. "That is Danbury Chandler." My breathing stopped, I couldn't say a word and my temperature plummeted. I was looking at a photo of myself!

"Shit!" Tina gasped.

Mr. Prescott waited for the surprise to sink in and I became coherent again. "Names." He said. "Can be coincidence. Chandler is a reasonably common name usually in areas around harbours and ports. It is also true that doppelgangers exist; however doppelgangers with a common surname does suggest a relative connection. Do you know much about your family?" 

I was thinking at high speed and getting precisely nowhere. Somehow I heard his last question and answered. "Very little." I wanted time and space to organize my thoughts. "Who are the other people in the photo, are they family as well?"

"Very unlikely I suspect. From their dress I would suggest they were the staff." He stopped. "It is interesting though. When I first saw this photo yesterday I didn't spot the discrepancy. Now looking at it again I can see it. The house was supposedly quite large, with at least twenty bedrooms, a large dining room, Morning room, Ladies withdrawing room and also a ballroom. With a house that size I would imagine a staff of some two dozen at least, including a Housekeeper and a Butler. The photograph only shows seven people, including Mr. Chandler. I cannot discern a Butler, or a Housekeeper. There are two Footmen so the rest of the staff are housemaids, kitchen maids and presumably, she," he pointed to an older woman with his pen, "would be the cook." He paused for a moment of thought. "This paucity of staff suggests that this was an estate in decline, which we know already. The other significant absence is that there is no other family present. Where are they? My research indicates that there were family. The records are incomplete but I believe there were two sisters, a younger brother and Danbury's mother was supposedly still alive at that time. Curious!"

I was curious too. Not about the numbers of staff, but about this strange physical similarity between Danbury Chandler and me, Daniel Chandler. My thoughts were interrupted by Mr. Prescott asking if I had any documentary evidence pertaining to my family. The only thing left to me by my mother was her marriage certificate.

"Well that could be a start." He remarked. "If you are interested in chasing your heritage, the B.M.D would be the site to go. It will take you some time, but I am certain that you will find something to link you to the Chandlers."

"Sorry. B.M.D.?" I queried.

"Births, Marriages and Deaths. Used to be in Somerset House, where you could register and do your research. Now it's online. However you need to buy credits to search; it could become costly in the end. Try the 1901 or 1911 censuses. They are both online as well."

"I can do that for you." Offered Tina.

I smiled. Yes that would fall into Tina's sphere of excellence. "O.k. Tracey. Of course, if you let all your other work slip, I shall have to dock your wages."

"You call what you pay me wages?"



I turned to Mr. Prescott. "It's very difficult to get decent staff these days. Thank you for your help, Mr. Prescott. I am impressed by how much you have managed to find. How can I show my appreciation?"

"Think nothing of it, Mr. Chandler. I found this very interesting. There is a mystery here and I shall be researching the archives to see it I can resolve it. History can be very dry and uninteresting at times. Stories like this enliven history. If I can get to the bottom of this I may well write another book. It could attract a different market than my usual fare. That is of course if you allow me to use the facts if it does turn out to be your family."

"If that is the case, I doubt I would have any problem with your using the story."

"Good. I shall be delving further. Anything I find I shall let you have, in the meantime if you would give me your email address, I shall send you everything I have discovered to date."

"That's kind of you." 

Tina delved into her handbag and came up with one of my cards. He looked at the name and laughed. "Daniel! Another 'D'. Curiouser and curiouser."



To be continued...



The Mist of Time Ch. 03



There was little point in staying in the area, but we had booked for the two nights, so I suggested that for the rest of the day we went back and Tina could see the land I had bought. Despite my resemblance to Danbury Chandler, I was unconvinced that I had any connection to the Chandlers of Chetford. Tina in her feminine way was certain about the connection, saying "I just know it's your family." Of course that famous feminine intuition ignored facts, or rather the lack of facts. Therefore she was eager to see the Chetford estate.

We returned to the Holiday Inn and I advised Tina to put on something more rugged than her dress. I paid the hotel account and shortly we were ready to go. Now that I knew where we were going the drive took little time. Three quarters of an hour after leaving the hotel I drew up in the gateway to the Dower House. I was wearing jeans and stout shoes and following my advice Tina was also wearing jeans and trainers. I led the way through gorse and brambles until we arrived outside the house. There had been a gravelled area here so the undergrowth was slightly sparser. 

"The door is open." Tina said excitedly. "We could go in."

"Actually if you look closely there isn't a door, probably smashed by itinerants or tramps." I suggested. "There could be mice, rats or even foxes in there."

Tina shuddered. "Perhaps not then." She was examining the fabric of the house. "You know, Boss, it doesn't look that bad when you are close. I would imagine that a house that hadn't been occupied for sixty or so years would look far worse than this. I think you are right. This place could be re-furbished and be quite valuable."

"That's what I was thinking." I agreed. "If Aleksy does a good job without breaking the Bank I reckon this could be worth something in the region of half a million." I felt a little better. That would put something back into the coffers. "Let's see if we can get round the back." Tina didn't reply, she set off at a brisk place and I trailed behind her. Not that that was unpleasant, the sight of her bottom wiggling nicely in her jeans would enliven any walk. Tina seemed eager and soon opened up a gap between us. I could see the path she was taking, but I was also examining the fabric of the house, so I was much slower than her. 

I heard her though when she screamed. "Oh my gawd! Daniel you just have to see this." I had once told her that she could call me Daniel. After all we worked in close proximity, however with feminine obstinacy she usually called me Boss or dirty old man only occasionally using my name. I worked my way round to where she was and saw the reason for her surprise. The veranda had continued around to the back where it burgeoned into a covered patio almost the size of a small ballroom. It was no wonder that Sir Dashwood Chandler bankrupted the family the cost of this house must have been tremendous. As in all other areas there were slates missing from the roof which also sagged where rafters had rotted away. Despite this the value of the house went up with this amenity. Thinking about my investment, a full and detailed restoration with an acre of land, gardens laid out with an eye to privacy this place could sell for nearer a million. That would alleviate some of my misgivings about buying this land in the first place.

My thoughts were interrupted by Tina. "Where is the other house, Daniel?"

"The remains of what was once a house are supposedly up there." I pointed vaguely to the south west. "I presume that is what you meant?"

"Yes. Can we go and look?"

"I suppose so if you want. I imagine there is little to see except some rubble."

"Well it may be interesting."

I looked at the Land registry chart and roughly plotted the position. "It's that way." I pointed. The land rose gradually to a summit some eight hundred yards away. It seemed reasonable that the house would have been at the highest situation in the area. Tina was eager and set off at a brisk pace. I took the walk at a steady pace and was pleased when Tina stopped to catch her breath. The slope was deceptive and steeper than at first appearance. I grinned as I caught up with her. "Tortoise and Hare." I told her.

"Smart Alec." She riposted. However she changed her pace and walked with me. "Have you thought anymore about your family since last night?"

"No, not really. I think this is all a coincidence anyway."

"I'm not so sure, Boss. The name could be coincidence, but when I looked at that photo yesterday I got a weird feeling. If that man had spoken, it would have been your voice I heard."

"You have read too many fairy stories."

"No. I never did read stuff like that. It's just a feeling, call it feminine intuition." I looked at her with a paternal smile. She saw the smile as patronising. "Men! You think you know it all. If you ever allowed your feelings to guide you the world would be a better place."

"I am not going to debate this with you until you come up with something concrete. I'll find that marriage certificate and you can start from there. Facts! Tracey that's what we want."

"Not needed, Boss. I had a quick look at the B.M.D. site. You can trace back with the full name and date of birth. That gives you parentage and you can work back from those. It will take some time I think, but I will come up with the facts. Even then you won't believe whatever I come up with so I shall make it as foolproof as I can. Then you can go and sulk."

The Chandlers had certainly picked a good spot for their home. They had chosen the summit of a low hill with the land sloping away on all sides. Their white Georgian house would have been a feature, seen from quite some distance, making a statement. There was little evidence of the house now. As usual nature had claimed the site almost completely, clothing the ground in the ever durable brambles and nettles. I had read somewhere once that if the nuclear holocaust had wiped out Man, the ants would re-colonise the earth. To that I would add brambles and nettles the ever persistent survivors. There were clues to Chetford House. It was possible to discern lines where vegetation had not prospered, places where roots had not been able to penetrate sufficiently suggesting that beneath the soil there was an obstruction, probably brick and mortar. In the area I thought there would be a forecourt I found some flat granite setts, some lying in situ, others randomly scattered. Tina was off exploring as I had been. Now I stopped and looked down towards the river, the vista I decided would have been superb. What was it that made the Chandlers neglect this house or was the neglect a result of the lack of capital? I had seen enough. "Tina!" I called. She looked up. "Let's get back to the car. I think we have seen all we need for the moment."

"O.k." She called. I walked slowly re-tracing our steps and eventually Tina joined me. "It would have been some house, Daniel. What did Mr. Prescott say? Twenty bedrooms? Who needs twenty bedrooms?"

"I am not certain but I believe that entertaining back then was quite an affair. You gave dinner and a dance for your friends. In this house's heyday they would have probably travelled fifty or sixty miles to be with you, and that would have taken them a day or even two by horse and carriage, no motor cars then. You gave them and their personal servants' accommodation and that would probably be for the weekend. You would need that number of bedrooms."

I could see her understanding of the situation. "Hell! Think of the food they would need, the sheets, pillows, the fires in their rooms, everything. It would cost a fortune."

"Yes it was expensive, but remember it would only happen about twice a year here. The guests, in their turn would become hosts themselves."

I noticed a horse and rider approaching from the west. I was surprised when the rider altered course and rode towards us. The rider was a young woman who obviously rode frequently, dressed as she was in jodhpurs, hacking jacket and a hard hat. She slowed as she came closer and in a haughty tone addressed us. "You probably don't know, but this land is private. The landowners get very upset when people like you decide they can walk wherever they like."

I was quite amused but Tina was not. "An who do yer fink you are missus? Why don't you get down off yer high 'orse and yer might learn sumfink." Tina usually spoke well, denying her east London upbringing, but when she got emotional her roots surfaced. She got back to a semblance of her usual self. "We know the land is private because it is my boss here who owns it. So it is quite possible that it's you, missus who is trespassing." 

The rider flushed pink upon hearing those words. "Oh! So you are Mr. Morestead?" There was a sneering quality in her voice. Something I had heard before when people make assumptions about your business ethics.

I put my hand on Tina's arm. "Put your fangs away, Tina." I turned to the rider. "No. I bought the land from Brian Morestead two weeks ago. My name is Chandler."

"Chandler!" She gasped. "That's strange. Years ago the land was owned by a family of that name. Do you have any connection to?"

I stopped her from going on. "No, the name is a coincidence. As we are introducing ourselves, perhaps you would honour me with your name."

"I am Annabel Swinson. Forgive me for my original attitude."

"No problem, and as far as I am concerned your riding over my land is perfectly o.k." 

"Thank you. Do you have plans for the land?" 

"Difficult to say, really. I am looking at restoring the Dower House, but that is as far as my thinking has gone. I doubt that I will be covering the land with housing if that is your fear."

Miss Swinson smiled. "Not just my fear, there will be quite a few happy faces when they hear that. It would be good to see the Dower House restored though."

"Well we shall see."

She dug her heels into the horse's flank and pulled the rein to the left. "My apologies again, perhaps I shall see you around?"

"Who knows?"

We watched her canter away. "You fancy her." Suggested Tina. 

"I thought she was quite pretty."

"That's what I said. You fancy her." The car was quite warm after sitting in the sun for a while, the air conditioning took care of that and soon we were comfortable as we returned to Bethnal Green and reality.

To be continued...



The Mist of Time Ch. 04



Having been away from the office for two days there was quite a lot of correspondence to deal with. As with everything in this life nowadays, much of the mail was junk. A company offering insurance was typical. They claimed that they could beat all the opposition, although just three months ago when I was looking for a good deal on Landlord Insurance they could have reduced their premiums by a third and would still not be in with a chance. That letter and the other junk were filed in the waste bin. I dealt with most of the genuine mail and sent replies. I could type and understood how to set out a business letter although Tina refused to mail anything that I had written until she had read it through. Only with her approval would mail go out of this office. Today was different. My Pit-Bull Terrier was completely absorbed with the B.M.D. online; so I was able to sneak out some correspondence that was my original concept.

One letter was of great interest. A developer had been given planning consent for a local supermarket. The interest was because six of my houses were slap bang in the middle of the land he wanted. The property had been a tranche I had bought at auction. A Housing Association had got into trouble and the Bank wanted their debt cleared quickly. I bid low to start and stayed in the bidding. I was surprised when the hammer went down on my last bid and I got them at about sixty percent of their market value. Now was my chance to re-fill my coffers. I sent the developer an email suggesting that I might be interested. At this point I was interrupted by a knock on my door. "Come in." I shouted. My visitor was Aleksy. 

"Mr. Chandler. I believe you have some work, yes?"

"How in hell did you imagine that? Did a little bird tell you? Tracey! Coffee for two." I shouted the last words.

"Coffee for three." She yelled back. I shrugged my shoulders; she was obviously intending to sit in on the conversation.

"Sit down." I told Aleksy. "I would like you to look at a property. It hasn't been occupied for quite a few years so I believe it is really a top to bottom job. It's an old Victorian build and will have to be restored sympathetically; else the local planning department will be jumping all over us. Do you think you can do something like that?"

"Yes he can." Tina came in with the coffee and answered the question.

"That's very good Aleksy. You answered that without moving your lips." 

"My English is not too good, Mr. Chandler, so Tina sometime answer for me while I am thinking words to use."

"Your English is perfectly adequate. You know that I have tenants who have no English at all and what is more do not believe they have to learn."

"I would make it a condition for them coming here. They don't come find work; they come live on benefits for life. Your government is stupid to let them in."

"Let's not get into that else I will get into a really bad temper. About this house. Do you think you can help me?"

"I need to look first. See what needs doing. But I am sure I can do something. I took courses in Poland before coming here. I can show you certificates, if you can read Polish. My brother, Stanislaw is good on plumbing and electrics, he too has certificates."

"O.k. I'm convinced. When can you go and look?"

He looked at Tina who for some reason had up to now little to say. "I want to be here for another couple of days to finish this research. We could go on Thursday." She decided.

"Hang on, what's with this 'we' could go. Who is paying your wages? Tracey."

"I will make notes. You will want a full list of what needs doing, won't you?" She gave me a sweet smile, although the tone of her voice was sardonic.

"You had better book a couple of rooms. There appeared to be a good pub in Great Yeldham."

"Who is the second room for?" She teased me, at the same time subtly letting me know that Aleksy was enjoying those wondrous breasts.

"Whatever. I will probably drive up on Friday, just to take a look. Now! Back to work. We need to make money."

The developer had emailed back to me, suggesting we meet to talk. I emailed him inviting him to call on me at my office. My position was that he wants my property; I don't really want to sell, so he has to persuade me with a generous offer. The houses were typical terraced property with three bedrooms. I had a good deal when I bought them, but even then their value was much less. The East End had always been the poor area of London; consequently property values had been low, something that I took advantage of when I started. Now with London becoming short on accommodation, even the East End was enjoying the surge in value of property. Another factor was the horrendous cost of commuting. On the market these days each of these properties would sell for half a million, more if they had been improved. They were bringing me rental income of six hundred and fifty pounds per week each so I needed big bucks to give up that sort of money. My computer sounded a ping. There was an email from the developer. A Mr. Geoffrey Anders would like to call tomorrow. Now that was quick! Perhaps they needed to complete quickly. That gave me a little bit more elbow.

Tina came into my office with a sheaf of papers. "Daniel, your father was Dennis, wasn't he?"

"Yes. Is that as far as you have gone?"

"No, you impatient boss. Your grandfather was a Douglas Chandler and he lived in Colchester. The further you go back the more difficult it becomes. I am getting to the time when documents were hand-written, and some of the handwriting is atrocious. Your dad's father was Douglas. Do you know how many Douglas Chandlers there were? Seventeen! And I have to look at all of them to find which Douglas married Mary. That was your grandmother's name by the way; I got that from your dad's birth certificate. Marriage certificates give you a date of birth but not the parent's names. Douglas was born in nineteen twenty-three so I have look for his birth certificate to find who his parents were. Unless he had a very unusual name I shall probably have to go through more names to find the correct one. Once I have his birth certificate I get his parents names, then I look for their marriage certificate to find out when they were born."

"Thanks Tina. It's weird in a way. Whilst it is axiomatic that I had a grandfather and mother, I had no idea of who they were. Douglas and Mary? Another bloody 'D'. Perhaps I am a descendent of the Chandlers."

"It's looking like. I told you I had that feeling." 

"Right back to business. There is a Geoffrey Anders coming tomorrow to try and buy those houses. I am going to the planning department to look at their plans. Perhaps we should put on some good coffee when he arrives."

"The coffee I make is always good."

"Says you."

All plans are held by the planning department of the local council, and any citizen can see them. I was quite well known at the department as much of my property was in Tower Hamlets. The plans were produced quickly after I signed in and made my request. I was pleased to see why the six houses were important to them as they were slap bang in the middle of the proposed car park entrance and exit. The only other possibility was access from the main road and the Council would not let them do that without re-aligning the main road, for which the developer would have to pay. I returned to my office in a much better frame of mind. I had some other property vacant which I could offer to the displaced tenants, so I wouldn't be throwing them out onto the street.

Geoffrey Anders was the last person who could have shown up to negotiate for my houses. He wore an expensive suit, silk tie and the most highly polished brogue shoes I have ever seen. He was a denizen of Mayfair, Holland Park and The Ivy. I doubted that he had ventured to this part of East London in years. His disdain for my location and office was illustrated in almost everything he said. In essence he thought that my tin pot operation had no right to stand in the way of his company's grandiose plans. He offered me two million for the six houses and blanched when I told him that as those houses were bringing me an income close to thirty thousand pounds per annum, and that I needed a minimum three and a half million, to buy property just to replace that income. I then went on saying that in addition I would need compensation for the loss of income whilst finding and negotiating the purchase of new property. "Let's settle on a nice round figure of four million." I suggested. He said that I hadn't bought at those prices. "The price I paid, Mr. Anders has nothing to do with it. I am looking at the price I will have to pay to replace these properties." He had nowhere to go. I had done my homework, he hadn't. Beside that he needed my property, even at four million it was small beer compared to the works they would have to fund if they had to place their entrance and exit on the main road. I would not budge from my figure and he eventually had to concede. If he had been less patronising I supposed I would have moved a little, but I can't stand arrogant shits who think the world owes them a living. To top it all he didn't get coffee. Tina took an instant dislike to Mr. Anders and took so long making the coffee that he had left before the kettle boiled. 

Tina had listened to our negotiation from her office. I had flicked on the intercom so she got it all. The coffee was finally ready and she brought two cups into my office. "Oily little git!" She exclaimed.

"Hey. That's no way to describe your employer."

She rolled her eyes and looked heavenward for help. "You are a most aggravating boss at times, Mr. Chandler, but you should know that I would never refer to you as an oily little git." She grinned at me. "Possibly dirty old man though."

"Thank you, Tracey." I replied sarcastically.

"You didn't ask me for a letter of intent." Tina accused me.

"No. Didn't you hear? He has to put the deal before his board first. He said we should hear in forty-eight hours." 

She nodded. "O.k. So we have some time to go through what I have discovered about your family."

"Oh. You have found the Douglas connection?"

"Yes. This one was difficult. I was looking for a great grandfather whose name began with a 'D'. Eventually I found a Robert Chandler, who lived in Braintree, married a woman named Ellen and who had a son, Douglas. The dates and location fitted well, but his name threw me. I eventually found that Robert Chandler was born to Adelaide Chandler, father unknown. I believe that Adelaide was the wife of Sir Dashwood Chandler. I have to check that out, but could it be that Sir Dashwood's wife had an illegitimate son. You remember that Mr. Prescott remarked on there being no other family in that photo. Possibly this was the reason."

"Interesting. Anyway are you ready to go up to Great Yeldham tomorrow?"

"Yes, all sorted. We are going up in Aleksy's van, as he has some equipment he will need. He's also talking about some chemicals if he has to delouse and disinfect the house. Are you still going to come up on Friday?"

"Yes, I may as well. After all you now seem more certain than ever that I am a descendant of the Chandlers I may as well look over my ancestral lands." I stopped for a moment and decided to tease Tina. "I wonder if I can get the title restored."

She burst out laughing. "You, Sir Daniel? There would be pork in the sky before that could happen."

To be continued...



The Mist of Time Ch. 05-06



CHAPTER FIVE

With Tina away I had a quiet day that Thursday. I busied myself looking on the internet for any property auctions that may be coming up. These auctions usually offer re-possessed property, where the Bank or Building Society tries to recoup their outstanding debt. They put on a reserve that matches their debt so if they have a property with a debt of say three hundred thousand pounds that's their reserve price, even though the value of the property was much higher. As long as they get their money back they don't care, it's the poor sucker who defaulted on the loan who loses. By law any monies recovered in excess of their debt should go to the defaulter. The bidders are not often able to view the property before the auction, so knowledge of the area and the wording in the description of the property is very important. Terms like 'needing attention' or 'in need of decoration' are danger signs. I had fallen foul of such terms before, believing that the blurb was accurate. I learned the hard way, which is the expensive way. I made notes of a couple of auctions that may be interesting. However I wouldn't confirm my attendance until I had Mr. Ander's money in the bank.

On that Friday I arrived at Chetford just after ten. Aleksy's van was parked outside the front door. He had persuaded the gates to open fully and then obviously ignored the brambles and nettles drove straight through them creating an almost cleared path. I didn't follow suit, but left my car just inside the entrance. I was wearing jeans and heavy boots, yet walked gingerly along the cleared path he had made. I was surprised that the boarding had not been taken off the windows. I couldn't see either Aleksy or Tina, but I heard them as I approached the opening where the front door had been. I heard Tina giggling and her words, "stop that!" followed by a slap.

I called loudly. "I don't pay you to mess around on my time." I waited and shortly a red-faced Tina appeared from the back of the house, followed by a grinning Aleksy. "So! What do you think?" I addressed Aleksy.

His facial expression changed to glum "Lot of work to do." He told me. He indicated the doorways. "No doors, all gone. No windows, same. Stairs very bad. You can get upstairs with care, but rot in stringers and risers, need new staircase. All plumbing gone." He indicated the tiled floor of the entrance hall. "Tiles cracked and many missing. Floorboards in room's o.k. but need sanding, staining and sealing. Wall plaster has to be patched where gas pipes were ripped out. I think we will come up with many more problems as we go, but everything fixable. Depends on how much you want to spend." He had a damp meter in his hand which he slapped against the wall the red light flickered briefly and went out. "Is good. No damp in walls. I have been upstairs but not checked thoroughly yet." He had a morose expression as he spoke. I think he possibly thought it wasn't worth even trying. I however looked at the house from a different aspect. Tenuous it may be but I had a familial attachment to this house.

"Right. Start on a thorough inspection. If you need more time, I will pay you a daily rate. Make a realistic survey and a ball park figure of what it will cost." 

His face cleared. "O.k. Boss. I get started now. Probably need another couple of days here though."

I was about to suggest that they come back next week but Tina whispered in his ear. He nodded. She turned to me. "I am sure we can keep the room at the pub, so if it's all right with you we will stay here over the weekend. I am certain that Aleksy can get his inspection done in another couple of days."

"So I am expected to pay for your dirty weekend?"

Instead of the flippant answer I was expecting she said. "No Daniel. I'll pay for the room. The food's good and the Landlady has provided us with flasks of coffee and a picnic lunch. It's like a little holiday for me."

"That's fine with me. I'll let you get on; I am going to wander up to the ruins. The exercise will do me good. See you in a while."

I couldn't really understand myself. There was nothing up at the top of the gentle rise apart from the merest suggestion of the rubble that a house had been there. That was nothing that impelled me to see them again, yet something did urge me to visit the site once more. Did I expect to hear voices from the past? No! I was a practical businessman who wouldn't be swayed by emotions or my mind playing tricks to divert from my course. Yet some emotion I couldn't understand was directing my steps up the slope to what?

I didn't stay too long amongst the rubble. There were no answers here, that is, if I was seeking answers anyway. However the exercise was good and other ideas played in my mind. I didn't hear the voices.

"Is that him?"

"I don't really know. Adelaide."

"It must be, Rupert. If I did not know better I would believe I was seeing Danbury. It must be him."

CHAPTER SIX

I started to descend the slope back to the Dower House. The drumming of horse's hooves alerted me to take more notice of my surroundings. It was that woman. I stopped, startled. What name did she give me, Annabel, Annabel...then it came to me. Swinson! She was galloping the horse across the turf, clods flying from the horse's hooves. She must have noticed me as she turned the horse's head and headed in my direction. I waited as she brought the horse down from its gallop to walking pace, turning into wide circles to calm the beast. The horse seemed unhappy not to be galloping, shaking its head and pawing the ground. She leaned forward in the saddle and patted the horse's neck. "Come on, Drummond, there's a good boy." Her voice was soft and soothing and slowly the horse, Drummond? Calmed. Miss Swinson turned her head to me. "Good morning, Mr. Chandler."

"Good morning, Miss Swinson."

"Annabel."

"Ok. Good morning Annabel. I am Daniel."

"Daniel? A 'D'! From gossip it seems that all the Chandler males were given a name beginning with 'D'. Are you sure you are not part of the family?"

"Yes. Well no, I mean yes. It seems that I am related. A rather tenuous link though."

"How tenuous?"

"I believe that I am the great grandson of Robert Chandler."

"I have never heard of Robert. Who was he?"

"An illegitimate son of Lady Chandler, Dashwood's wife."

"Wow! That must have caused some ructions."

"I would imagine you are right." We both smiled. "While we are talking ancestry, would you be related to Arabella Swinson?"

"Good Grief! You have done your research. Arabella was my great, great aunt. I may have left out a great. I believe she was engaged to Danbury Chandler, but he was killed in the First World War. She never married."

Of course I knew this, from Mr. Prescott. "I have just been up to the summit. They certainly knew the best place to build their house. It's a tremendous view from there."

"You are not thinking of building there?"

"No. I am having a survey done to see what work is needed in the Dower House. Apart from that, the land will be untouched. You can ride your horse as often as you wish."

"Thank you, kind sir. Perhaps you will take to the saddle as well. It would be good to have someone to ride out with."

"I don't think so, Annabel. I am a Londoner. Horses are for the Royal Artillery or the Life Guards. For anything else Londoner's take the bus or the tube."

"No buses or trains around here I'm afraid." She tightened the reins and Drummond raised his head. "We will have to work on you and turn you into the landed gentry."

"You can try."

Annabel said nothing, just smiled and flicked the reins. She gave me a smile and a wave and was off. I watched her ride away. It would be very pleasant to spend time in her company, even if that meant having to ride a horse. Perhaps I should take riding lessons just in case.

When I got back to the Dower House, I surprised Tina and Aleksy sitting on what remained of the front veranda, sipping coffee. The thermos flask was near to Tina's hand. She looked up. "Crikey, Boss. I thought you would be up there for an hour or two. You have only been away for thirty minutes. Oh! And we clocked you talking to Miss Swinson. Getting on nicely are we?" She had a cheeky smile on her face. Thirty minutes? I thought I had been there for at least an hour and a half. I looked at my watch. She was right. I had only been there for thirty minutes.

"It would seem that you two are the ones getting on nicely. I am paying for an inspection, not for coffee breaks."

Aleksy made a move to get up, but Tina laid her hand on his arm. "He's joking, Aleksy." She smiled sweetly at me. "Would you like coffee?"

"Yes please." 

Tina found another cup and poured coffee. Aleksy was looking uncomfortable. "What's the problem, Aleksy?" I asked.

"It's going to take a lot of work, Boss. Much money too if I am not mistaken."

"Well that's why I asked you to do the survey. I am happy to fund the job as long as it doesn't get to silly money. I like the house and I think it's worth restoring."

"I will do that and I'll give you two estimates. One is for a good job and the other will be for the right job."

I understood what he was saying. "Aleksy. You said you didn't speak English well. The nuance in that statement would go past many who claim to speak English."

"Tina is good teacher."

"I'll bet." Tina glared at me for a moment and then smiled.

There was little else I could do so I decided to return to the office. "I'll leave you two to get on, or get it on more likely."

Tina poked her tongue at me. "Well don't let your imagination get too vivid, or you will have an accident on the way."

"Huh!"

On my journey home I reviewed the strands of the past which were being revealed and my possible familial connection to them. I pondered this question for some time when the possible answer hit me as I was turning into Old Street. I remembered something that Tina had mentioned while she was researching my family. She had mentioned that Censuses from 1851 through to 1911 were available online. I would be able to see who resided at Chetford House and probably find where Lady Chandler had gone when she left the house.

To be continued...



The Mist of Time Ch. 07-08



CHAPTER SEVEN



There was work to do first. I needed to make money before I could spend it, and I recognised that restoring the Dower House was going to take a big hit on my finances. There was no email or snail mail from Mr. Anders; that was no cause for concern as looking at it realistically it was too early for their acceptance. However I did have enough on my desk to keep me occupied until the early evening. I went upstairs to my flat and put together a meal, so it was getting close to eight o' clock in the evening when I came down and started looking. Of course the censuses are public records yet the authorities will not allow the taxpayer to view without taking some money off you. I bought sufficient credits for the records I thought to see. I checked the 1911 census first even though I was fairly certain that I knew what it would reveal. This actually helped as I learned how to navigate around the system. There were no surprises there. The census is a spotlight on just one day. The data records who was residing at the address on the day in question. If you have the actual address it makes it easy, I wondered how much a researcher would have to pay if you don't know the actual address as your credits get eaten up with each click on a name. Those recorded may be family, servants or visitors staying. 

In 1911 Sir Danbury Chandler and seven staff were recorded. One was recorded as Footman, one as Cook and the other five, all female were recorded as housemaids. There were no surprises there. The census required a brief notation of the employment of each person listed. Sir Danbury had written 'Land-owner'. It wouldn't mean much nowadays but then land-owners were considered wealthy and owning land even with an Estate Manager would take up much of the land-owners time. 

I moved on to the 1901 census. The head of the house was Sir Dashwood Chandler; Danbury was recorded and described as Lieutenant, Essex Regiment. It was there that the family listing stopped the remainder being Butler, Footmen, Housemaids, Cook and Kitchen maid. There were in all sixteen servants to look after two men! This suggested that Danbury's mother had quit the house before 1901. 

The 1891 census was interesting. Sir Dashwood (Land-owner) was listed first followed by Lady Adelaide Chandler (wife). Next to be listed was Danbury Chandler (son) and then Rose Chandler (daughter), both being described as students. The servants were listed next, all eighteen of them and right after the kitchen maid came Robert Chandler, infant. Evidently Lady Chandler's illegitimate son was ranked less than the kitchen maid. However, what I had found seemed to fit in with Mr. Prescott's discovery. I returned to the 1901 census and typed in Adelaide Chandler with the address simply Braintree. There were two. I wasted five credits by picking the wrong Adelaide Chandler. I doubted that Lady Adelaide would be working as a milk maid. It was the second entry where I found her. Adelaide was evidently living with her widowed father together with Robert. Obviously he loved his daughter. Not many fathers at that time would take in their married daughter, an adulterous daughter with an illegitimate son. Perhaps the stories of Dashwood Chandler's debauchery had shocked him sufficiently for him to disregard the tenets of Victorian propriety. After all the new King Edward seemed to be on the path of making adultery fashionable. The address was given as Upton Lodge, Pod's Brook Road. I looked on the street map of Braintree without success. Pod's Brook Road was there but truncated when the A120 relief road was built. It was a fair bet that Upton Lodge had vanished under concrete when that work was undertaken.

I was pleased with the result. I leaned back in my chair stretching my back muscles. Looking at my watch I was surprised to see the time was eleven-thirty. I printed off the documents then closed down the printer and the computer. It was time for bed.

I had mail on that Saturday morning. One was snail mail from Mr. Anders, a confirmation that the price had been accepted and their intent to buy. The other was from Mr. Prescott. His research mirrored mine, although he used Church records as well, confirming that Lady Adelaide had indeed moved to Upton Lodge in 1896. He had found Rose too. She was married in 1895. She moved with her husband to North Wales. Mr. Prescott had also found another daughter, Alice. Born in 1888 she lived for just six months. A scurrilous report in The Colchester Gazette said local rumour had it that she died shortly after Sir Dashwood had shaken her to stop her crying. If that was true it explained quite easily the hatred for Sir Dashwood. The Colchester Gazette had covered itself by saying that 'this journal could not contemplate of Sir Dashwood having acted as rumour suggested'. I emailed Mr. Prescott and thanked him for his work. I also advised him of Tina's research, telling him that it did appear that I was the great grandson of Robert Chandler.

My interest now turned to Arabella Swinson. Tina had said once that you can find people just by doing a search with their name. I typed Arabella Swinson and hit the key. I didn't get Arabella, but I did get a lot about a guy called George Swinson. Wikipedia had a small article on him and a biography mentioned a daughter, Arabella. Right time, right area, I was motoring! It mentioned that he was a pioneering Grocer. There were other hits on him. First his obituary from 1919 then an article published in 'The Grocer' a trade periodical. The article was from September issue of 1952. It appeared that George Swinson was indeed an pioneer. He opened a shop in 1878 in Ipswich. His policy was best prices for money on the counter. One story about him had given gossips food for months. One of the local Gentry had sent down a footman with a long list of needs. George fulfilled the list, packed them neatly in a number of large bags and then presented his reckoning. The Footman told him to send in his account. George immediately took all the packages and set them down behind the counter. The Footman cried indignantly that they were his Mistress's goods. George replied they would be when she paid for them in full. It appeared that the particular Lady had a reputation of ordering goods from the local businesses yet delayed paying their accounts for weeks if not months. This incident brought George some celebrity and quite a lot of business from those who applauded his little victory over this high-born, but arrogant Lady. His policy enabled him to prosper. In 1884 he had five shops, and in 1898 he had seventeen.

In 1897 he installed a refrigerated cool store in one of his shops. Butters, fats and bacon have a short shelf life and the normal way of extending that life was marble shelves and ice. The refrigeration proved very successful cutting waste by at least forty percent in the warm summers. Soon the majority of his shops had similar equipment. 

After George died in 1919 the business was placed in the hands of his nephew, David. Swinson Grocers maintained a steady, if unexciting trade through the twenties, thirties and into the forties. In 1952 with the death of David the Swinson chain was sold to another grocery chain that was expanding quickly, Tesco! Not much of a surprise there!

The article mentioned the house he bought in 1901. It was called Meadowlea. I immediately searched through the maps that Tina had collected of the area. I found Meadowlea approximately three miles from Chetford. I assumed that the property was still in the hands of the Swinson family and also that David may well be the grandfather of Annabel Swinson. I would ask her when next we met. That thought stopped my reverie. I had not really thought about meeting her again, yet the idea of a meet engendered a rather warm feeling.

Monday brought Tina with a long list of damage and repairs needed for the Dower House. "I think, Daniel that it going to cost quite a lot to get it back to good condition, but if you want my opinion it is worth it. It's a lovely house."

"Thank you, Teresa. Your opinion has been noted. How was your weekend?"

"I can't tell you as it would excite you too much. Dirty old men have to worry about their hearts you know."

"I wasn't asking about your bedtime activities."

"Nor was I, Boss. We christened most of the rooms if that is what you want to hear."

"I can only guess what you mean by 'christened'." I replied dourly.

"You may think whatever you wish, but I could not possibly comment." She smiled sweetly at me. "I think coffee is needed. Then we can go through the list. Aleksy will call a bit later when he's worked out a rough estimate."

"A rough estimate for a rough job I suppose." I commented flippantly.

A very angry Tina replied. "No. It will be a bloody good job and he will ask you for far less than he should. For some reason he likes you."

"Tina! I was being flippant."

She was mollified somewhat. "I'll get the coffee."



The list was long and I could see that there was a lot of work to do. However we could not make decisions until Aleksy came in with his rough estimates. Even then they would be subject to re-assessment as decisions were made. Without his input there was little we could do and I turned the topic to work again. With Anders intent to buy I could start looking at replacements for the six houses I was selling. I logged on to the web-site of the auctioneers and indicated my intent to bid. Shortly after I got an email listing the properties on offer. The first auction was in three days time so I had just enough time to go and look at the houses that would fit in to my portfolio. Tina made a good suggestion. "Aleksy has some time tomorrow, why not take him with you. Four eyes are better than two."

"I'll ask him." I liked the suggestion.

"I'll tell him." She said. I made no reply, merely wondering if Aleksy knew what sort of woman he was taking on.



CHAPTER EIGHT



Authors note: In the description later in this chapter I use British terms for the floor plan, i.e. Ground floor and first floor. American usage would have those as first and second floor.

Whatever I wondered it seemed that Aleksy was very happy with Tina. I knew when he arrived as I heard the door, yet there was quite a few minutes before Tina, blushing profusely brought him into my office. "I'll make some coffee." She said.

"And wipe your face." I told her.

"Why?"

I delivered my punch-line. "You have a big smile on it."

"Oh you!" She blushed a little more and left. 

Aleksy seemed to be confused by this exchange. "Don't worry, Aleksy. It's just our banter." I told him. "Tina will explain it later." 

He nodded accepting my explanation. "Is good house." He started. "Walls strong and no damp. Roof o.k., needs some new slates and ridge tiles re-setting. Most Roof timbers good a couple need re-placing. Floors upstairs good, just needing sanding and staining. Stairs have rot, need replacing."

"Why is that?" I interrupted him. "If the floors upstairs are o.k., why just the stairs?"

"I think robbers caused that. They ripped out the water pipes without turning off water. Pipes were all Lead. Water cascaded down stairs; I think reason why the hall tiles have lifted. Same with electrics, all Copper when they were installed."

"I see."

"Windows, doors all gone. They would be good seasoned timber. If you restore old house somewhere else, better to take doors and windows and not pay. Good timber and right style. Probably bloody Rumanians."

"You don't like the Rumanians?"

"No. Poles come to work. Rumanians and Albanians come to thieve." 

So much for our wonderful European Union. How can you make a union of people who in essence distrust other nationalities and in some cases actually hate. Bureaucrats molly-coddled and wrapped in cotton wool in Brussels or Strasbourg need to get out and see the damage their ill-thought policies create. However I did not believe that Rumanians and Albanians are more criminally inclined than any other nationality. Tina came in with the coffee taking my mind away from the idiocy of the E.U. "You have started without me." She accused.

"No. Not really. Aleksy was reminding me of what he said when I came down on Friday."

"Yes, I am sure." She accepted my explanation with some doubt. "I've been thinking."

I groaned. "Tracey! It's my business. I do the thinking and when I have thought you make it happen."

"Yes I do. Even when your thinking is total rubbish."

"You're fired."

"Ok. Now you won't find out what I was thinking."

"Tell me then, and if it is a silly idea I shall fire you after I have heard it."

She turned to Aleksy. "See what I have to put up with. He is the most obstinate and rude dirty old man. Why I stay here I do not know." Aleksy wisely said nothing.

Tina raised her cup to her lips all the time giving me a look that should have shrivelled me. However I was used to those looks and just smiled. "It could be a lovely house, Daniel." She was in mollifying mood. "When Aleksy has done, I don't think you should sell or rent the house. I think we should move the business there. You can live in the house and Aleksy and I will find somewhere near to live. There is so much room in the place that you can have a really good office and still have plenty of room to rattle around. If needed we can get back down here in about an hour and a half."



I sat back in my chair and sipped at my coffee making her think I was ruminating on her idea. Actually the same thought had occurred to me over the weekend. I was thirty-two and it was time I put down roots somewhere. The Chetford estate would be ideal. Eventually I put her out of her misery. "I do believe that your thought has some merit." The smile on her face was instant. "But before I make that decision I shall have to see if I can operate in that area as well as here."

Tina nodded her head wisely. "Good thought. I shall do some research and see what property prices are like in places like Chelmsford, Colchester and Ipswich. Also what kind of rents you can get." She stopped and smiled. "I take it I am not fired then?"

"Not this time." I turned to Aleksy. "Right, Aleksy. You have done the survey; tell me what the bottom line is. What will it cost me and can you do the work?"

"I can do work, Mr. Chandler. Estimate for making the place structurally sound...in region of fifty thousand. That's all exterior and interior work. New doors and windows included."

I saw Tina's face of thunder. "Aleksy. I am a businessman. You should be a businessman also. Tina told me that you would under-estimate. If I accept that I will have a secretary who hates me. Now tell me the true price."

"Is good price. I will have work for three months. You good boss. I am happy."

"I'm not. If you re-submit an estimate of seventy thousand I would accept that. Aleksy, when I negotiate I always leave something on the table for the other man. You never know when you will want a favour from him." I glanced at Tina from the corner of my eyes. She was happy.



Many businessmen, more hard-headed than I would say I was stupid but in my mind I had budgeted for seventy thousand. Perhaps later I may regret my attitude. The important thing for me was that I had already made my mind up to live in the Dower House. I will let Tina believe she planted the idea. The Chetford estate was my heritage. My family hitherto had been just my mother and a father who I had never known. People who had known both parents, their grandparents and even possibly their great grandparents would have little idea of the importance kids like me set upon finding the family they had never known. I was not just conjured out of thin air, I had suddenly found this heritage and I would cherish that heritage. Luckily I was able to spend the money to bring it back to life. I could and I would bring that house back to life.



They had not wasted their time over the weekend. Tina produced a plan of the house. I was impressed as detailed measurements of all the rooms were noted on the plan. The house was configured east to west, the front facing east and the back where the covered patio was to the west. The reception hall ran from the front door to the largest ground floor room which gave access to the patio. On the left side of the foyer were two large rooms which we decided would have been the drawing room and the sitting room. The sitting room occupied the corner of the south and west side of the house. To the right side of the foyer was another large room on the frontage, then a corridor which bisected that front room from the large room on the back. The corridor led to two smaller rooms on the north face which we considered would have been the kitchen cum scullery and servant's hall. The stairs were on the right side of the foyer and finished on a balcony overlooking the foyer. There was a walkway with a balustrade around the first floor giving access to all rooms and a large space at the front which could be used as another lounge. There were nine rooms on the first floor, two of which Aleksy had decided had been bathrooms. The other seven may have been bedrooms. There were two small rooms built in to the roof space. Access to those rooms was only possible using a narrow steep staircase that originated in the servants hall, although there was a landing on the first floor giving access through a door to the bedrooms there. 



Having studied this plan we got down to serious discussion. Our conversation was mainly of basics although Aleksy brought up the problem of the decorated cornicing in the downstairs rooms. Much of it had been broken away at some time and he was worried as neither he or his brother could do that work properly. "If we have to get an expert in that will be big cost. I have idea, Boss, but you may not like it."

"Go on. Run it past me."

"The ceilings of the rooms are at nine feet. My idea is to put in a false ceiling at seven and half feet. Then you can put in flush ceiling lights if you want, and it gives space for running electrics and plumbing for central heating."

"I like that." I turned to Tina. "Do you like that?"

Of course Tina liked it. "What will you do about heating, Daniel? It has these huge fireplaces, but I doubt that they will keep the rooms warm."

"That can wait. If Aleksy puts in a false ceilings at least we have the option. There is something that I want to ask, though. If I go ahead with Tina's suggestion of living there I won't want seven bedrooms. Could you turn seven bedrooms into say three self-contained suites?"

"Should not be problem." He replied.

"Good. When can you start, Aleksy?"

"Need to work out quantities first. Go up Wednesday with my brother and work that out, then start in ten days. I get crew for work."

"Going up and back everyday will be a pain." I suggested.

"No. Got big caravan. Take that up and sleep in that. Get six men in easily."

"They will want to be paid weekly. I'll get Tina to come up every Friday with the cash. Will that do?"

"Cheque will be fine. Men are self-employed, but everyone pays taxes." He must have seen my eyebrows lift so he went on. "We come here to England and work hard for good life. Getting prison and possibly deported for not paying tax is stupid. We pay tax." 

Tina seemed quite happy with the arrangement. I suspected that she will be staying for the weekend; not in the caravan but at the pub.



The following day Aleksy came up the stairs early. "You want to go look at houses, Boss." I was surprised as I had forgotten to mention my intention yesterday. Once we got on the way I thanked Aleksy for helping me and apologised that I hadn't mentioned it. "No problem, Boss. Tina told me last night." I did wonder if Tina had asked him or told him. We couldn't go in the houses but a brief examination from the outside gave me sufficient information. Householders who don't maintain the outside do not look after the inside. A maxim not always right, but right often enough make a decision. Aleksy stopped me one occasion when I thought the house was worth bidding for. "Look at roof, Boss. The ridge is sagging." He was right. I would have had to spend a lot putting that right. At the end of the day I decided that none of the properties were worth bidding high. If I could get one or two at a knock-down price I would go for it. Otherwise I would pull out of the bidding early. These properties were re-possessions, why the beneficial owner had allowed them to get in this condition I didn't know. 




The Mist of Time Ch. 07-08



When I got back to the office, Tina presented me with the results of her research. First the Chetford Estate. One hundred and twenty acres were supposedly rented to local farmers at £85 per acre per calendar month. Agricultural rents were paid quarterly. So there should be an income of £30,600 every quarter. If Brian was receiving that sort of income how in hell had in got into difficulties? Tina had sent a letter to the Agency that handled the rental advising the change of ownership, but as yet had not had a reply. An acknowledgement would have been businesslike. The Agency did not realize that their attitude was eroding their chance of keeping my business. Actually they would lose the business if I moved my business as we; well Tina could handle this aspect without any trouble. 

The second result of her research was that in places like Chelmsford, Colchester, Ipswich and Lowestoft there were opportunities for my business. If I made the decision I could maintain my position in East London and expand my portfolio in these places. Food for thought indeed.

To be continued...



The Mist of Time Ch. 09-10



CHAPTER NINE

I attended the first auction. It was interesting looking around the room; I recognised some of the bidders and acknowledged them with a nod. I also recognised new faces. It was quite easy to tell who was new in the business. They had that eager look, constantly consulting the list of properties and when the bidding started flourishing their bidding number ostentatiously as if they would be overlooked by the auctioneer. I hung back, watching, who was bidding and how quickly the bids mounted. When I did enter the bidding for a property I watched to see who was bidding against me and how determined they were. When the signs were right I would stay in, when I saw someone who would go to the wire to get a property I dropped out. I was there to buy cheaply. I left the auction without buying; I just wasn't hungry enough to go to the lengths others would venture to obtain any of these properties. Perhaps the experience was telling me that it was time to dive in another pool.

I didn't go up to Chetford for three weeks, although Tina kept me up to date on what was going on. She would come to the office late on those Monday mornings, tired but happy. I advised her to let Aleksy get some sleep. "If my builder is so tired out perhaps he will not do a good job for me."

"Huh!" She shot back at me. "Tell Aleksy. It is he who stops me getting sleep most of the night." She went off to make some coffee.

"Make it strong." I yelled at her back as she left my office. She ignored me.

When she came back with the coffee I handed her a letter from the estate agency. It acknowledged my ownership of the Chetford estate and attached was a cheque for rent payable for the time I had owned the estate. I let Tina work it out and watched as her face became first puzzled and then darkened with anger. "What's going on here?" She asked rhetorically. She picked up my calculator and tapped in a couple of figures. "This is crap! They have sent us a cheque for the five weeks you have owned the estate. That should be eleven thousand, seven hundred and sixty nine pounds. Their cheque is for four thousand three hundred and eighty pounds. She picked up the statement giving the breakdown. There was a deduction of fifteen percent for management fees, then another deduction for management contract exchange, whatever that was, and then a deduction for essential drainage work. I had noted these already but waited for Tina to come to her own conclusion. It was as I expected. "Bastards!" She blurted. "They are stiffing us." She looked at me. "What are you going to do?"

"I have spoken to Brian and his statement for the period carries the same deductions." I told her. "He is sending me a copy of his statement and I want to know where the drainage work was required. The land registry plan shows the outline of the fields but I need to know who rents what fields. Then I will be then calling on these people."

"Can I come too?"

"Not really necessary."

"Spoilsport." Tina did love a good fight. She then revealed some further research she had undertaken. "Mr. Morestead had owned the estate for six years. He bought it at an auction of assets of an old lady, a Maude Tiverton who died intestate. She had owned Chetford for eighteen years having inherited it from an uncle, who I believe had bought it from the Ministry of Defence. She lived in Harrogate." She looked triumphant. "That explains a lot. When I was in the pub I asked around and nobody knew who owned the estate. Even those farmers who were renting land didn't know. It appears that Huddingtons, the estate agency always said that the land was in trust.

I emailed the estate agency asking for the rented land records, and the location where the drainage work had been needed. I didn't expect an immediate reply. If my suspicions were correct I was sure they would need some time to come up with a believable answer. I decided to go up to Chetford on Thursday. I needed to look around more thoroughly so I hired a Land-Rover Defender for the trip. I didn't want to drive across fields in my Passat. 

I had no reply from the estate agent by Wednesday. The next day I started off in the Defender. Despite the diesel engine, which I had always thought would be sluggish the engine pulled well and I had no problem on the motorway in keeping a steady seventy-eight miles per hour. I had left at eight-thirty and pulled into the Dower House at ten past ten. I couldn't see any of Aleksy's labourers although I could hear their endeavours and their voices. I couldn't understand what were saying, they appeared to be conversing in Polish. Nonetheless they seemed to be in good heart judging by the laughter that intermingled with their chat. There were two caravans parked side by side to the east of the house and nearby to them was the smouldering remnant of a fire. Aleksy came out of the front door with a worried look on his face until he realised it was me who had driven in. "Boss. Come to see what's going on?"

"Not really, Aleksy. I wanted to get around the estate and see what I have got here."

His face cleared. "Right transport for that." He indicated the Defender. 

Before we could get into that we were interrupted by the arrival of a John Deere tractor. The driver stopped and switched off the engine, then climbed down from the cab. He approached us. "Have you permission to be here?" His attitude was somewhat truculent.

I held out my hand to shake. "I am Daniel Chandler. I recently bought Chetford. You are?"

"Reggie Somers. I farm sixty acres over yonder." He waved his hand in the general direction of Braintree although he could have meant almost anywhere. "Wondered what was going on. Seem to get Tinkers and the like around, trying to nick anything valuable. Mind, there isn't anything worth taking in there anymore. We've had all sorts around over the years, anything worth anything has gone." He paused. "Goin' to knock it down then?"

"No. Aleksy and his crew are going to restore the house as it was."

"Bloody hell. That's going to take a bit. You goin' to live here, then?"

"Probably."

"It'll be a good place to live." He looked around the frontage. "What yer goin' to do with this front?"

"Apart from clearing all the gorse and bramble, I haven't thought too much about that."

"I'll come over tomorrow. Got an attachment for the back of the tractor. It'll go down about three feet and pull the stuff up from the roots."

"That's kind of you."

"No problem. You'll need that hedge layered as well. I'll do you a good deal if you're interested." He was referring to the hedge between the property and the lane.

"What's a good deal on that?"

"Let's say fifty quid a yard."

"No, let's not say that."

He grinned. "Ok forty a yard."

"I like thirty."

"Thirty-five?" He asked

"Deal." He spat into his palm and offered me the hand to shake. I did the same and we shook. This was an old way of sealing a deal. The deal was done, he wouldn't back out of it and neither would I. "When can you do it?" I asked.

"Oh. Not until September."

"Not before?"

"No. Can't do it until the birds have finished sitting on their nests. It's going to be a good summer; they will be raising two clutches this year." 

I was a city boy, raised in North London and working in East London. Sparrows and pigeons were all we knew of birds and for the most part they were a problem. Now I came face to face with the country where birds had a place and their habitat was respected. On the spur of the moment I asked him if he would undertake drainage work as well.

He looked perplexed. "I would be surprised if any of this land needed drainage. The soil here is a marl with gravel mixed in, then there's chalk underneath. I've never heard of any with drainage problems. The Chet can rise a bit in winter and flood some of the bottom land, but it recedes very quickly. Why do you ask?

"Oh no reason. I thought someone mentioned the need for drainage."

"Probably some London bloke." He ruminated disparagingly. Then stopped in embarrassment. "Sorry, Mr. Chandler. Not talking about you."

I grinned. "Don't worry Mr. Somers. Sometimes we need to learn."

That was interesting. I knew little about field drainage except that it involved laying pipes deep into the soil. It was probable that there would be little evidence of the work having been done as the surface was returned to natural. Slim chance of an amateur finding out that the work had not been done. I had more reason now to discover where this supposed drainage work had been done. 

Aleksy had stood by as I had the conversation with Reggie Somers and after the John Deere had pulled out he asked if I wanted to see the progress. "You want to see inside, Boss?"

"Not at the moment, Aleksy. I'll be back later; perhaps I'll look around then."

"O.k. Boss."

The Defender was the ideal vehicle for the expedition I planned. It tackled most obstacles without problem and it had four wheel drive for the more difficult stretches. I had the land registry plan with me that delineated the field boundaries and the acreage enclosed. I could probably see what land was rented. I drove round the hillock upon which the old house had been built. I was surprised that all this land which was good land was set aside for pasture, and then chastened myself. The Chandlers would not have wanted their vista despoiled with agricultural endeavour. The boundaries as such were marked by hedgerows of hawthorn and beech. There weren't gates on all the fields, just an open passage with the stout timbers that would have secured the gate either side. It was easy for me to drive through. By happy chance I spotted the horse and rider. I stopped and waited and of course the rider changed her path to draw close. I turned off the engine and got out of the Defender so she could see who it was. I was smiling as she rode up and it was good to see that she was smiling also. "No, no, no. Daniel. You can't cheat with that Land-Rover. You really should get a horse."

"Perhaps one day, Annabel, when I am living here. But until that time comes I am afraid I shall have to stick with internal combustion."

"You are going to live here?"

"Yes. I have decided that the Dower House will be the perfect place for me to live and run my business also."

"I have seen the men working there. I thought you were going to sell it, or rent it."

"That was my intention, but on reflection I decided that it would be the right place for me to live. The guys are clearing it out, and then they will be restoring the house to its imperious past."

"Wow! Does that also include the bits of the past that are rumoured with blushes?"

"If you are referring to the supposed sleazy past, then the answer is no. I may be a Chandler but I don't have the morals of Dashwood Chandler."

"Oh shame! People around here do like to gossip. Mind you, gossip has already started. The long-lost scion of the Chandlers coming back to restore the family estates. Now that is fuel for conjecture."

"Well actually I am not really the scion of the Chandlers. My great grandfather was from the wrong side of the blankets."

"Yes, you mentioned that. I thinks we had some as well."

"I think from what I have found out that there were many scandals in the Chandler family. I didn't think the Swinson family had those as well."

"Perhaps one or two. When you have finished your house, will you hold a grand reception? That's what they used to do."

"No, I don't go in for 'grand'. Perhaps a dinner for my friends."

"Will I qualify as a friend?"

"I would certainly hope so."

Annabel smiled. "Thank you. I will be happy to be a friend."

I moved to another topic. "Annabel. You seem to be around and about here frequently. Have you seen any work going on, like drainage?"

"None at all. I ride most days and vary my ride, so I see most of the land around here quite often. If drainage work was going on I am sure I would have seen it. Why do you ask?"

"The agents who deal with the rented land have charged me with drainage work."

"Don't tell me. Huddingtons." She stated flatly.

"How did you guess?"

"I could not swear to it, but I overheard my father once saying that he wouldn't be surprised if they slip something like that in from time to time. You can't prove it without digging up a field, or doing a ground x ray, and if it is growing grain or root crops you can't do that."

"Thank you for that information. Perhaps when I give this dinner you should be the hostess, as I would be without otherwise, and I would need someone to guide me through the niceties of formal dining."

"What makes you think that I could do that?"

"I just have this impression that you could rise to any occasion."

Annabel laughed and twitched the reins. As the horse started away she turned her head. Her eyes showed her mischievous side. "Can you?" She laughed and cantered away.

I laughed too. It was one of those quips that had to be said. My words were not intended to be flirtatious yet Annabel had quickly taken the unintended double-entendre and replied to the other meaning of the words. I was still smiling as I got back into the Discovery when another thought crossed my mind. Annabel must feel quite comfortable with me to introduce that element of flirting.

It took me the rest of the morning and well into the afternoon to survey my property. My conclusion was that the information we had was generally correct. However I did have some reservations as it would seem that there may be more land in use than the one hundred and twenty acres that Tina had discovered. The land registry plan showed the field boundaries and noted the acreage of each field. From my observation the acreage in use came to more than one hundred and twenty acres, actually nearer to one hundred and forty acres. I accepted that my survey could not be completely accurate, but I doubted that my discrepancy would be more than four or five acres. 

CHAPTER TEN

On my way back I stopped near the old house. I had no reason just a whim to stand where my great--grandfather had perhaps stood. As I wandered I inadvertently kicked one of the granite setts which had come loose from its seating. I looked for more and found many more, some set in place but most laying haphazardly here and there. An idea came to my mind and I sought the area where the courtyard gave way to the drive up from the main gate. I was right. The drive and its route were indicated by the lesser growth of grass. I kicked the grass away and underneath lay the granite setts. If the drive was paved with these setts there would certainly be sufficient to create a paved area in front of the Dower House. I picked up one of the setts and took it with me as I drove back.

Aleksy came out to meet me when I stopped. "Want to look around, Boss?"

"No not now, Aleksy." I showed him the set. "What would you think about using something like this for a forecourt?"

He looked closely and seemed impressed. "It's the real thing not a cast replica. Cost a fortune these days. But one won't do it. Could be more?"

"Come with me." We walked to the back of the house and I had him look in the direction of the old house's main gate. We could just see the top of the ornamental pillars. "There is a carriageway all the way from those gates to where the old house stood up there on the mound. I think the carriageway is paved with these setts all the way. Then there is a forecourt which is also paved with them. I reckon there are more than enough to make a good forecourt here."

"I go look tomorrow, Boss. If you are right then I am sure there will be enough. It make good forecourt." 

Tina was bubbling when I came down to the office the next day. She had put the post on my desk and right on the top was a letter from Huddingtons. I read it and had to laugh. Tina came in with a mug of coffee for me. "Isn't it strange that these things get discovered when you ask a simple question." She grinned.

I nodded in agreement. "It gets better." I told her. The letter from Huddingtons was brief, polite and contrite. They were so sorry that an amount for drainage and the management contract exchange fee had inadvertently been posted to my account. Please find enclosed a cheque for those amounts. It went on that a change of business policy meant they would no longer be able to handle the estate business in future and herewith give three months notice. They mentioned other estate agents who could handle the business for me.

"Bugger!" Tina spat the word as if it came from a machine gun. "They have swindled me out of the pleasure of having a stand up, knock down fight with them." She steamed with fury for a moment and then running out of steam asked. "What gets better?"

"It would appear that there is a lot more acreage under plough than the one hundred and twenty acres supposedly rented. Now I want you to phone Huddingtons. I want you to be very polite and sweet and of course we accept with regret their notice of withdrawing from the agency. I want you to request of them the records of how many acres are rented and to whom; so we can look for another agency to handle the business."

Tina put on a face of disappointment. "Do I have to be very polite and sweet?"

"I would prefer it if you did."

She stamped out of my office. "You don't let me have any fun at all."

I shouted after her. "Thanks for the coffee."

"I put strychnine in it!" She shouted back.

Within a few minutes I could hear Tina on the phone. She had put her posh voice on and was, as I asked sweetness and light. The last part of her conversation was particularly sugary. "Oh that is so good of you. Yes, we do understand, mistakes happen. Thank you so much, you have been of great help." She came into my office looking as if she wanted to throw up. "If you ever ask me to do that again I will kill you."

"The coffee was very good." I told her then clutched my throat and rocked back in my chair screaming Agh! It burns." Tina just laughed.

"What will you do about the acres being used but not being paid for?"

"I think we should wait until we get a reply from Huddingtons. Then we will know who rents what."

"Then I can chase them uphill and down dale."

"Yes, Tracey. I can see you getting all East-End with them and creating mayhem. If I am going to live there, I would like it to be with neighbours who are friends." I waited for her response but none came. "Ok, Tina. What else in this pile do I have to pay attention to?"

"Mr. Anders has written to say they will not complete for at least six months. He confirms the price you agreed, but the project has been put back for six months."

"Right. Well you can write in your best solicitor fashion and agree that the price will be held for six months. Any further delay and we will deem the contract null and void. If they still want the properties the price will have to be re-negotiated."

"Yes, Daniel. That's more like it. Oh, I would love to be a fly on the wall when he reads that." I often wondered about Tina. She only seems to be happy when there is aggression in the air. 

The delay gave me time to find properties I could offer to the displaced tenants of the houses Anders wanted to buy. That was good; the downside was that without his four million I would have to dig deep into my reserves to finance new property and the restoration of the Dower House. In one way I looked forward to Anders not completing in time as I would then re-negotiate a better deal. 

Three days later we received the details from Huddingtons of the land rented and the names of the farmers. I smiled when I read that Reggie Somers rented forty acres. He had said that he farmed sixty so the majority of his farm consisted of my land. I compared Huddingtons land plan with the land registry plan that I had marked up. My smile was even wider. It would seem possible that Mr. Somers was using six acres of my land apart from the land he paid rent for. It was possible that others of the farmers were doing the same as the land under cultivation which was not detailed on Huddington's plan was contiguous with land rented. Of course I couldn't accuse them outright. Tina came in and quickly caught up the discrepancies. She smiled evilly. "What are you going to do, Daniel?"




The Mist of Time Ch. 09-10



"We should write to all the farmers, politely! Explaining that I am now the owner of the estate and that in future they should pay their rent as usual but to me at this address. You should put in a paragraph asking them to confirm the land they rented. "

"Is that all?"

"For the moment. What if they write back and we find that they are paying rent on land which Huddingtons have not revealed to us merely pocketing the extra rent. Let's not accuse anyone before we have proof. Anyway it's not us they have allegedly swindled; it's Brian and that old lady in Harrogate. I am not about to go into battle for Brian and a woman who's now dead."

"You can be devious, Boss."

"Perhaps sometimes. Trust but verify. That was President Truman's approach and it's a good maxim. When I chatted with Mr. Somers he told me he farmed sixty acres, but didn't say exactly where it was, nor did he admit that it was my land he was farming. I would say that Reggie Somers was a charming rogue."

"Well." Tina said with a smile. "He's up against another rogue, but one who is not so charming."

"If you are referring to me, then you are fired again."

"Ok, ok. I will retract the rogue part."

"So you are saying that I am not charming?"

"You can't be. Dirty old men can never be charming."

"Oh thanks." I replied dryly.

Friday afternoon Tina went off for her weekend tryst with Aleksy. "Is there anything you want me to do while I am there?"

"Apart from the obvious, not really. Flower of my dreams."

"Dirty dreams I am sure." She smiled and left.

My friendly bank manager had alerted me to a sale of re-possessed property in Ipswich. That would take place on Monday the following week. He mentioned that much of the property would be small two or three bedroom terraced homes. Now that was exactly the sort of property I would normally look for. I decided to go, not to bid but suss out the prices and how fiercely the bidding was. This was the downside of the housing market. Banks and Building Societies encourage young couples to get into the market. Unfortunately it is young couples who often fail in their re-payments. They lose a huge amount of the capital tied up in their investment and the usual result is that as defaulters they can never buy again. I felt some pity for them, yet it was their misery that allowed me to make a lot of money. Life isn't fair!

I took the train from Liverpool Street station and arrived in Ipswich in just over the hour. A taxi took me to the auction. I met one or two who I recognised. They didn't seem pleased to see me until I explained that I wasn't bidding. That alleviated some of their worry although the fact that I was there was cause for concern that I could be taking a stake in the area soon. I mentally shrugged my shoulders. If you can't take the competition then you shouldn't be in the game. My research had indicated that prices would be lower than London. A property that would cost on the open market at £450,000 in East London was selling at less than £100,000. If I were to bid I wouldn't be offering that sort of money. When one property, a re-possessed two bedroom terrace was knocked down at sixty thousand I was interested. I had to investigate the market for rental before making my decision. I had much to think about on the journey back to London.

Tina welcomed me back to the office on Tuesday. "Mr. Anders is not happy."

"I doubted he would be happy." I agreed. "Any coffee going?"

"I'll bring it through."

Tina was in happy mood when she brought the coffee. "He thinks you are being unfair by threatening to re-negotiate." She smiled very happily. "Isn't it good when smarmy bastards with an inflated idea of their importance are brought down to reality? He phoned yesterday."

"And what did you say?"

"I told him that another property company had offered even more for the houses."

"Now that was naughty, Tina"

"I know, but I couldn't resist it." It wasn't unknown for rival property developers to attempt to get hold of land that their competitor needed. They could then hold them to ransom. The problem with that tactic was that it could rebound on them in the future. "Mr. Anders said that we had a deal. I told him that the deal was for completion within a reasonable time. Six months was not a reasonable time, nor had he indicated that completion would be in six months when negotiating." She paused. "He didn't like that."

"You enjoyed that, didn't you?"

"You bet. Boss."

Our busy life went on. The mundane always took more time than planning ahead. Tenants would fail to pay their rent. They always had an excuse, they were laid off, or Aunty had died, the children needed new clothes for school. The many reasons why they couldn't pay the rent. Once, in the early days I was sympathetic, but being taking for a fool on many occasions taught me that their excuses were just a cover for their having spent the rent on a new television, or a car or anything else they deemed more important than paying me what I was owed. Nowadays I was the unfeeling bastard. Why should I allow them to live in the house I owned without their paying rent? Tina liked to get involved and would fire off threatening letters, whilst I would go round and face them. She was incandescent on one occasion. Tina had sent letter after letter without reply. I went to confront the errant tenant and brought back with me all the letters that Tina had sent. Not one of the letters had been opened. The tenant knew what the letters were about, but had convinced himself that if he didn't open and read them, they didn't exist. Why did he keep them? I have no idea.

It was four weeks later when Tina arrived back from her weekend with Aleksy. The first thing she did was make coffee and having brought it in she sat down. I looked up. "Is there something?"

"Yes. Aleksy hasn't seen you for a month. The work is going on but he needs to see you regularly so he knows he is doing it right."

"If he wasn't surely you would say something."

"I could, but I'm not the boss."

"You could have fooled me."

"Don't make fun of it, Daniel. For all his confidence Aleksy is still uncertain, first for his English and second how you operate. He thinks you are a very clever man. I don't disabuse him of that, because we know who the clever one is." She smiled. "He needs to know that you think he's doing it right."

I thought about it. "I haven't been up as I trust Aleksy. However I'll go up this week and show my face. Are you coming?"

"Yes, you bet."

To be continued...



The Mist of Time Ch. 11-12



CHAPTER ELEVEN

There was a deal of difference when I pulled up outside the Dower House. First all the brambles and gorse had gone, secondly Aleksy had somehow got hold of a load of gravel which was spread over the approaches to the house, thirdly the balustrade along the veranda had been repaired and primed for painting and last I noticed a huge pile of granite setts. Even as I stood there one of his crew drew up in a thirty-hundredweight truck with another load of setts, recovered from the drive up to the old house. Aleksy seemed to have been expecting us as he briskly exited the house and came over to the car. "Mr. Chandler, Boss. Is good to see you, come inside there is much for you to see and I need some decisions from you." He quickly shook my hand and moved on to Tina who held her face up for a kiss. 

I had seen the inside before Aleksy and his crew started work, so I was surprised at the change. All the walls had been cleaned and the channelling where pipes and electrics had been robbed away forcefully from the walls had been filled and plastered. New wiring poked out regularly from socket boxes just above the skirting and also where light switches would affixed. The Victorian tiles in the hall had gone; instead a rough concrete base had been laid. The rotten stairs had been cut away and temporary access to the upper floor was by way of a ladder. Aleksy was about to start on his explanation when a voice came from the front door. "Hello! Can I come in?" Annabel was hovering hesitantly.

"Come in Annabel." I took a step towards her and held out my hand in welcome. I was surprised when she took my hand and didn't let go.

"I am sorry for interrupting you, but my curiosity overcame me. When I saw you drive in I thought it would be the perfect time to come and gawk."

"I am glad you did." I made the introductions "Annabel, this is Tina my secretary and bane of my life." 

The two had met before although they had never been introduced. Tina welcomed Annabel with a smile. "He's a terrible boss, but can be quite docile if you put him in his place from time to time." They both smiled. Tina noticed Annabel's hand in mine and winked at me. "This is Aleksy. He is a very good builder and also my fiancé."

Aleksy took a pace forward and clicked his heels and bowed. "Is good to meet you, Miss Annabel."

"It's very good to meet you. I have seen you here with Daniel and wondered who you were." Her eyes were darting everywhere. "This is going to be fantastic when it's done, can I have a look around?"

"Of course." I told her. "Can I leave you with Tina? Aleksy has many decisions for me to make."

Aleksy had something to say first. "Please do not go up ladder. I would not like you have a fall." Tina and Annabel looked at each other. I could sense their obdurate mindset. A man tells them not to do something and they will ignore him anyway and damn well do it.

I got involved with Aleksy and his brother Stanislaw. They had spent time together and with their building experience had many suggestions. I could not fault their ideas so told them to do it as they thought best. We walked around and I selected the room on the south-west corner to be my office. Stanislaw agreed that we would need quite a few power sockets to power computers, fax machine and lights. I hated overhead lighting and preferred desk top lights. With my agreement that central heating would be a hot water system Stanislaw went off to decide the best positions of the radiators. Just before he went he suggested that skirting radiators would be best. He spoke in Polish and Aleksy translated. "He say less intrusive, boss." 

"Good idea. I know the system is in good hands." Aleksy translated and Stanislaw beamed.

We were going to go up the ladder when Aleksy stopped and told me an idea for the stairs. "Old stairs came straight down. I could do that, but may I suggest something?"

"Go ahead, Aleksy."

"I would like to bring stairs down to a half landing, and then turn at right angle with three, more steps to the floor; widening from top to bottom. Bottom steps to flare gradually with a bullnose either end." 

He showed me a sketch he had done and I was immediately struck by the thought he had put into this. I clapped his shoulder. "That's brilliant, Aleksy. Do it just like that." I had thoughts about the house and posed a question to Aleksy. "Do you think it possible to build in toilets downstairs? One for men and the other for ladies? As it is going to be an office here as well I could have visitors."

Aleksy thought for a moment. "Yes, Boss it's possible." He walked towards where the corridor from the kitchen to the foyer was. "I could block this off from the kitchen and make that into one." The corridor was about six feet wide. "For the other, I can use part of the back room. Put up a wall and put another door into the foyer."

"Good. Would you do that please, Aleksy?" 

Aleksy made me climb the ladder first and he followed closely so that I didn't put a foot wrong. He showed me what he thought would be right for turning seven bedrooms and two bathrooms into three suites. "We can do it anyway you want. The load bearing walls correspond with walls downstairs, so the other walls could be taken down but I think better this way." He produced another sketch. "Suites would be same size as rooms downstairs with two rooms each, one a bedroom with bathroom the other a sitting room. Bathroom can be accessed from either rooms or bedroom only. You will get two big suites on the back of the house and a smaller suite on the side. Here." He then pointed to the room over the servant's hall. "We can't do much with that unless you use it for another bathroom."

"That looks good." A feminine voice remarked. "What do you think Annabel?"

"I like it." Was Annabel's reply.

Aleksy and I turned to see the ladies who had crept up on us. Aleksy was a little bit angry. "I ask not to come up ladder. It could be dangerous."

"And how are we to see the house completely if we didn't come up the ladder. It's a simple procedure or didn't you think that women could master that?" I knew that Tina was feigning anger, but Aleksy didn't. Nor did Annabel. She looked at me and I shook my head with a little smile. She relaxed.

"I'm sorry, Tina." Aleksy started. "Of course you know how to use ladder, I was just worried for you."

"Ah, he's so sweet." She turned to Annabel. "Isn't he nice? He's so worried about us." She moved to him. "Come here my Polish bear. I'll give you a hug." Aleksy blushed very red.

I walked away and Annabel followed me. "So, what do you think?" I asked her.

"I find it difficult to see it in a finished state. However I liked Aleksy's ideas for up here and Tina explained what he wanted to do with the stairs. I thought that was very elegant."

"I did too. I have told him to go ahead with that, and I shall say the same to him about up here. Aleksy is good so why would I second guess the man who knows what he is doing. Tina knows what he is doing; in fact she wouldn't allow him to do anything if she thought I wouldn't like it. So really I am here to agree to ideas that he and Tina have already discussed."

"And pay for it all."

"Ah, yes. That's where I come in." I agreed ruefully.

We walked into the room on the corner. With no window frame or glass for an impediment we could lean out of the window. One of Aleksy's men was perched on the roof over the patio, re-setting slates. "There is a fabulous view from this room." Annabel remarked.

"You're right. I think I shall have to make this my suite."

"So you have finally decided to live here?"

"I suppose I shall. Certainly for weekends and possibly most of the week. I will have to go back to Bethnal Green for a day or two most weeks. But I get a good feeling about the thought of living here."

"A Chandler back at Chetford eh? How history turns. There is a lot more history to our families than you would think. I have discovered my great, great aunt Arabella's diary. She was an inveterate diarist."

"Oh. Is it interesting?"

Annabel nodded knowingly. "It seems that we own quite a lot of land that had once been Chetford."

"That's interesting. I know that in the mid eighteen hundreds the estate was around seven hundred acres, yet when I bought it there was only one hundred and ninety acres. Presumably George Swinson bought the rest?"

"I doubt that." Annabel shook her head. "I doubt that we have more than three hundred acres. But how did you know about George Swinson?"

"I did a lot of research on the internet. George Swinson was quite a pioneer in retailing. There's a lot of information about him."

"Oh. I thought you may have been talking to the ghosts."

I was surprised by that for a moment. Whenever I went up to the old house I had a feeling that people were watching me, yet no one was there but me. I was rescued as Annabel went on. "It's that usual rural flight of fancy. Most locals will swear that they have seen lights and figures flitting around where the house used to be. Usually it's a gambit to persuade visitors to the area to buy more drinks for them at the pub." She laughed "As if there would be ghosts up there."

"I know what you are talking about. We get the same thing happening around Whitechapel. People come, usually Americans to see where the Ripper committed his grisly crimes. Locals will tell anyone who will listen of ghosts. Women with their innards hanging out and screaming in pain. Same stories hopefully for the same result."

We made our way to the ladder. I suggested that I go down first in the case that Annabel would need help. "Oh. I was going to offer that in case that you needed help." She replied with a smile. She walked to the head, turned round and made her way down without a problem. I followed. At the bottom she held out her hand, not to help me but to take my hand in hers. We walked together out the front. "Thank you, Daniel for the tour. It's going to be a really nice home and I am a little jealous. I think it will be nicer than Meadowlea. You must visit us one day. Daddy is very keen to meet you."

"Thank you, Annabel. I would be happy to call."

"I like Tina. I know she calls you all sorts of names, but she is very fond of you. And Aleksy and his crew are marvellous. I have been bowed to and had heels clicked together when I went round with Tina so much, it was quite exhilarating. Now I must go. I hope to see you soon Daniel." She stretched up and kissed me on my cheek. "Oh and do call me Bella. Annabel can be a mouthful at times. Are you always Daniel?"

I nodded. "Yes. My mum would get irate with anyone who called me Dan. Although she would call me 'D' sometimes."

Bella considered that for a moment. "No I don't think so. It will be Daniel then."

I smiled and bent slightly and kissed her on the lips. Her eyes sparkled. "Now that was much better, Daniel. Much better. See you soon, I hope."

I went back into the house and was met by Tina who was smiling broadly. "When's the wedding then?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about."

"No. Of course you don't." She sighed dramatically. "It's bloody difficult for women to exist in the same world as men. Their thoughts are so primitive whereas women's minds are on a much higher plane." She shot me a look of exasperation. "Miss Swinson has plans for you. She has sized you up and decided that you have nearly all the qualities that she needs in a husband. She knows, as all women do that you have to be re-modelled a little; but in essence you are the best putty around and you can be moulded." 

"I see! Tell me Tracey, how do you understand her thoughts after what? Ten minutes in her company."

"No problem. Women do what men don't. We listen to her words and we watch her eyes to see the little clues, the inflexions, the little gestures and how the irises react when they look at you. We don't focus on her tits. I have to congratulate her though. She didn't take much time to decide. She's right of course, you are perfect for her. She knows it, I know it, and the only one who doesn't is you. You'll come to understand it in time."

"Tina, I worry about you. You are living in a make-believe world at times. However, I suppose I shall have to ignore your occasional bouts of insanity as you are quite competent at your job."

"You will be the insane one, if you let her slip through your fingers."

"Why so?" I knew Tina was going to tell me anyway, so I had to act as if I was interested.

"Daniel you are a bloody good catch for any woman. If you were my type you would have been roped and corralled long ago. Fortunately for both of us Aleksy suits me better. Annabel sees a good man, not too ugly but she can't have everything. He's made something of himself building a property empire worth something. A millionaire quite a few times over."

"That is not so, Tina, and you know it. The value of the assets is in that region, but you forgot how much the company owes to the bank."

"Rubbish I know exactly how much the company owes to the bank. O.k. the company is well off, but who owns the company one hundred percent? You! You're rich, Daniel. Stop being embarrassed about it. Anyway she's not after your money. I did some research and the Swinsons are as wealthy as you or possibly even more. Selling out to Tesco was a good move. It will be you marrying into money. Daniel she likes you. I can see that, Aleksy sees it, the guys working here know it, although as they speak Polish all the time you didn't understand their comments. Stop complaining; just lay back and let good things happen."

"I suppose you will want a good reference, Miss Barker."

"Oh, here we go again! Gonna fire me?"

"That depends."

"On what?" She asked wearily.

"I can't think at the moment, but I will bear that in mind the next time you piss me off."

She grinned. "Daniel, I only want the best for you."

Just as we were leaving Tina informed me that she and Annabel had decided what to do with the hall floor. "Large cream floor tiles, preferably with a marble fleck, and black grouting. That would suit the hall perfectly." I looked at Aleksy who looked back at me. I nodded and he agreed.

CHAPTER TWELVE

I was back in the office the next day. I hadn't given too much creed to Tina's dissertation, yet overnight my mind must have decided to pick over the pieces look at them in a different way and put them together again. My sleep was more than a little disrupted. Was Annabel setting her sights on me? Tina was a good judge of character. She didn't come to conclusions as a man would; thinking clearly and balancing pros and cons. Tina worked on intuition and feelings. I was ashamed to say that she got it right more often than I did. On balance therefore I should believe Tina, although my sometimes diffident nature asked, 'why'? 

This mental perambulation stopped when Tina came into my office. "Mr. Anders is on the phone wanting to talk."

"Did he say what about?"

"Not exactly, but I think it is about your threat to re-negotiate the deal."

"Put him through." Tina did that and came back to sit down and listen. She wore a smile of expectation.

"Mr. Anders. What can I do for you?"

"I'm not happy, Mr. Chandler. We had a deal and shook hands on it. Now you are threatening to re-negotiate. That's not ethical business practice. I would have thought better of you."

"Mr. Anders. I negotiated with you in good faith. Unfortunately you neglected to tell me that you wouldn't complete for at least six months. If there is any unethical business practice it is your not mentioning your time frame. If you had mentioned that we may have been able to come to terms, but those terms would be different. As it is despite your lack of clarity, I have agreed to allow you those six months, but not a day longer. If you do not complete at that time, the deal is off. Then if you still want the properties we negotiate as if this agreement had never happened."

"We have had some problems over the land. I hope they will be resolved before six months has passed. Could we not persuade you to give us a little time?"

"I suppose I could do something. If you would complete now you would of course, receive the rents, which amounts to just over seven thousand pounds per month. Alternatively you could pay a security deposit of say twenty percent now, which would fix the asking price for twelve months. Shall I leave that with you?"

"You are very difficult man to deal with, Mr. Chandler."

"Not really, Mr. Anders. I deal with all my cards on the table."

"I'll get back to you."

Tina was incandescent with me. "You should have screwed him, Daniel. You let him get away with it."

"Not really, Tracey. I suddenly remembered something. The Council will give him planning consent, but always in such consent they include the responsibility for re-homing tenants whose homes are demolished. If he buys the property now, I get the capital to buy more houses. However that purchase would probably be in north Essex or south Suffolk. Whenever he completes he still has sitting tenants to re-home and he will then be looking for property, which I have and would be willing to sell at the right price."

Tina thought about this and her angry face morphed into a happy one. Then she laughed. "You devious bugger! If I wasn't promised to Aleksy, I would give you a big kiss right now. I'll forgo that and tell Annabel to give you a big kiss when next you see her."

Two days later when I was trying to understand a tenancy dispute, Tina came into my office. "Annabel is on the line for you. I have put her through to your phone."

I picked up the receiver. "Good morning, Bella. It's rather nice to hear from you."

"I am pleased you are in your office, Tina says you are relaxing with your feet up on the desk."

"I should be so lucky. How can I help you?"

"Well it's more me helping you actually."

"Oh?"

"Yes. You have written to your tenant farmers asking for confirmation of their rented land. Farmers in general are not good at paperwork. You will get the confirmation you ask for but it is likely to be grubby scraps of paper which could be difficult to understand. Would you accept a letter from me with the information you need?"

"I would think that is quite acceptable, as long as you are not put out having to do it."

"Not at all, Daniel. I handle most of my father's dealings with his tenants, who in the main are the same as yours. That's why they spoke to me by the way; I am not prying into your business. I can get that off to you today, even faster if I can email it to you."

"By all means do so. Have you got my email address?"

"Yes. Tina gave me one of your cards."

"I am in your debt, Bella."

"Never tell a woman you are in debt to them. You may find paying the debt quite challenging."

"I was thinking of asking you out to dinner one evening when I am next at Chetford."

"That would be very nice, Daniel, I accept. But it will only be part payment."

"What else is there?"

"Oh I have to think about that, but I am sure that whatever it is, we will both enjoy it. See you soon, perhaps?"

"Yes. Bye, Bella."

I put down the phone to see Tina's smug smile. She could have heard only my side of the conversation yet that was enough for her to get into superior mode. "Out for dinner? Hmm. At a nice hotel, perhaps? With a room booked just in case, perhaps? Oh Mr. Chandler, your seductive plan has lots of flaws, but it will probably work. Especially as Annabel wants to get into bed with you."

"Miss Barker. You are reading far too much into this."

"Possibly. You are terrible at understanding women. I suspect that Annabel recognizes that and will help you along."

"As I said. You are reading too much into this. Now get back to work!"

Half an hour later Tina came in with a printout of the farmers names and the land they rented. "She's very efficient. Perhaps you should give her a job."




The Mist of Time Ch. 11-12



"Perhaps I should, and then I could sack you."

"Do that and I will make Aleksy build in to your house some nasty surprises." She grinned at me. "This is very interesting."

"Oh?" Tina laid a copy of the email in front of me. Then for comparison she gave me a copy of the letter from Huddingtons.

"Look at Mr. Somers. According to Huddingtons, he rents forty acres. By his own admission he rents forty five acres from you. Now look at Mr. Gilmore. Again according to Huddingtons he rents thirty acres. Mr. Gilmore says that he rents forty. They have been skimming for years."

Tina was right. Huddingtons had been skimming for years. I was supposed to be letting one hundred and twenty acres. The truth was that I was letting one hundred and fifty acres. How long this had been going on I couldn't know, but they had skimmed a lot of money over the years. Not from me though. It was Brian Morestead and that old lady, Mrs. Tiverton who had suffered. I couldn't care less about Brian. If he was so casual that he didn't look into it then it was his loss. Neither could I do anything about Mrs. Tiverton; she was dead. However I could do something about Huddingtons. I think a visit to them is needed. That visit came closer the next day when Aleksy phoned Tina. Someone from the council had called to the site and ordered all work to stop. He would return tomorrow at ten o' clock when he expected whoever had authorised this work to be there. Tina told Aleksy we would be there at ten a.m.. I had a conversation with the planning officer when we were in Braintree. He had indicated that restoring the house would be permissible as long as no changes were made to the exterior. Subsequently we had an exchange of correspondence agreeing the details. Tina had all of this in a folder, together with photographs taken around nineteen oh eight. I could see Tina mentally strapping on her armour and sharpening her sword. She would enjoy this.

"Tina, we are not going into battle. This is probably some jobsworth who hasn't read the file nor has he taken advice from the planning officer. It will be settled amicably." She bristled, settling amicably was not to her liking. I threw her a bone. "Take the correspondence regarding the rented land. We will visit Huddingtons while we are in the area." 

Tina brightened considerably. "I'll make us a nice cup of coffee." That was an olive branch in Tina's world.

We pulled in to the Dower House at nine fifty-five. Aleksy and his crew were sitting around disconsolately drinking coffee. I allowed Tina to greet Aleksy as they usually did, then I asked. "Why are you sitting around? There's work to do."

Aleksy looked surprised. "Boss. Man said to stop work."

"He doesn't have the authority to do that. I have all the papers from the planning department which says we can restore the house. Now I am paying your wages, so let me see work."

Aleksy straightened up and called the men. I didn't understand the words, they were in Polish, but I understood their meaning. They were up and at it within three minutes complete with smiles.

The man from the council didn't arrive until ten forty-five. His first words were. "Why are your men working. I told them they had to stop."

I decided that I was going to put this one in his place. "My name is Chandler, and I own this property. I told them to work, as you do not have the authority to stop them. You made an appointment for ten o' clock and you are forty-five minutes late. Perhaps sometime you will explain the discourtesy of not apologising. However none of this matters. I would strongly suggest you consult with Mr. Manders, the planning officer."

"Mr. Manders is aware of this work?" His face had gone white.

"Yes. We talked three months ago. We exchanged correspondence and I have permission to have this work carried out. Do you want to see the letter?"

"Eh, yes please." His face was now a warm pink.

"You will see it's all in order, Mr. Er..."

"Mr. Snelling." That annoys me. The address of 'Mr' is a courtesy bestowed on you by others. To adopt the title for yourself is either ignorant or someone who has an inflated view of their own importance. He read the correspondence and the warm pink visage became a fiery red. He handed the file back to me and without another word got back in his car and drove off."Nice chap!" I mentioned to nobody in particular.

With his departure Aleksy took on a more relaxed demeanour. "Is everything o.k. Boss?"

"It's all sorted, Aleksy. How is everything going?"

"Work goes well. Electricity has been connected and Stanislaw is busy completing the wiring. Come look at stairs." When he became excited his command of English suffered a little. He led the way into the hall. The stairs were a work in process. The main body, without banister came down from the top hall. It ended some eighteen inches above the floor where a solid platform supported the string. The platform would form the half-landing and had been built by one of his crew. "Gustaw here is good carpenter. The string and risers we got from builders merchant, but they don't do half-landings. Gustaw makes anything in wood. Very good man."

"Dobry rano Gustaw." Tina had told me how to say Good Morning in Polish. Gustaw stood up with a broad smile, clicked his heels, bowed to me and let loose in Polish. Of course none of which I could understand.

Aleksy translated. "He say is pleasure to work for good boss. His wife is happy too and she make Gustaw very happy on weekends."

"Possibly a little more than I needed to know, Aleksy. I think your idea was very good, it's going to look very special. Any other ideas?"

"Windows, Boss. I can get them in wood, but they don't season the wood as well as they used to. Can I suggest UPVC?" 

"Will that be authentic?"

Aleksy got the photograph of the house out of his folder. He pointed. "Windows were all painted. Could be cream or white. UPVC is white, not a lot of difference. They will be sash windows same as original, only more secure."

I called Mr. Manders on my mobile. He told me that UPVC would be fine. "Ok, Aleksy. Fit the windows in UPVC. Anything else?"

"One more thing. There isn't mains gas here. We have to put in a pressure tank for that. Where would you want that?"

"I would suggest somewhere around where your caravans are."

"Right. I'll see if it can be below ground. Better that way." 

I could see Tina champing at the bit. "O.k. Let's go and see Huddingtons." Her face lit up, she briefly kissed Aleksy and was in the car in a flash. As I drove to Braintree, Tina was going through the file. She was memorizing the acreage supposedly rented and the acreage actually rented. If you are having a discussion, or even a heated discussion it makes sense to memorize certain salient facts. Stopping to consult the file breaks your flow and the impression you make on the other side. Tina had seen me use this tactic and adopted it for herself. Apart from introducing ourselves I will let Tina do the dirty work. The whole plan collapsed as we arrived outside Huddington's address which turned out to be not an office but a shop. However the premises were empty! "The bastards." Tina almost screamed the epithet. "They have moved."

"I don't think so, Tina." I got out of the car and walked over to the shop. I tried the door and shading my eyes from the light, looked in. Beside bare walls and a few scraps of paper on the floor the place was deserted. 

Tina joined me. "Where do you think they have gone?"

I looked over the windows and door seeking a notice. There was nothing to suggest a re-location. "I have no idea, Tina and in any case I suspect they do not want anyone to find them. Let's go into the solicitor next door and see if they know anything."

The solicitor's receptionist knew nothing of their erstwhile neighbours. Mr. Adams the solicitor came out to see us. I didn't really want to discuss the whole episode with a solicitor so I just said we had been expecting a valuation on some property and as we were in the area decided to call in.

"If I could, I would give you a forwarding address, but they left very quickly, almost overnight. You aren't alone, we have had a few people asking after them. Some, from their looks and demeanour I would not like to anger. If you haven't made any contract with them or paid them a deposit in lieu of a purchase, I would say find another agent."

"If I had, what would you advise?

"Consult a solicitor." He smiled.

"Sorry. I asked them for a valuation of property and that was the total contact I had with them. I'll take your advice and find another estate agency." 

Tina had calmed down by the time we got back in the car. Inwardly I chuckled as the entertainment she looked forward to fizzled out like a damp squid. Instead I acted as disappointed as she. "I am a little pissed off! However they seem to have done that which I would have tried to effect. They have ceased trading. See if you can get anything on the internet, names of those who ran the business. You never know they may try to set up again and try the same scam."

"If I dig up anything, perhaps Mr. Martin could help. He will have access to stuff we can't get."

"Good idea. Chad may enjoy sniffing out thieves."

To be continued...



The Mist of Time Ch. 13



CHAPTER THIRTEEN

I was always of the opinion that when you got people to work for you, and you were confident in their abilities you left them alone to get on with the job. Tina was constantly nagging me to go up and inspect the work. Her constant refrain was that Aleksy needed my approval for many things. I replied that Aleksy was competent and did not need my overseeing of his work. "Tina, it would seem as if I didn't trust him. You are up there every weekend. If there were problems you would let me know very quickly."

"I think you should come up one weekend, Boss. Aleksy would be happy and of course you can then take Annabel out for dinner as you promised."

"You're not going to let that go. Are you?"

"Nope! You are going to have a lovely home and you will need a lovely hostess for that home. Someone who knows the area and who knows the right people with whom to mix."

"Are you seeing yourself and Aleksy as part of the mixture?"

"Of course. If you are going to re-locate the office there then you need me around. I am hoping that the business will buy a nice house for Aleksy and me to rent."

"Oh? You have it all worked out."

"Well someone has to organize you."

Eventually I gave in and agreed to go up to Great Yeldham for the weekend. Tina booked me a room at the pub against her desperate pleading that I needed a good hotel, 'to complete your seduction of Annabel' as she put it. I needed a little more encouragement from Bella before I would attempt that. I phoned Bella and asked if she was free that Saturday. "I will be stopping over this weekend and hoped that you would join me for dinner."

"Why, Daniel. How good of you to ask." She chuckled. "I am free that evening and would be happy to accept your invitation."

"Is there a good restaurant you would recommend?" 

"There is one in Tilbury. It's called the Bon Vivant." Annabel replied. "I am told it is very good."

"In that case we shall hopefully enjoy some of the good life." I returned.

"Oh! Touché." We laughed. She went on. "Shall I book a table for us?"

"That would be helpful, yes please."

"I'll do that and let you know when to pick me up. As you are here for the weekend, can I persuade you to call in at Meadowlea and spend a little time with my father? He is most anxious to meet you."

"Of course. When would be best?"

"Come on Sunday morning for coffee."

"Fine. I would like to meet your father."

Aleksy was quite happy to see me. He insisted on taking me around the house and pointing out various items. I was right to let him have some leeway. The work he and his crew put in was excellent. The doors were in place, the windows were being fixed and in the hall the half-landing was finished. Boxes of tiles were awaiting the tile layer. Out front one of his men had started paving. I watched for a while as Aleksy explained. "Base of gritty sand, levelled, tampered and slight slope away from house. Setts are tapped in position. When many down the gaps are filled with a dry sand and cement mixture. Spray lightly with water and let the mixture harden then point before it's set completely." The work must be back-breaking yet the man who was doing it seemed very happy.

I decided to broach a subject with Aleksy. "I am certain that Tina has told you that I intend to expand my business into this area. My interests in East London will carry on but I shall need someone with your expertise to carry out the day to day maintenance of my property in this area. I was hoping that you can cover both areas."

"Is good, Boss. Tina has told me what you are doing and she says that I should form a Company doing maintenance. I know men in East London who would work for me, good men. I am sure I can find good men in Colchester and Ipswich area."

"All Polish I imagine?"

"Probably. I have visited the Polish clubs here and have talk with many men who want to work and do good job."

"O.k., Aleksy. That has put my mind at rest. I am sure there will be quite a lot of work for you, when this is finished."

Later that evening at the pub, Tina tackled me. "Have you talked with Aleksy?"

"Tina you know full well I have talked with him. He has ideas of forming a Company, but you know that as it was you who put the idea into his head. It makes sense though. The turnover could be considerable. We should talk to Chad about it; why else do I pay an accountant if I cannot get advice from him?"

I could see from her expression that she had more to say. "If you move your business address to the Dower House, it would make sense for Aleksy to register his business there as well, and then I can look after your admin and his. After all his business will depend upon you."

"Now why didn't I think of that?" I enquired sarcastically. "Of course as I will not get your attention full time then, I can reduce your salary."

"Daniel Chandler you are little more than a Scrooge. You get full value from my efforts and you will keep that full value. If needed I shall work on Aleksy's admin in my own time."

I had suspected this turn for quite some time. This didn't trouble me, if I bought property and had to wait for months for it to be brought up to standard then I lost money. With Aleksy and his Company doing this work I would always be a priority, Tina would see to that.

Saturday evening found me driving to pick up Bella. She had given me directions to Meadowlea and they were quite simple. Drive past the Dower House and continue down the lane for three miles. Turn right at the crossroads and I would find Meadowlea on the right after two hundred yards. A Drive of some fifty yard ended in a turning circle before the house. It was one of those houses that defied dating. It seemed to have its roots in Tudor architecture but it had grown various other styles as the years went by. Bella was waiting for me as I drove around the circle to the door. I had always seen her when she was wearing jodhpurs and a jacket. Dressed as she was now in a pretty dress and high heels she was a picture.

"You found us." She smiled.

"Yes. Being a City boy I packed the boot with survival gear, just in case. May I say you look lovely" She beamed with pleasure. I walked round to open the passenger door. I assumed that I wouldn't be introduced to her father just now.

"Thank you." She slipped into the car easily. She had learned the lesson of how ladies got into a car without displaying their undergarments. When I got in the car she was leaning over presenting her lips for me to kiss. I did. "Good! We have established that we have got to the kissing stage."

"What other stages are there?" I asked mischievously.

"If you don't know, Mr. Chandler, then I shall have to work very hard for us to get there. But it's going to be a lot of fun finding out."

"Do you know, I think it will be." 

"Turn right at the bottom of the Drive." She turned slightly in her seat and looked at me quizzically. "Daniel, I have a feeling that you are not quite the innocent you portray."

"I didn't think that it was innocence."

"What was it then?"

I thought for a moment. "Diffidence is the word I would use."

"Interesting. Why do you think that?"

I took my time gathering thoughts. Bella gave me directions which I followed. Finally I had found the words to answer. "I suppose it is a question of geography. I am a city boy. Raised in the city, I learned the lessons of the city and found my place in the city. I could wheel and deal with the best and survived whilst I learned my business. It would be untrue to say it was a man's world, but women were few and far between in that environment. Those women I would meet were professional. Professional businesswomen and professional arm candy who seem to have a nose for a healthy bank balance. I had no need to flirt or woo. There was an understanding, it was an exchange of assets. So those talents are not part of my armoury. I am now in a completely different situation, so whilst it may come across as innocence it is really diffidence. I am learning."

"I think I shall have to question you more about your professional women, but for the moment I will accept diffidence." 

Bella gave me directions as I drove and I was surprised as the restaurant, when we arrived, appeared not to be a restaurant but someone's home. Bella was unconcerned as she took my hand and led me to the door. It was not locked and we simply walked in to be greeted by a woman in her thirties wearing chef's whites and blue and white checked trousers. "Hello Bella, it's good to see you again. I imagine this must be Mr. Chandler." She and Bella kissed cheeks and she offered her hand to me to shake.

"Yes, Emma. This is the elusive Daniel Chandler." Bella turned to me. "Emma is the Chef of Bon Vivant.

"Yes, I peel vegetables, wash up and put the rubbish out as well. Welcome to Bon Vivant. Let me show you to your table and I'll give you the run-down of what is available."

I was surprised as she led us through into a dining room. It was larger than normal but contained only four tables. However the tables were laid exactly as you would expect for a high class restaurant. One table was occupied by a party of four and we were led to a smaller table in the corner. We sat down and Emma went through the menu. "You have a choice of starter, a consommé of crab, or carrot and coriander soup. Then I can offer you Beef en croute or Somerset Pork. Whilst you think about that I'll get you an aperitif. Sherry, or mother's ruin?" I looked to Bella who mouthed 'sherry'

"Sherry please, Emma. May I ask for something towards the dry end of the scale."

"Of course. Medium for you, Bella?"

"Yes Please."

When Emma had left us, Bella leaned forward. "I know it's unusual, but Emma and Gerry only open when they are not booked to cater. They can't run to a huge menu, however what they do offer is superb flavour and food cooked to perfection. This is their home as well as the base for their catering business. I thought that what they do may interest you."

I started laughing. "I should have known." I managed the words between laughter. "I'll remember when I...no, not me but you organize this dinner party I am supposed to have."

"Good. We are on the same wave-length then."

"Yeah. You keep giving me hints, and I'll figure them out."

"Exactly. That's how it has been between men and women since Adam and Eve."

We settled with our drinks and had ordered. Bella eyed me with a rather impish glint and asked. "Now what about these professional women?"

"What about them?" I parried.

"You talked as if you had met some."

"Yes I did. Most of them were hard as nails. In many ways it was like meeting a man in drag. They looked like women, they dressed like women but behaved like men. It was as if they had lost all their feminity."

"And the others" Bella was still probing.

"What others? Oh I get it. The ones I described as professional arm candy."

"Exactly. Did you know many of them?"

"No."

"I am surprised."

"Let's say I didn't fit their parameters. They surveyed and selected their target, then homed in like a guided missile. In me they saw someone who was too young to have pocketed a large wedge of money. I didn't have posh offices to impress, nor did I drive a big limousine. I think they saw me as a wannabe and wannabe's are not going to give them the life they want."

"You disappoint me, Daniel. I was hoping for lurid tales."

"I'm sorry that I can't regale you of nights of excessive passion." I paused. "However there is always the chance that someday I will have some experience to relate."

"Oh, I think that could happen." Bella smiled with a seductive inflection.

Despite what I had inferred to Bella, I did have a more than an inkling of passion. One of my early tenants was a 'Lady of the Night'. It was in the days when I would go and collect the rent personally, and Dawn was not able to pay her rent that month. She had been in this situation before and having promised to pay she always kept her promise. On this occasion she promised that she would have the rent within two weeks. I accepted that. Dawn invited me in for coffee. It was out of character for me to accept, yet I did. We had coffee and then Dawn treated me to her repertoire. My other tenants got a day's grace as I staggered out of Dawns place late that afternoon. I did offer to forgive the rent but she said a promise was a promise. "Anyway, Mr. Chandler. That was for me rather than you. Sex for me is my business. Today sex was for the sheer joy. Any time you are passing ring my door, and then ring my bell. You certainly did that today." I did call from time to time and Dawn treated me to the most pleasant exercise I have ever had. She was very professional at her work; being regularly checked and she always showed me her latest certificate showing she was free of infection. There are not many men who had sex with a prostitute and she paid him! It was her rent of course. 

The meal was extremely good. After such a culinary delight we sat with coffee and Bella asked Emma if she and Gerry would join us. I was surprised when they sat with us as Gerry was obviously Geraldine. I could see Bella watching me from the corner of her eye, but I believe I passed muster as I didn't show my surprise.

"Emma, Gerry. Daniel is the new owner of the Chetford estate. He is restoring the Dower House there and shortly he will have a special dinner to celebrate the completion. I brought him here this evening without telling him of your expertise. He seems to have enjoyed the food this evening so I thought he should meet you and possibly talk about your catering this special dinner."

I had suspected something from Bella so I wasn't too surprised. "Emma. Gerry. The meal was absolutely delicious. The special dinner was not my idea, but someone who is sitting nearby. However I think the idea does have some merit, so I will be going ahead. I understand that you could cater for me. However I would be obliged if you first could give me some advice. At the moment the kitchen area is a shell. I need expert advice to equip the kitchen. Would you do that for me. Then we can discuss dates etc." I hesitated a little and then said. "A little imp has been manipulating me so I think that at some time she should be punished with a smacked bottom."

That caught their interest. Gerry said eagerly. "Can we help in that? That would be fun." She confirmed my thoughts about their sexuality. 

Bella blushed but smiled anyway. "No you can't. You may decide to explore further. If I'm going to get my bottom smacked I will leave that to Daniel."

"Spoilsport!" Emma retorted.

"Lucky Daniel." Gerry commented.

Gerry got down to business. "It's quite simple really. You need a good electric oven, a catering oven if you could. A gas hob, a large fridge, the bigger the better and a big sturdy table for preparing vegetables and other dishes, oh! And a dishwasher. Get those and we can cope easily. We bring all the pots and pans needed and also all the crockery and cutlery. Depending on the menu we will also bring any specialized equipment we will need. If you have a dinner set and cutlery already we will use those if you wish, but we like to use our own as we know they are dishwasher safe. If you have a microwave that's good but not essential. Chefs will swear that they would not have a microwave in their kitchen, but believe me they do."

"Right, I have got that." I memorized the list. "So you don't need to see the place?"

"Well it would be nice to take a look." Emma remarked. "It's more curiosity than anything else."

"Come up anytime. If I am not around there will be the crew of Polish builders, who are very, very polite."

The engine ran smoothly, the lights pointed the way home, I was in a reflective mood, and Bella wanted to ask more questions. "In many ways, Daniel you are an enigma. Having built a successful business, how in the world can you portray yourself as an innocent...Sorry diffident? I like you, well actually it is more than like. I need to know more about you, but you will not talk about yourself. When are you going to open up with me?"

"What do you want to know?"

"Who you are? Your background, your likes, dislikes, habits. Do you snore? Do you scratch your bum? All sorts of things."

"For the record I do not scratch my bum, well not in company. I don't know if I snore, because I am always asleep at that time; so if I do it doesn't worry me. Background? Now that could take a long time, so what I suggest is that I come up one weekend and we can sit down and I'll answer all the questions you want to ask. Well most of the questions anyway."

"What will you not answer to?"

"I don't know as I don't know what questions you will ask."

"See! There you go again. Diverting the subject away from the subject."

"Bella, I promise I will answer as truthfully as I can. If you want to know if I pick my nose I may not answer that, but anything else I will answer. Now have I manoeuvred myself out of a kiss goodnight?"

"No way. I like being kissed, especially by you."

The goodnight kiss was very arousing. Bella moulded herself to my frame moving her hips teasingly, possibly by accident yet the outcome was natural. The teasing smile on her face as we separated told me that her actions were deliberate.

To be continued...



The Mist of Time Ch. 14



The visit to see Bella's father was interesting. First that he was in a wheelchair, second that he evinced a healthy dislike of all politicians and whilst physically tied to his house, his mind wasn't tied as his body. He knew almost everything that was going on. His interest was not just the locality; he was an avid follower of what was happening in the world outside of his constraints. His study would have satisfied any lecturer in Oxford, Cambridge or any other seat of learning. Around every wall of this large study were desktops fixed to the wall without legs which would have impeded his wheelchair. He had a very serious computer set-up with a thirty inch monitor. Then there were three thirty six inch televisions tuned to different news channels and a digital recorder. "Come in Daniel, make yourself at home." He pointed me towards a comfortable office chair. "You don't mind if I call you Daniel?"

"No problem." I told him.

"Call me Andy. Bella will be back with some coffee soon. It's good to meet you. I have heard tales about your family for years; it's good to meet one at last."

"I understand that some of my supposed forbears were rather colourful. However I am a descendant of one who didn't have Chandler blood."

"Yes. Bella mentioned that. She said your great grandfather was a Robert. I am not sure of where his connection came."

Bella came in with a tray. "Coffee!" She called.

"You have no need to shout, Annabel. It's my legs that don't work, not my ears."

"I am fully aware of that, Daddy. I shout not because you are deaf, but when you are involved with your hobby, you ignore me. I shout to make you listen."

"You are not a very dutiful daughter."

"And you are an aggravating daddy."

Andy turned to me with a despairing look. He didn't have to say anything. I however did. "You have that trouble too. My so-called secretary is of the same temperament as Bella. She shows no respect whatever."

"Tina is a very good secretary, Mr. Chandler." Bella scolded me. "And you know it. You would be lost without her." It was my turn to have the despairing look.

Bella poured the coffee and looked at me with the sugar basin in hand. She held up the spoon and raised her forefinger, mouthing 'one'? I nodded. Andy cleared his throat. "I was going to ask you if you would like to buy back some of the land we bought from your family, but I am not going to bother. You are a sensible bloke, Daniel, why use your capital for buying land when you can marry the daughter and get the land for nothing."

"Daddy!"

"Daughter! Ever since you met Daniel it's all I have heard from you. It's Daniel this and Daniel that. Give me a break, Bella."

Bella looked at me. "Please, Daniel do not believe him." She pleaded. "My father knows how to wind me up and does so frequently."

I was going to wind up Bella as well. "Don't ask me to help. You know how innocent I am. Your words, Bella."

"Grr...Men! I have a good idea to go down and see Emma and Gerry. Perhaps being a lesbian will be less exasperating."

Despite her words Bella brought the cups of coffee, first to her father and then to me. She pulled out a high stool and placed next to me and she sat down. "Did you sort out the problem with Huddingtons?" Andy enquired.

"Yes, but inconclusive."

"Oh?"

"It would appear that they had been hiding the true extent of the rented land. I believe that this has been going on for years. Our detailed enquiries must have worried them, particularly as our headed notepaper describes my operation as Property and Land Agent. I received a cheque and profuse apologies for a clerical mistake, and when I went there later they had, according to the solicitor next door, done a moonlight. He, of course put it in legal language but the deed is much the same whatever words you use."

"Ah Ha!" Andy chortled. "Always thought they were a bit dodgy. That's why I wouldn't use them. Do it all myself these days."

"Pardon me!" Bella interrupted. "You do it all, Daddy? That's a surprise."

Andy looked suitably penitent. "Well, Bella helps me."

"Huh!" Bella turned to me. "What are you going to do?"

"I have the perfect functionary to do all of that. Tina will love to get her claws into that. Why should I pay a percentage to someone to do that when I have someone who will do the job? "

Andy returned to the problem with Huddingtons. "How long had this been going on?"

"I couldn't really answer to that. I suspect quite a few years though. Brian Morestead was unaware of their scam and I am sure that Mrs. Tiverton didn't know."

"Mrs. Tiverton?"

"Yes. She owned the land for some eighteen years."

"How did you find that out? I thought it was held by a trust."

"I think that was the story that Huddingtons encouraged. Maude Tiverton lived in Harrogate and inherited the land from an uncle. She was the real victim of Huddington's manipulation. I suspect it was her remoteness that encouraged them to skim."

"How did you found out about that?" He asked.

"I didn't. Actually it was Tina. She is a devil once she gets her hooks in to a problem. She seems to know about places on the internet apart from the Land Registry, which has all this sort of information."

"Perhaps she should come up here and give me some tips." Andy remarked.

"I would think with all the equipment you have you don't need any tips."

He shook his head mournfully. "I have the chequebook for it but I am woefully bewildered by these electronics." His expression changed quickly. "One of the reasons for wanting to meet you, Daniel, apart from my daughter wanting to parade you for my inspection; I thought that you would take on the agency work yourself. Would you be prepared to take mine on as well? Within reason I am happy to pay a percentage for the work."

I needed to think about that. I suspected that Bella was handling that business for her father and didn't want to jump into the middle of a family squabble. Bella made my mind up for me. "If you could, Daniel I would be grateful. It would help with the tax man as well. He tends to look at the return with a jaundiced eye. Having documentation from a bona fide Property company would keep him quiet."

"Don't you have a tax accountant?"

"Used to, but he was rubbish."

"At some time I will introduce you to Chad Martin. He's excellent. Now as far as the rental land, do you really want me to take it on?"

Andy nodded vigorously. "You would be doing us a favour." 

"In that case I will do it." I agreed.

"What's the going rate?" Enquired Andy. "Fifteen percent?"

"That's what Huddingtons charged, so fine." I answered. 

Andy turned to Bella smiling. "I won the bet." Bella seemed a little miffed. "Bella and I had a bet, Daniel. She reckoned that you wouldn't charge, I thought you would. After all you are a businessman. You have to cover your costs."

Bella brightened. "Well in that case I have a good reason for turning up at your office often. For business purposes of course."

Over the next hour or so, we talked about other things. From that conversation I found out that Bella's mother died when she was eight and that Andy was Paraplegic, having been thrown by his horse. It happened when he put the animal to a hedge that the horse decided at the last moment was too high. As Andy put it, the horse stopped, he didn't.

I came away with the impression that my neighbours would become good friends; particularly it would seem that Bella had indeed decided that I would be good husband material. As I drove back to Bethnal Green I ruminated on that. I had decided to put down roots, hence the restoration of the Dower House. Did putting down roots also mean that I took a wife? There was also a family history to complete. Marrying Bella would tie a knot that started to unravel nearly a hundred years ago.

To be continued... 



The Mist of Time Ch. 15-16



CHAPTER FIFTEEN



I came downstairs to my office at eight o' clock on Monday morning to the smell of freshly made coffee. I was not late. I usually started work at this time, but having Tina in at this time was unusual. "Morning, Boss. I thought you would come back to the Pub yesterday."

"Sorry Tinkerbell, I decided to drive back here, so I could duck out of the thumbscrews and your interrogation."

"You only postponed it." She replied grimly and pointed to my chair. "Sit! I have loaded your coffee with pentothal so I want a complete confession and miss nothing out."

"What do you want to know?"

"Everything. Tell me about Bella's father for a start, are you engaged to Bella for second, and everything."

"He's a good bloke. He's in a wheelchair and very easy to get on with. No, I am not engaged to Bella, although I think her father believes that that will happen, except nobody is asking me what I think. Oh! And I have some more work for you. He's asked if we could take on the management of his rented land. That is it."

"Why's is he in a wheelchair?"

"In his words. The horse stopped, he didn't. He's paraplegic, paralysed from the waist down."

"Oh, the poor man." 



I could see her filing items in her mind, then another question popped up. "No mother around?"

"No. Bella's mother died when she was eight."

"Why do I have to put you through the mangle?" Tina complained. "That's the sort of information that I need." She then went off to another tack. "How was your dinner with Bella on Saturday night?"

"Very good and very interesting."

"Go on."

"We went to Bon Vivant. Only it isn't a restaurant it's a private house owned by Emma and Gerry. They are excellent chefs and they only open as a restaurant when they don't have any outside catering, which is their main business. Bella is quite good friends with them and suggested and they have agreed to cater for us at the Dower House when we have this celebratory dinner."

Tina threw her hands up. "Now you tell me. Boss getting information out of you is like squeezing a dry lemon."

"I haven't seen you since early Saturday evening." 



That was a fact, but Tina like most women do not deal with facts. Once she had decided to ignore that detail she returned to the Saturday evening. "And after the meal?"

"After the meal we sat and chatted with Emma and Gerry and they gave me some advice about equipment for the kitchen. They will come up to look over the Dower House at some time, so perhaps you should alert Aleksy. By the way, Gerry is really Geraldine!"

Seeing the understanding coming to her and the facial signs of that understanding was interesting. "You mean they are Le..."

"Yep."

"And Bella is good friends with them?"

"It would appear so." I was teasing Tina.

"Does Bella..?"

"No."

Tina nodded and returned to the nub of her earlier question. 

"So, after the meal?"

"I took Bella home and thanked her for her company that night."

"Detail of thanking her please?"

"A kiss."

"Tongues or just lips."

"A gentleman cannot answer such a question."

"Who says you are a gentleman?"





I changed the topic much to Tina's chagrin. "I didn't have much time to look at the house. How is Aleksy getting on?"

"He's happy about it. He reckons about six weeks and it will be done."

"Good. I'll go up there next weekend and have a look."

"Aleksy will be pleased about that. He's always worrying that it is costing you so much money and is afraid you won't like it."

"I'll try and re-assure him next weekend. I suppose I shall have to look at furnishings now."

"If I were you, Daniel. I would ask Bella to look at that for you."

"Why?" I asked knowing how Tina would answer.

"It seems that she will be moving in, either as live-in lover or wife. Either way she will be the mistress of the house, and it should be furnished to her taste. After all your ideas are usually rubbish."

"Thank you for that Teresa."



Furnishing the house would be a logistic problem and I needed to find out where I could get all I needed at one hit. I was certain that Chad could steer me in the right direction. He welcomed and immediately put the kettle on to make coffee. Before I could bring up the reason for calling he quizzed me about the arrangements of the Dower House. His face fell quite a few inches as I told him what I had in mind. "You're doing it the wrong way round, Daniel. If you had talked to me before launching yourself in this madcap caper I would had advised you to do it differently. However it's not too late to get it right. I would have advised you to list the house as your corporate headquarters, with you renting an apartment within the house. All of your outlay on restoring the property could then be set against your company's profits as necessary expenditure, reducing your corporation tax. It would help if you use the property occasionally for business functions. The rent you pay to yourself has to be at market value; else the revenue people will look deeper. In later years if further work has to be done again it can be set against your liability. If you ever cease trading you can buy the property back from the business for a song.

I was suitably chastened and I liked the idea. "Thanks, Chad. I will do as you suggest."

"Good." He smiled wickedly. "And I won't even charge you for the advice."

"May I get to the reason I am here in the first place?" I enquired.

"Of course."

"Do you have any dealings with a wholesaler of furniture and carpets etcetera? I will need a boat-load of good quality stuff."

"Hmm. Yes." He took a post-it note and wrote. "Call these people, ask for Greg. I am sure he will be able to help you. Will you need a lot?"

"Yes I think I will. A dining table and chairs for at least twelve in comfort. Probably something like six settees and the same number of easy chairs. Four beds at least, all doubles, occasional tables, the list will go on."

"Well Greg will be very happy to see you. I'll phone him and tell him you will call."



Before I left I mentioned that I would be hosting a dinner to celebrate my new corporate house. And that I would like for he and Lily to attend. He was guarded in his reply. "Who else will be there?"

"Tina and her intended, Aleksy. Actually Aleksy is the builder who has done the restoration. My neighbour, Andrew Swinson and his daughter Annabel, who has asked me to become his land agent, and of course you and Lily."

"The contractor and a possible customer. Good! That makes it deductible. Corporate entertaining." He grinned. "Daniel I will have to let you know about Lily and me. You will understand that Lily is still rather diffident about socialising."

"I understand, Chad. It would be good to have you both there, though."

"I'll let you know."

"Oh by the way. Andrew Swinson needs a good tax accountant. Do I get a discount for finding new clients for you?"

"No. You get enough free advice from me anyway. Don't push your luck."





The furniture purchase was taken out of my hands completely. Tina made the arrangements for she and Bella to visit the wholesaler. Two days later they met at a bistro in the Mile End Road and later took off to spend a lot of the Company's money. The idea of a bistro in the Mile End Road would be an impossible thought for those who knew the area thirty years before, where the only place to get a coffee was in a seedy cafe, which was usually pronounced caff! Times change and the area had changed with the times, from being a run-down tenement locality it had morphed into a very desirable place. There was a square close by; Tredegar Square which now was almost the equal of the up-market squares of Holland Park, with property prices often reaching a million pounds for a three storey town house. I had started my business just before the resurgence of the East End so even my modest portfolio had increased in value far beyond what I had expected. 



Whilst Tina and Bella were spending the company's money I was sitting at my desk trying to make the money. An email from an auctioneer in Ipswich alerted me to another auction. The properties offered seemed to be right to me and I emailed back with my intention to bid. The day's post arrived with a letter from Mr. Anders. His company had agreed to put down a twenty percent deposit for my properties. Enclosed was a cheque for eight hundred thousand. With a smile on my face I put that to one side. I would wave that in Tina's face when she got back.



If there is one thing that makes women happy, it is spending money. Therefore it was an extremely happy Tina who returned to the office later that afternoon. Bella would have liked to come to the office but as they had spent more time than they had thought, she decided to drive back home before the rush hour. When Tina presented the invoice I gulped and must have gone white which made Tina laugh. "What did you expect, Boss? Good stuff is expensive these days and Annabel knows what quality is."

I closed my eyes and took deep breaths until I regained my equilibrium. "Right, it is a good job I have just got this cheque from Mr. Anders." I pushed the cheque across the desk.

"Oh good. Greg took us to another supplier and we bought everything you need for the kitchen as well."

"Get me coffee, strong, black coffee, and put a good slug of whisky in it."





I got the coffee, but knew from the first taste that she was not allowing me the whisky. "Ok. Tanya, what have you actually bought?"

"Carpets for the lounge, office and bedrooms. Big oriental rugs for the dining and morning room. Settees and easy chairs for the lounge and morning room." She paused for breath. "A beautiful table and chairs for the dining room, it seats ten in comfort and fourteen if needed with a slip in extension. Beds for the upstairs, Wardrobes for hanging and chests with drawers. Bella picked up on your comment of disliking overhead lights, so we also bought a number of occasional tables and big table lamps. When we are next up at Chetford we will be going out to get all the linens you will need."

"I see. Well I suppose if you have bought all that it makes the figure on this invoice a little better to understand."

"You will like everything we ordered. Bella recognises quality and she has an eye to interior design. It's a pity her choice of men is so poor."



I noticed that she had talked of rugs for the dining room. "Why no carpet for the dining and morning rooms?"

"Ah! I wondered if you would pick up on that. Aleksy had taken some of the floorboards up and was surprised. It appears that the floorboards are solid oak and one and a half inches thick."

"One and a half inches! That's overkill."

"Yes. Aleksy said something the same. He and Gustaw got them all up and refitted them so there were no gaps. They are sanding the floors down and will stain them. Bella said to use a light oak stain and I agreed with her."

"Is there nobody who will ask me for my opinion?"

"Why? Your ideas about interior design could be written on a pin-head. Bella seems to have the right touch."

"I shall have to think about staff hiring and firing."

"Rubbish. You will be very pleased when you see it."





I was very pleased. I went up to Chetford the next weekend. I was deterred from entering the house as clouds of dust emanated from the morning room and the dining room where Aleksy and Gustaw were using belt sanders on the floorboards. The empty shell that had once been was now a house coming close to being an elegant home. I decided not to enter and disturb Aleksy so I walked around the house and took my leisurely way towards the summit of the hill and the ruins of the old house. Of course I had not walked too far when the drumming of hooves warned me of company. I stopped and waited for Bella to join me. She dismounted and smiling came to hug and kiss. An activity in which I joined quite readily. Drummond put a stop to that by nosing Bella in her back. "Stop that Drummond! You will have to put up with sharing me with Daniel." She grinned. "Sorry, he can get a little jealous at times."

"With Drummond around then you will have no fear for your honour then."

"Damn!" She laughed. "Were you walking up to the ruins?"

"Yes. Aleksy and Gustaw are sanding the floors, so not wishing to get covered with dust I thought a stroll was in order."

"I'll join you, if you don't mind."

"What about the horse?"

"Oh, he will be fine. I'll lead him on the rein and let him loose to graze when we get nearer to the summit. He won't go further than ten yards or so from where I drop the reins."

"Let's go then."





CHAPTER SIXTEEN





Drummond walked along with Bella holding the rein until we were some fifty yards from the summit. She dropped the rein and the horse stopped and watched Bella for a moment and then put his head down and started to graze. We walked on and found a path through the brambles eventually arriving where I had once noted the granite setts. Of course they were no longer here. We strolled casually for a while. Our conversation was desultory commentating on what had been and was the fire that destroyed the house was accidental or arson. I had been thinking about this for some time and believed that it was arson. "From what I understand the house was closed up and nobody lived there. Having been built in the early eighteen hundreds it wouldn't have gas or, of course, electricity. I doubt that it was caused by any natural phenomenon. Perhaps a vagrant had got in and he set the fire."

Bella seemed of the same opinion although she had another slant. "Arabella in her diary says that Dashwood's wife, Adelaide hated the house. You know what they say about a woman scorned. I wouldn't be surprised if she had the place torched as a sort of expiation for all the hurt she suffered when she lived there." 

"I know she and Robert were living with her father in Braintree at the time. Perhaps it was Robert who did it. After all he didn't have much reason to like the place."

Bella looked surprised. "Arabella didn't know that. I mean she never mentioned where Adelaide had gone. Robert was her illegitimate son wasn't he?"

"Yes. My great grandfather." We walked on for a while. "It's funny how the history of the Swinsons and the Chandlers is entwined together."

"Hmm." Bella was smiling devilishly. "I like that thought, Swinson and Chandler entwined. Yes. We owe it to fate and get a Swinson entwined with a Chandler again...Soon."

"I think, Miss Swinson that you are twisting the words for your own ends."

"Perhaps, Mr. Chandler. Are you set against that?"

"On no. Bella. Not at all."

"Good."



We returned to where Drummond was busily cropping grass. I was surprised that he had had stayed near to where Bella had dropped the reins. Bella thought she should go. "Any longer and he will cool down too much." She turned to me. "I hope I didn't spend too much of your money."

"Don't worry. Tina said you had a good eye for things. I have no doubt that I will like everything you have chosen." I put my arm around her waist and pulled her to me. "Shall I see you soon?"

"I am sure." She raised her face. I dipped mine and our lips came together. This was a different kind of kiss. She pressed her body against mine, not teasingly but a need to be close, to feel the oneness of a man and a woman who knew that soon they would be together in a more intimate embrace. We were disturbed by Drummond snuffling at us trying to prise us apart. "Oh Drummond." Bella cried. "I love you, but you have a poor sense of occasion." Drummond didn't care. Bella gave me another quick kiss. "That was the best yet, Daniel. If your kisses get any better, I shall swoon and be unable to protect my honour...Hopefully."

I laughed. "Get along you hussy."

"Your hussy, Daniel. Now give me a lift into the saddle, please?" She made a knee; I gripped her shin and lifted her up into the saddle. She gathered the reins in her right hand and the left hand came down and caressed my cheek. "I can't wait." Then she was off. Her last words were oblique leaving me the problem of deciphering her meaning.



As Bella and Daniel went the different ways a voice disturbed the tranquillity of the hillock. "So she is my grand-niece. She rides well. And he is the image of you, Danbury."

"So I have been told. Happily for us both that we don't take after Dashwood."

"If you did I doubt that I would love you so much."

"And for that I give much thanks."





I interrupted Aleksy just as he was sweeping the floor of the morning room. The sanding had created lots of dust, the majority being vacuumed into the machines' dust-bag. He was still wearing the mask as there was still a lot of dust in the air. He indicated that he would see me outside. He took a big breath when he joined me on the veranda. "How did it go?" I enquired.

"Good, Boss. Wipe down with white spirit and then when dry, stain. Will look very good."

"Tina told me that the boards were solid oak. That was very extravagant."

"Not only solid oak, it was heart-wood. Closest grain, very strong. Same with structure, bricks best quality and the mortar is even stronger than bricks. No wonder that house resisted decay."

"And no wonder the Chandlers ran out of money." That didn't mean anything to Aleksy. "How long before I can move in?"

Aleksy thought for a while. I could see him mentally ticking off various points. "Two weeks, Boss. Come, I can show you what we have done."



The dust had cleared enough for us to walk around without sneezing. The staircase was excellent. To my mind the main stair was wider than the original. Aleksy explained that buying the stair 'off the peg' so to speak meant that he had to make a choice between a string that was actually narrower than the original or slightly wider. Gustaw had made a very good job of fitting the stair into the balustrade of the first floor, and the half-landing looked as if it was always part of the stair. The tiles on the floor of the foyer were perfect. The black grouting, about which I was dubious was exactly what it needed. As we walked around my house I gradually became ever more excited. Hitherto I had been unable to visualize the house when it was completely restored, except for small details. Now it had come all together and every part seemed to compliment every other detail of the restoration. My mind kept seeing my home, and I had to keep reminding myself that actually my company owned it, I was merely the lodger. "You said two weeks, Aleksy, but to my eyes it looks complete."

"Need time for systems to settle down, get heat gradually into the walls, and see what expands or contracts. Fiddling stuff, but I don't want you complaining later."

"Tina wouldn't let me."

He laughed. "Is true. But what would she say to me?"

I joined in his laughter. "I could imagine. Ok, Aleksy, I will not be up again until you say it's ready. You have done a good job. I didn't think it could look as good as this."

"Thanks, Boss. I will let Tina know when I think we have covered all the snagging."





I had not planned to spend the weekend, so I drove back to Bethnal Green. Having driven this journey often now, I relaxed a little and in my mind started thinking things through. It was Bella that occupied my thoughts and what I should do. She was very attractive to me; the criteria of beauty has a norm yet the individual man's view varies from that norm. Bella was lithe, presumably because of her riding so frequently; she didn't have much of a bust, something that many men would regard as important. I would not describe her face as beautiful, yet she had a character that enlivened that face, the twinkle in her eyes and the smile made me want to look at her all day. I liked her quick wit and her boldness. Yes, I liked her for all these qualities and for the fact that she liked me. I was certain that soon we would be lovers; I couldn't ignore the broad hints that she dropped. That was another trait that I liked, her frankness. My mind turned to the future, would Bella be the right woman for me, for life? I think that Bella had those plans; her involvement in the Dower House was a statement of her wish to be the chatelaine there. However I viewed this I could find little fault. I knew I was close to a decision.




The Mist of Time Ch. 15-16



I came down to the office on Monday and walked into a problem. One of my rent collectors was waiting for me. "Good morning Hussein. How are you?"

"Not happy Mr. Chandler. The tenant in 67 South Road has not paid rent for two months. I have called many times but no one is there. I called yesterday hoping to see him and found another family in residence. They say they have paid rent to Mr. Singh. He has not contacted me with the rent unless he has paid you directly."

"Sit down Hussein, I'll check."



I went through our receipts and unsurprisingly there was no payment, nor any mention by Mr. Singh that he was sub-letting. I thought for a while and came to a decision. I opened the safe and selected my copy of the door key. I gave it to Hussein. "You know the drill, Hussein. If the lock has been changed then the tenants are attempting to cheat us. If that has happened let me know and I will get the police down to evict the tenants."





All landlords will have this problem from time to time. Usually it is resolved by a threat to evict. However if the tenant changes the lock they are denying the right of the house-owner (me in this case) entry into their own property, which is a criminal act, so the police have to be called. Hussein went off to sort the problem. He was very useful to me, as well as being tireless at collecting rents he also spoke quite a few languages of the sub-continent. When dealing with tenants who had little or no command of English, he was invaluable



Tina bounced in at ten o' clock, obviously having driven down that morning. She was in an ebullient mood which changed as I explained what Hussein had told me. "I'll go there now!"

"No you will not. You are employed as a secretary, a job at which you are particularly good. You are not the company bruiser. I know you enjoy that role, but as this is likely to become a police action I don't want accusations of harsh words or brutality." Sullenly she went out and I heard the rattle of the kettle as she took out her irritation on that innocent article.



She was in a better mood when she came back bearing mugs of coffee. "Aleksy told me you called in on Saturday and that you had a long conversation with Bella. What do you think?"

"I was very impressed. Aleksy reckons two weeks to completion."

"Yes, I know. The carpet people will be in later this week, also the kitchen will be fitted this week. All the furniture will be delivered next week, so when you go up in two weeks it will all be finished. I made an arrangement with Bella to go up on Friday and we will shop for linens."

"I suppose you will want the company card for that." I sighed.

"Yes please." Tina smiled sweetly.





"I have been thinking, Tina."

"Oh no, Boss. When you start thinking it all goes wrong." She cried.

"You are a very impertinent employee. Tanya. I was going to say that you and Aleksy should move into one of the suites until you can get something else."

"Ah! I was going to suggest that. But I think that it would be better in the long run to find a cottage or something nearby. Bella said that her dad had a cottage that would suit, but it needs the Aleksy touch before we could move in."

"It would appear that you are making all the arrangements. It's a good job that one of us has the money to pay for it all."

She stuck her tongue out at me "You are obsessed with money, Mr. Scrooge."





Two weeks later I went up to Chetford. I was astounded at the difference. Tina and Bella were hurrying around making last minute placements. If the house had an atmosphere before I had not detected it, I understood that which I could see and touch. Now, however I did detect an atmosphere. It exuded a sense of wakening after years of slumber; it was welcoming, preparing for a future and wiping out the past. Bella joined me as I walked around. "What do you think? Daniel."

"It's perfect. You and Tina have chosen well, it all fits in as if it was meant to be."

Bella had been holding her breath and almost subsided when at last she relaxed. "Thank God! I was so worried that you wouldn't like my choices."

"How could I dislike anything? After all you chose it. I had complete confidence in you."





Aleksy was hovering, almost dancing on his toes. I turned to him. "Aleksy, well done. Absolutely superb."

"Thank you, Boss. Men very happy too." He was referring to the bonus I had made to each and every one of the crew. "I go make last check round." He wandered off and I turned to Bella.

"Thank you for getting so involved in all this. I really appreciate your input. Now I suppose we should arrange the dinner we talked about. Any ideas?" My question was rhetorical as I was certain that Bella had already made some plans.

"Well, Mr. Chandler that does depend on when you move in, doesn't it?"

"That will be later next week. Tina has arranged with the removals people for Thursday. I don't have too much of personal stuff apart from clothes so I expect to move in next weekend."

"Good. If we send out invitations now your guests will have two weeks to make their arrangements. Who is being invited?"

"You, of course. Your father, Tina and Aleksy and my accountant, Chad and his wife Lily."

"That's it?" Bella seemed surprised. "You have some important neighbours, perhaps you should ask some of them."

"Perhaps later. This dinner is for my true friends, those who helped me get where I am and those who helped me in this project. I count my true friends on one hand; others will be business friends and those can vanish in puff of smoke."

Bella digested that and smiled. "I understand that. Daddy has quite a few friends like that. Oh! Daddy will have to have his helper with him. Jason may be uncomfortable sitting with us. I don't think Emma and Gerry will mind him having something to eat in the kitchen."

"Helper?"

Bella nodded. "Yes. He can get around Meadowlea quite easily as he had slopes and wide doorways put in. Outside or anywhere else he needs Jason."

"Right. It is two weeks today, if Emma and Gerry can fit us in."

"I am sure they will. They still want to be in for the ritual spanking." Bella's eyes twinkled.

"As I said if and when, that will be a private affair."





To be continued...



The Mist of Time Ch. 17



CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Those two weeks went very quickly. Tina planned our move like a military operation, even as far as going up to my flat and packing my clothes. At the other end it was Bella who unpacked all my effects and put them away, apart from a few items which she left in a cardboard box. When I asked about them she told me determinedly. "I will not be seen with you, wearing that stuff! We will go to Colchester soon and we will get you proper country clothes."

Four days before the dinner we were installed in our new office. It was quite a big room so though Tina's desk was some few feet away I would not have to bother with the intercom. Tina was pleased although she did say that I would still shout for her anyway. On the Thursday before the Saturday of the dinner Gerry and Emma came to inspect the kitchen. They evinced satisfaction of the equipment and gave Bella their suggestions for the menu. I think Bella agreed before showing it to me. The first course was a crab avocado pickled ginger timbale. Then they suggested tenderloin beef steaks stuffed with mushrooms with a touch of garlic. The desert would be a key lime torte with cream and strawberries to add a touch of sweetness. Finally there was a cheeseboard with soft and hard cheeses. I agreed to the choice, how could I say any different? Bella did allow me to choose the wines. Huh!

I was so pleased that Chad and Lily had accepted the invitation. They arrived just after six-thirty. Of course Bella, Tina and Aleksy were already there, the two girls fussing about last minute alterations to the dining table. Bella was wearing a very nice long dress, a shimmering shade of cream, she looked lovely and I told her so. Her blush complimented perfectly the shade of her dress, Aleksy and I sat in the lounge like spare grooms at a wedding. Chad's arrival changed all that. Bella and Tina joined us in the lounge. I had told them about Lily's face and they greeted Lily with aplomb and after our greetings, Bella and Tina conducted Lily away to the ladies room where they could all touch up their make-up. Chad watched their departure with humour. "Lily has spent at least an hour getting dressed and then another hour on her face. It took us three quarters of an hour to get here and already she is off to repair her face."

"She looks a lot better than when I saw her last, Chad." 

He nodded. "Yes. She had another procedure and she is less shy about it now." Chad paused. "I think Lily will tell you all about it later." He looked me in the eyes. "Thank you for the invitation, Daniel. This is the first time that Lily has been out in four years."

"She is beautiful lady." Aleksy remarked.

"Thanks Aleksy." Chad was grateful. He looked around. "You seem to have made a very good job of this. Daniel said it had been uninhabited for sixty years."

"It was. But Victorians built well. Fabric of house really sound. If not there would be nothing to restore." Aleksy was very proud of the job he had done and once started it was difficult to stop him describing the problems he had and how it was resolved. The Ladies returned and Aleksy curtailed his monologue. It would appear that Bella had shown Lily around. Lily was very complimentary which would have got Aleksy started again until Tina gave him a look and he subsided. 

There was idle chatter for a while until the sound of a car pulling up disturbed us. "That will be Daddy and Jason." Bella remarked. We went out to greet him. Andy had a converted van. A raised roof at the back with a windscreen allowed him to be wheeled into the van and let him see where the driver was taking him. Sliding ramps eased the wheelchair down from the back doors. The wheelchair was locked in place when the van was moving. Getting out of the van was easy as Jason guided the wheels down the ramps, but getting Andy up the three steps to the veranda needed two to pick the chair up. I stepped up and Jason told me where to grip the chair. 

"Thank you Daniel. I'll be ok from here." Andy said once he was on the veranda. He wheeled himself into the foyer and Bella showed him into the lounge.

I turned to Jason. "You know you will be most welcome at the table."

He nodded. "Miss Bella told me that you had extended the invitation. However it would be better if I stand ready to help Mr. Swinson. He has no control below his waist so I will watch him for signs that he needs to leave the room for a while."

"He is lucky to have you around."

"I am a trained nurse. Mr. Swinson is a good man, I am lucky to be in his employ."

"I understand. Well Emma and Gerry the caterers will plate up some food for you."

"I am obliged, Mr. Chandler." I showed him the layout of the ground floor and then took him into the kitchen, where Emma and Gerry, perspiring, were dashing around getting everything ready. Jason got straight into their good books by asking what he could do to help.

"Twenty minutes, Mr. Chandler." Emma called.

I returned to the lounge and my guests. I needn't have worried as Bella had made sure that everyone had a glass of sherry. She smiled as she handed me a glass. "Skiving off again, Daniel?"

"Cheeky! Your spanking is getting closer and closer."

Her eyes twinkled. "Promises, promises."

Lily approached us. "This is a lovely house, Daniel. You must be so proud of it."

"I am Lily. It is a rather odd way by which I came to own the place, but I am very pleased that fate has brought me to here."

"Yes. Chad said something about that. Is it true that your family owned the property a hundred years ago?"

"It would seem so, Lily. It's a very thin thread, but it's there all the same."

Lily turned to Bella. "I understand that you are responsible for the interior design."

"Not alone, Lily. Tina helped tremendously. Daniel let us loose with his credit card, and you know how spending money is such fun."

I left Lily and Bella to chat and I went over to Andy. "Your chap Jason seems to be very helpful. He's helping the cooks now."

"I couldn't get by without him, Daniel. He is a bit bossy from time to time, especially when I am having a good time, but I can't complain. I like your girl, Tina. She will be looking after the estate for you?"

"Yes, and yours if you really want us to take on the management. She and Aleksy are starting their own business. Property maintenance."

"Ah! Interesting. Well he did a damn good job here, so I will probably want to talk to him sometime. There are some cottages that need a helping hand."

"Tina mentioned that there was a possibility of renting one of your cottages."

"As far as I am concerned, Daniel, it's theirs whenever they want. However I have another three cottages that need a lot of attention. Oh and I do want you to take over the management of my land. Bella has done it, but something tells me that she has another interest to pursue." He thought for a moment. "Is Chad the accountant you talked about?"

"Yes."

"Hmm, perhaps I should have a chat with him sometime."

Jason put his head around the door and coughed. "Ladies and Gentlemen. Would you please take your places in the dining room?" He came and took hold of the handles on Andy's wheelchair.

"Don't fuss, Jason. I can do this myself." We strolled casually into the dining room.

The dining table looked magnificent, bathed in the light of flush lighting in the false ceiling. Stanislaw had fixed them on two circuits controlled by dimmers switches, so the room was lit with soft lighting except over the table where the lights shone more brightly. I helped Bella into her chair and my guests sat, automatically sitting so every lady had a gentleman either side of her. They conspired so that the only chair left for me was at the head of the table. Bella was sitting directly opposite to me and when I sat she gave me a beaming smile. Emma, Gerry and Jason bustled in and served the first course, with Jason offering a light white wine to compliment the course.

In retrospect I had to hand it to our chefs. I have rarely enjoyed food as much as I did that evening. The food was excellent, but the conversation around the table was exhilarating. We covered many topics some serious and others humorous, though at no time was it too serious and the humour was gentle. Having finished the meal I offered coffee and brandy. It was at this point that Lily decided to speak. Her eyes glittered with a hint of moisture as she spoke. "Daniel, Bella, my newly found friends. You have been so generous by not mentioning my face, thank you. I have never spoken about it and being here amongst friends I feel that I should. My face is as it is because I was the victim of an acid attack." 

I was surprised as the gasps from others told me they were also surprised. Lily went on. "Someone thought I had done him much harm and he took his revenge, the results you see."

The sound of a chair falling backwards came from Aleksy who stood, his face blazing in anger. "Tell me who this man is. I go and kill him!"

"Aleksy! Please, there is no need to do anything. My husband took care of that. Even though I hurt Chad deeply he took revenge by ruining the man. I believed that my marriage was over and for many months it was, but Chad, my lovely Chad, found me and we talked. Gradually I understood that what had happened and the acid attack was not a result of my actions but the actions of a very evil man, who has paid the price." 

Aleksy had sat down again at this point, and Tina reached over and held his hand. "My Polish Bear. Always ready to fight for a woman's honour. No wonder I love you." Aleksy grumbled a little but subsided. 

Lily went on."This is the first time in four years that I have socialized." She turned to me. "Thank you Daniel for your invitation, and thank you all for making this evening so comfortable for me. I know now that I don't have to hide away in shame and embarrassment."

"Damn right." Andy said it perfectly for all of us.

Chad brought up another subject. "I am most curious to know, Daniel. What is your connection to the owners of this land all those years ago?"

"It's strange, Chad. That I and the estate's ownership had a surname in common didn't ring bells, but when I saw a photo of the last land-owner, Danbury Chandler the bells started ringing, as we physically were identical. Tina decided to delve into the genealogy and found a connection. So I will let her tell the rest of the story."

Tina smiled with pleasure. "So good of you, Boss. You would have probably made a complete mess of it." She coughed "Right. The last owner of the estate was Sir Danbury Chandler, the son of Sir Dashwood Chandler.

"A Baronet?" Chad injected.

"Yes." Tina went on. "Danbury had a younger brother, Robert who was illegitimate. He was a child when his mother, Lady Adelaide left Chetford in the eighteen nineties and moved to Braintree. Robert married in nineteen twenty-one to Ellen and they had a son Douglas. They lived in Braintree probably for all of their life. Douglas married Mary just after the second war and they had a son Dennis, who is Daniels' father. That is the simple explanation. There is no clue to who was the father of Robert."

"So Daniel has no bloodline connection to the owner...who did you say, Sir Danbury?" Chad asked.

"Correct." I answered.

"Pity." He mused. "Having a Baronet as a client would look good on my letterhead." 

It had become quite warm in the dining room so I got up and opened the French doors that accessed the patio. Immediately Aleksy had to go out and check. Tina followed as did Chad and Lily, so I looked at Bella who smiled and rose. I went to Andy. "Shall I wheel you out, Andy?"

"I can manage, Daniel, but thank you for asking." The only problem would be the floor sill which was about two inches high. I had supposed it would be a problem, but not to Andy. He tilted back slightly when he approached the sill and the two wheels on the front of the chair lifted, he rolled the chair forward and the wheels landed outside, then the big wheels came to the obstacle and Andy exerted his strength and they went over too. 

The light breeze was refreshing. I suddenly was aware of something that Tina and Bella had forgotten. "Ahem." I cleared my throat. "Tina, you and Bella seem to have forgotten something. We need chairs out here."

"Do I have to think of everything for you, Boss?"

"Well, what else do I pay you for?"

"A pittance of a wage and you expect me to be perfect? I think not."

"I shall have to review your position here, Tracey."

I noticed Bella mouthing at Aleksy. "Who's Tracey?"

Tina saw her too. "It's when he is losing the argument." She told Bella. "He can't remember my name. It's a pity that senile dementia has taken him so early, but we have to be kind to the afflicted."

Bella laughed. "Well I didn't think of chairs out here, so perhaps I suffer from that too." She grinned at me. "I'll sort that out first thing Monday." 

She came close to me and hugged me. "Sorry, Daniel."

"A beautiful lady hugs me like that, of course I forgive you. I like having you close to me."

"I'm sorry that I don't have much cushioning in the chest area."

"Don't apologise. I think you have rather pretty boobs."

Her face lit up. She turned and said to the company. "Daniel likes my boobs. He's so nice, even when I don't have anything like Tina."

"You can have mine anytime you want." Rejoined Tina. "They're a bloody nuisance. It takes an engineering marvel to keep them where they are, and the back-ache they cause is constant. Aleksy has to rub cream into my shoulders every night as the straps cause abrasions. I would love to have a reduction."

Andy interrupted. "Do excuse me, but I think it's time for me to leave. I don't think it appropriate for me to be here when my daughter is discussing her mammary development." 

"Daddy! All I said was that Daniel likes my bits."

"That's enough, dear daughter. Would you call Jason for me?"

Actually Jason was already there. "Come along, Mr. Swinson. I think it is time to get you home."

"Come along Mr. Swinson." Andy mimicked Jason's tone. "As if I have any say in the matter, once he grabs those handles I go wherever he wants me to go." He stuck out his hand to me. "Thank you, Daniel for a very entertaining evening." He turned to Lily. "I too don't get out much for obvious reasons, but it was a delight to be here this evening and a delight to meet you, Lily. I do hope to see you again."

I went out with Jason and Andy, helping lift the chair down the steps and into the van. Jason closed the doors and made his goodbye. "Thank you Mr. Chandler. Mr. Swinson will speak of this evening frequently. It's a pity that the chefs bat for the other team though."

I laughed. "I understand how you feel. Thank you for your efforts this evening."

"It's my job, Mr. Chandler."

I returned to the dining room. My guests had returned to the table to sit. I was thinking and ruminated aloud. "I suppose, Chad, that if I were to take out a company private health insurance, would that be deductable?"

"Yes. It would cover you for necessary procedures for key personnel. It would not cover elective procedures." I had always been awe of Chad's perception. Now it seemed he knew why I had asked.

"Ah. How about if one of my key personnel needs surgery to enable her to do the job satisfactory?"

"Only if the condition has occurred whilst in your employ."

"Damn!" I went and stooped by Tina. "I am serious, Tina. If you really would like to do something like having a reduction, I will stand you the fees."

Tina looked at me as if I was having a brain seizure. "You're joking."

"No. No jokes. I didn't understand how they affect you, and I am sorry if you thought I was making a joke about your..."

"Big tits." Tina saved my embarrassment. She looked towards Aleksy. "Well?"

"Is good. I don't like it that you get back aches. What will it be like in future?"

Tina nodded and threw her arms about my neck. "Daniel the day you offered me this job I was delighted. Now I know it was the best move, apart from Aleksy, I ever made. Thank you, Boss. You really are the best."

With Tina hanging around my neck I looked at Lily who was smiling. "Does your surgeon do this, or does he know a good man for reductions."

"I think what you are prepared to do for Tina is brilliant. No my surgeon doesn't do breasts, but I am certain he knows someone good. I'll phone him."

"Thank you."

Emma and Gerry came in to ask if everything was satisfactory. I invited them to sit down and poured two brandies. They had worked hard to prepare and serve the food and I thanked them fulsomely. I went on. "You have quite a drive home. You are welcome to stay the night if you wish."

Gerry looked at Emma and as it is with people who partner they agreed without words. "That is very kind of you, Daniel. In return we will make breakfast." 

A little while later in one of those inevitable pauses in the conversation Emma brought up the subject of the facility of the house. "Your dining room and kitchen are excellent and you have facilities downstairs. We are asked from time to time to cater formal dinners. We have trouble doing that at home, but here, it would be perfect. Would you allow us to organize such an event here? The Masons will accept your charge for the use of the house, of course." I was not opposed to the idea and looked to Chad, who had his accountant's face on, thinking

Finally he spoke. "It would be quite in order with the house being your place of business, Daniel. You will have to get Public Liability cover though. Again that would be deductable to set against what monies you receive for the use of the facility."

I addressed Emma. "How often would this be?"

"Usually three times a year." She replied.

"I am not opposed to the idea. Let me think on it. I'll get back to you shortly." 

Just after that the party started to break-up as Chad and Lily prepared to leave. Lily came up to me and kissed me on the cheek. "Thank you Daniel. You have helped me to come out of my cage. Perhaps you and Bella will come down to Abbess some time so I can return your hospitality."

"That would be splendid."

Bella seemed to have disappeared. Tina showed Emma and Gerry to the room they could use. I went around the ground floor making sure that all windows and outside doors were shut. Aleksy followed me to make sure, especially when I set the intruder alarm. Stanislaw had put in a good system. Break in anywhere and all the downstairs lights came on and hidden cameras filmed the intruder; the images being stored on a hard disk. They couldn't turn the lights off as the room switches were automatically disabled. I trudged upstairs after Aleksy who turned to me on the upstairs balcony. "Thank you, Boss. I really enjoyed the evening. See you in the morning."

"Night. Aleksy." I went to my suite. Now I am not stupid and Bella disappearing was not too much of a surprise, nor was I surprised that when I got to my bedroom the bed already contained a body. Two arms came out from the covers and pushed them down until a cheeky face could be seen. 

"I hope you don't mind my sleeping in your bed, Daniel."

I was taking off my clothes as she spoke. "Not at all, Bella. I am grateful to you for warming the sheets for me."

She was watching me intently and soon I was down to my trunks. I picked up the worn shirt and socks and dropped them in the dirty linen bag. I came back into the bedroom. "I would prefer that you get rid of those." She said, pointing at my trunks. "I have forgotten to bring a nightdress."

I turned to the dresser and opened the lower drawer, pulling out a nightdress."So what is this?"

Without a blush she replied. "Oh! Well I thought it would be a waste to put it on and then later have you take it off me. Hopefully."

"Hope doesn't come in to it. I would have taken it off you the moment I got into bed." I pulled the curtains and opened a window. The night air was cool but not cold. The moon was near to full and even when I switched out the lights I could see my way clearly to the bed. The last thing it did was to pull off my trunks. I lifted the covers helped by Bella and slipped into bed. Immediately a warm, lithe very naked, very lovely female body clung to me as a warm wet tongue prised open my lips. The kiss went on for some time even as she squirmed endeavouring to get every part of her body against every part of my body. Whilst doing so she discovered a part of me that was very happy.




The Mist of Time Ch. 17



That was when her lip-lock broke. "Is that you?"

"Yes."

"Oh! I think you had better take it slowly. I am not that experienced."

"We have all night and the rest of our days and nights."

Bella smiled. "Yes." Then she caught on to what I had actually said. "The rest of our days and nights?"

"That's what I said."

"If that is what I think it was, then the answer is yes."

That Bella was a slim woman had been obvious from the first day I saw her, her years in the saddle had honed her. My delight was that it hadn't taken away her feminity. I went on a wondrous journey of exploration, discovering her erogenous zones much to my enchantment and hers. Bella urged me on, wriggling and gasping as I found and stroked yet another pleasure site. Early on she showed me that she wouldn't be a passive partner in this investigation as she wriggled around until she found something that intrigued her, she then wiggled some more until the object was in a position for her to make a thorough examination, first with her hands, then with her lips until finally she murmured. "I have been told that it is pleasurable to suck on this, so if you don't mind..." I didn't mind at all.

It is strange how you come awake sometimes. You seem to go into a half-life, not being asleep but not totally awake. I was aware of coming out of slumber but could not rise, as if there was a weight on my chest and stomach. There was a weight on me, it was Bella. I opened my eyes to see her face, her eyes watching me warily. As she understood that I was awake the wary look was replaced by a smile and happiness. "Good morning, Daniel."

"Morning, Bella. Did you sleep well?"

"I doubt that I have had any sleep." She answered. "I couldn't sleep because my mind was caught up by all the lovely things we did last night."

"I'm sorry about that."

"No. Don't be sorry. I am astonished that making love could make me feel so good. I will never be sorry about that." Suddenly the smile was replaced by a frown. "You let me believe you were innocent. Last night was not innocent at all. Have you anything to tell me?"

"It was you who made up your mind about innocence. I did try to tell you that I was diffident, not innocent." I went on to mention something of my experience with Dawn. Immediately I regretted the comment. Bella being a woman was not be satisfied with anything but the truth, the whole truth. However I answered her questions another was on her lips almost immediately

Bella finally seemed satisfied. "Was she a good time girl or something?"

"No. She didn't walk the streets or anything like that. She was quite intelligent and she liked sex; so it seemed sensible to put to use her talent in that area. I got the impression that she would escort lonely well off gentlemen in London, hoping to meet one who was wealthy who would marry her, or if that wasn't possible would set her up as his mistress."

"And she taught you all this?"

"No. I think it best to say that she polished my abilities."

"And well polished they are."

"I try to please."

"Mr. Chandler, please you did. I loved it when you kissed my Kitty...Actually I loved everything you did. This is an Oliver Twist situation. Please Sir, is there more?"

We found a lot of other exciting things to do together.

To be continued...



The Mist of Time Ch. 18-19



CHAPTER 18

It was late when we got down. Tina and Aleksy were sitting at the table, empty plates before them and the scent of Eggs and Bacon still hanging in the air. "Wondered when you two would get down." Tina remarked. She looked up at Bella. "I see you found the clothes I sneaked into Daniel's room."

"Yes. Thank you, Tina."

Emma came in, having sensed that more hungry stomachs needed feeding. She looked at Bella and shouted for Gerry who rushed in. She looked at Bella and then back to Emma. "She's ruined for us now. Damn!"

Bella was smiling broadly. "I'll tell you when the spanking is, but you are not invited. My fiancé and I need privacy."

At first no one reacted to Bella's words. Then Tina looked up sharply. "Did you say Fiancé?" Bella nodded. Of course the girls rushed around to hug and kiss Bella, congratulating her. Aleksy and I just shook our heads.

"Is there any coffee left in that pot?" I enquired. 

He lifted it and nodded. "Still hot, Boss."

A good breakfast set me up for the day. Aleksy and Tina went to view the cottage that Andy had promised to let and Bella and I lounged around. Suddenly she remembered something. "I brought Great aunt Arabella's diary. Do you want to read it?"

"I certainly would like to read it." Bella ran off to fetch the diary. She was back in minutes.

"I haven't brought all of them. She noted almost everything for the day and wrote the diary for seventy years. It can be tough reading at times. This one is nineteen o' eight, when she first gets to know Danbury. I glanced through the pages, pages of close feminine writing in a pale blue ink which had faded somewhat. This was going to be difficult.

Excerpt of Arabella's diary.

Twenty seventh of August nineteen hundred and eight. Dear diary. I have met him. The man who I always knew was out there; the one who would make me his wife. It is so silly really, as our families have lived within a short horse ride for years. Unfortunately we are not considered to be right for their social standing as Daddy is just a grocer. He is Sir Danbury Chandler and he is so handsome. I confess my heart almost stopped when first I saw him. His hair is deep brown with a lock that flops over his right eyebrow shadowing his lovely brown eyes. His face doesn't appear to be finished without the almost constant smile he wears. He is quite slim but not too tall, yet if I were to stand by him I would still have to look up. He is perfect. I am so happy that strangely he has no resemblance to his father; all that ginger hair and very pale-blue watery eyes within a pasty face ugh! It was quite by chance that I met him at his estate yard. I was riding by when I noticed the labourers scurrying round and arguing. Out of curiosity I rode over. It appeared that one of those internal combustion carriages had gone by and spooked the horses pulling the mower. They had bolted through the gateway, which was too narrow for the mower, it crashed into the wall and many of the blades are now seriously out of shape. 

Sir Danbury had been summoned and shortly he arrived at the gallop, leaping off his horse so fluently as if he was an acrobat. He seemed to understand the situation very quickly and I was amazed that he didn't start shouting at his men as I am certain his father would have done. He spoke quietly with his leading man and thought for a moment, then spoke again. There is one last field that needs to be harvested and it should be soon as rain is almost certain in the next few days. Without the mower the field must be harvested in the traditional way, men wielding scythes. The wonder of it all is that Sir Danbury will join the men to bring in the harvest. None of his labourers had ever heard of that before. I was standing with the labourers wives and one whispered in my ear. "Setting your sights, Missy?" I must confess dear diary that I blushed. However she went on to say. "He's a good'un. You'll not do better. It will be much happier round here as well with him as Master. We knew that the first time he came down here. The cottages were in a bad way. He spoke to Alfie and suggested that if the men did the work, he would provide the materials and forgive the rent until the cottages were right again. No other master would have done that, certainly not old Sir Dashwood. May he rot!" I could empathise with that feeling, Sir Dashwood would hardly exchange the time of day with Daddy except when he needed to sell some of his land. He would thank Daddy profusely, then ignore him the next day. 

They started the following day. Eight men and Sir Danbury. Alfie Sugg, the lead man took his place in the left of the line and drew a deep breath as he surveyed the field of wheat. He braced himself with the scythe and called to his men. "We will harvest this field in three days." He then swung his scythe and started his swathe. When he had bitten into the wheat for three swathes the next man to him, who was my Danbury studied his rhythm and matched his strokes. The other men did as Danbury did. It was a half arrow head led by Alfie Sugg. I asked one of the wives why they adopted this formation. "If they were all in line, it would be easy for a scythe to chop at another man's leg. Very nasty a scythe cut." Suddenly I heard Alfie sing. "Danny Boy." The other men sung the next line. "Danny Boy." Alfie sang again Danny Boy, the others repeated Danny Boy. Then all together they sang "Danny Boy, amongst the leaves so green oh". The simple refrain was repeated using one of the other's names. I realized that the song would help them keep in time. I also realized that Danny Boy was Sir Danbury.

The wife I had spoken to asked me if I had any vittles for my man. I shook my head. "He'll want something midday, Missy. Some nice bread and cheese and a flagon of small beer." I was cast down for a moment. I hadn't thought of that. I raced to my horse that was contentedly cropping at some grass. "Come along Dapple. We have to get some food for our man." I set Dapple to gallop and she seemed to respond to my urgency. Within twenty minutes we were home at Meadowlea. 

I asked cook for the food. She understood what was required as I explained. Then I asked. "What is small beer?" She smiled and went out to the scullery, returning with an earthenware flagon. "It's beer, Miss Swinson, but it is weaker than normal. Quenches the thirst but doesn't addle the wits."

I was back within the hour. The men had stopped and were running stones over their scythes. Wheat seemed so fragile but it seemed that it could blunt a scythe quite quickly. They did this quite regularly whenever Alfie called a halt. The women followed the men and collected the mown stalks. They tied them with twine into bundles and set them upright together in stooks. There seemed quite a few stalks that had been missed by the scythe, Mistress Suggs told me that they were allowed to gather the uncut grain; she called it gleanings and mill it for their own bread-making. Eventually Alfie called for food and drink. The men sat down gratefully and the women went out carrying the food and drink for their men. As I prepared to walk out into the field one woman stopped me. She gave me a little jar. "He will be needing this, Missy. It's something that Mistress Sugg cooks up. It don't smell too good, but it will be very soothing for his hands." I took my bundle to Sir Danbury. He looked up and smiled. Oh Diary, if hadn't been in love with him before I would have fallen all over again with that smile. 

"Miss Swinson. This is so kind of you." I couldn't say anything, it seemed as if my tongue had swollen to twice its normal size. Instead I blushed and stammered 'Arabella'. He smiled again and spread out his coat. "Would you like to sit for a while, Arabella?" He talked to me and I managed to stutter out answers to his questions. When he had finished the bread and cheese he took the flask and drank deeply. I took the linen top off the jar. 

"I am told that this concoction will be very good for your hands." I proffered the jar, but he simply offered his hand for me to administer. He had wrapped strips of cloth around his hands but as I unwrapped his fingers I could see the blood and burst blisters. "It may sting, I think." 

"A little price to pay for the beauty I see before me."

"Sir Danbury!"

"Danbury. Arabella! Just Danbury."

End of excerpt of Arabella's diary.

Bella and I had read the diary together, stopping frequently to discuss what Arabella had described. The diary would take days to read, as Arabella seemed to miss little and noted it in her diary. Bella was putting the diary away in her bag when something struck me. "Wait a minute."

"What is it, Daniel?"

"She mentioned Sir Dashwood, she described him."

"Yes. What about it?"

"Dashwood was a thorough red head with all the traits of that colouring. Hair, pale skin. Light blue eyes."

"Yes."

"Then she described Danbury, who was completely different. Dark brown hair, brown eyes. Now it is not automatic that a son of a red head will be redheaded as well, but Danbury had none of those features at all, and he had brown eyes."

"That doesn't mean anything." Bella objected.

"True, but it is rare that a son doesn't have any similarity to the father. Now I am supposed to be a doppelganger with Danbury, but I have no genetic trail to Dashwood. Do you follow?"

"I think so, sort of. Are you suggesting that Danbury was not actually Dashwoods son?"

"It's a possibility. The resemblance of Danbury and myself may have come from a generation before, possibly from whoever fathered Robert."

Bella giggled and then the giggle turned into a real laugh. "Oh Daniel." She gasped while trying to control her laughter. "If that was so, it would have really put the fox amongst the chickens."

I suggested that we went shopping sometime that week. "Hmm, yes a good idea. You need more linen."

"We need more linen."

"Whatever."

"It wasn't that anyway. I have to buy you an engagement ring." 

That stopped her for a moment and then she smiled, happily. "That's a lovely thought, but can I suggest something else?"

"Yes."

"I have a ring. It is a family heirloom, a solitaire diamond shouldered by emeralds. The reason I ask is that it is the ring that Danbury gave to Arabella. She never got the gold ring to go with it, so I thought it would be nice to finish the story, if you understand." 

I leaned over and kissed her. "A very good idea. The circle went out of shape back then. We will put it back into shape."

I mentioned my thought about Sir Danbury to Tina the next day when we occupied our new office for the first time. She was putting files away and stopped abruptly. "You are joking."

"No. Ask Bella, she's upstairs."

"Moved in has she?"

"As we speak." Tina went off in search of Bella. 

Twenty minutes later she re-appeared with Bella who had brought the diary. "I am going to copy the page and send it to Mr. Prescott. I think he will find this quite interesting."

"I see. Are we going to get any work done today?" I asked flippantly.

"Well I will, Boss, but I have my doubts about you."

"Thank you, Tracey."

Actually I was the one who got on with work as Bella and Tina first went about the business of scanning the two pages of Arabella's diary and then composing an email to Mr. Prescott. That wasn't the end as together they started to read further into the diary. I was catching up on the correspondence that had arrived during the move. Quite a large packet had been delivered by the postman, who was surprised to have post for what he had assumed was a derelict house. Tina had informed the Post Office of our move and they were diverting the mail from Bethnal Green to Chetford. One flyer had caught my eye. It was from and Auctioneer in Lowestoft giving advanced notice of an auction of property. I brought up their website and studied the property for sale. I decided that some of the properties would suit and noted in my diary to attend. I emailed them to register my intention to bid.

I became aware of Bella standing by my side. She had been watching what I was doing. "Can I come with you?" She pleaded.

"Of course, but why?"

"I want to know how you do things, I want to know the signs that make you bid or not as the case would be."

"I see, looking to take over, are we?"

"Don't be silly, I couldn't do that. It's just that I would like to be of use, you know helping if I can. Tina is very busy, you are very busy, and I don't want to stand around being a spare peg."

"Ok. Yes, of course you can come along with me. I'll try to show you what happens and what to look for."

That was the right answer if the smile she wore was anything to go by. She was going to leave and suddenly turned back. "You know you are going to need a housekeeper for this place."

I nodded. "Yes. I did think of that when we were moving in. Got any ideas?"

"I think so. Let me ask around and I'll get some possibilities in for you to interview."

"For us to interview. You are part of this as much as I." I got the smile again.

Three weeks later Tina brought to my attention an email from Mr. Prescott. He had found something and would like to call to discuss his findings.

CHAPTER 19

Mr. Prescott's eyes widened in amazement when drew up outside the Dower House. He got out of his car and just stood for a while his eyes darting here and there trying to take in the change. He came up the steps shaking his head. "Mr. Chandler I am amazed. From the photos I discovered of this house, I would have said without hesitation that all you could do was knock it down." He extended his hand to shake. "This is magnificent." I showed him inside and took him to the office. He greeted Tina. "Miss Barker. It is so very good to see you again." His gaze then fell upon Bella, who advanced and held out her hand. 

"I am pleased to meet you, Mr. Prescott. I am Annabel Swinson, soon to be Annabel Chandler." 

That stopped him. "Swinson? Are you by any chance related to Arabella Swinson?"

Bella smiled. "She was my great, great aunt."

Mr. Prescott looked at me and then back to Bella. "And you are engaged to Mr. Chandler?"

"Yes."

"Wonderful!. I have often observed through my research that history appears to repeat itself. Here is proof. Fate obviously intended a connection between Chandler and Swinson. I am so pleased that it is going to happen."

"Coffee, Mr. Prescott?" Tina broke in.

"May I be difficult and ask for tea?" 

"No problem." 

"I'll help you, Tina." Offered Bella and they left together.

Mr. Prescott had brought his laptop and looked around to see where he could set it down. "Here. Use my desk."

"Thank you Mr. Chandler.

"Call me Daniel."

He nodded. "I am Brian." He switched on the laptop and we waited as it booted. "I continued in the research and found some facts which didn't seem to fit. When I received that email from Miss Barker with the description of Sir Dashwood it started to make sense; that is if you discount Sir Dashwood as being the sire of Sir Danbury."

"It went through my mind, yes." 

"Good we are both in the same frame of mind."

The girls came back with drinks, and once we had sweetened and milked to personal tastes Brian began to talk. "This could have been an uninteresting story. The Chandlers like so many aristocratic families went from rags to riches and back to rags. It would have remained just that except for the intervention of you, Daniel and your extraordinary resemblance to Sir Danbury. Daniel you should not have any gene similarity to Sir Danbury, except through his mother. That could have been just a coincidence until Miss Barker. May I call you Tina?" Tina nodded. "Sent me the pages from Arabella Swinsons' diary. The description of Sir Dashwood was illuminating. That Sir Danbury had none of his physical characteristics would have most doctors asking questions. Whilst genes from past generations could come into play, sometimes from many generations long gone, it is rare that a son has none of his father's characteristics. So with that in mind I started searching again. This is what I found." 

He put up a sepia photo of what was without doubt a Victorian man. Hair cut short with a neat side parting, a moustache and a full beard, neatly trimmed in the style of Edward the VII. The eyes almost glared at the photographer with disdain. He was almost certainly an aristocrat. "This is Rupert St.John Grantley, Earl Grantisbury to be precise. He was a friend of Edward VII from his late teens and continued as one of Edwards's companions' right through to his death." He put up another photo and I immediately recognised Sir Danbury. "I have cleaned up the photo's to remove the damage that comes with age. Now let's look at them in a different way." He clicked and suddenly the two photos' came up side by side. "I managed to get hold of a programme that was developed for the police. It compares the two images and rates them according to similarities. The police use it to identify culprits who try to disguise themselves. Genealogists use it to determine relationships. The programme examines width of brow, setting of eyes, cheekbones , chin and mouth. All of which are usual familial genetic traits." He set the program to work and we waited as the photos were scanned. In one corner a percentage counter was clicking up. "It takes some time as my laptop doesn't really have a large enough processor and this programme takes up a lot of the disc.

It took something like ten minutes to complete and at the end the percentage counter was indicating sixty-six percent. Tina was impatient. "What does that mean?"

"It means that these two people have a very high possibility of being related. I believe the police with a correlation percentage of seventy-five percent would conclude that the photos are probably two views of the same man. With genetics anything over fifty percent is pertinent. If I had the skills to photo-shop and get rid of the Earl's beard, I am certain that the count would be higher. The beard hides some physical features."

"I could do that." Tina advanced her computer skills. "I have Adobe on my computer. Send me the photo and I'll get on to it." 

Mr. Prescott looked at me, I shrugged my shoulders. He loaded the two photos onto a USB memory stick and Tina immediately slotted it in and downloaded. "You must take care, you cannot change the underlying bone structure."

"I think you had better stay for lunch." I suggested to Brian.

"Who's cooking?" Asked Bella.

I looked at Bella who smiled sweetly. She had said on quite a few occasions that her cooking skills were minimal. "Ah! I think we had better go down to the pub. You coming Tina?" She didn't reply. She was already working, merely waving her hand airily obviously not bothered about lunch.

We did not stay long at the pub. Everyone of us was eager to see how Tina had got on. She was still poring over the editing suite when we got back. I, who knew her best could see that she was getting exasperated. I guided Brian and Bella out to the back terrace. "It's best we leave Tina alone for the moment. She is likely to explode if we harass her."

"I'll go and make coffee." Bella offered. "Or would you prefer tea, Brian?"

"That's very kind of you Bella. I would indeed prefer tea."

"Where did you get this Earl and why did you think he could be part of the equation?"

"It was something that struck me when I was seeking to find the acquaintances of Sir Dashwood and Lady Adelaide. I supposed that if Sir Dashwood was not the father of Sir Danbury then it would be one of their society who could. The 'Tatler' was the publication that carried that sort of information. I had to go through a lot of microfilm. They reported the house parties of the aristocracy and royalty and I was able to match Lady Adelaide to some of the weekend parties. After some time I found that Earl Grantisbury would be at the same events; I thought it coincidence at first, until I realized that Lady Adelaide was a guest only when Earl Grantisbury was present as well. With his connection to Edward it was simple to get a photo of him. That was when I started investigating him."




The Mist of Time Ch. 18-19



"And what did you find?"

"What I found was quite interesting, but may we leave that until Tina has finished her work. She started this in many ways, so she should be present."

"You are right of course. I'll go and see how she is getting on."

Tina was not happy. She had done what I would say was a very good job. The photo now showed a man who had had a sloppy shave that morning. She was angry that she couldn't do better. "Every time I try to clean up the whiskers I am changing the shape of the face." She ranted.

"Calm down, my pit bull. You have done a bloody good job. I'll get Brian in and let's see what it comes up with now."

"Ok. But before we do that, I'm taking a photo of you. Perhaps Mr. Prescott will do the same comparison with your photo."

Andrew repeated the test with the photo-shopped image and this time it came up with a correlation percentage of seventy-eight percent. Then he loaded my photo and tested again. The correlation percentage was eighty percent. He was triumphant. "There you are Daniel. I have no qualms in asserting that Earl Grantisbury is your Great, great grandfather."

"That is interesting in a way. However I am intrigued that Lady Adelaide could cheat on her husband at least twice and he did little about it."

Brian nodded his head wisely. "Yes. You need to understand the sexual mores of the Victorian and Edwardian aristocracy." He took a sip of his tea to moisten his throat. "Much of the aristocracy married for many other reasons than love. Advancement, land, protecting their lineage, and the usual prosaic reason, wealth. That meant that many couples were locked in a relationship with someone they probably liked but who didn't engender passion. The country house weekend, which was very popular was the way they went about scratching their itch. Hostesses would understand who wanted to be with whom, and would arrange that their bedrooms were close. You have to understand that the fashion of the time had upper class married couples sleeping in separate rooms. Once they had done their duty and produced the heir and a spare, many couples had an unspoken acceptance that whatever happened at the country house weekend was not something to speak about. 

"And it was supposed that it was the poor who were immoral." Tina intervened in a bitter tone.

"The upper classes, Tina, always had a different interpretation of morality." He took another drink of his tea. "There is evidence to connect Earl Grantisbury to Lady Adelaide before she married Sir Dashwood. He had a lodge which was not too far from Braintree, it was known as Upton Lodge."

"What?" I intervened. "Upton Lodge was where Lady Adelaide went to live with her father when she left Dashwood. I thought he owned the Lodge."

Brian smiled. "Yes, exactly. May I come back to that later?" I nodded. "Earl Grantisbury with his title and friendship with the Prince of Wales moved in the highest strata of the classes. He would be able to enjoy the benefits of the country house weekend, but Adelaide, as the daughter of a draper, would never get an invitation. I believe that the Earl managed the marriage of Adelaide to Sir Dashwood. She got a title and I presume that he got money. The Land Registry of the time showed that Earl Grantisbury bought some land from the Chetford estate. I would imagine that the Earl paid well over the usual value for that land. This arrangement meant that Sir Dashwood and Lady Adelaide were suitable to receive invitations. This device was quite usual. The Prince of Wales had many mistresses and they had to be married to a titled man, else his mistresses would not be accepted in society. It has been suggested that Edward was not as vigorous as his self-advertising would indicate. Rumour had it that some ladies were required to do little but sleep in his bed and act as if they were well satisfied with the encounter. The Prince could ease the husbands' supposed distress with honours and suitable Court appointments. I imagine that Grantisbury would make suitable gifts of money, of which Dashwood was always in need. Also Grantisbury would require Dashwood to accept any children born to be acknowledged as Dashwoods' progeny."

"He didn't accept Robert as his son." Bella remarked.

"No indeed. After a son and two daughters and then another son Dashwood reneged on the agreement." Brian nodded his head. "However he maintained Adelaide and Robert at Chetford so Grantisbury did not interfere." He turned his laptop so we could all see the screen and clicked on Documents. He then selected one particular document. "This is an extract from the Land Registry. It shows that in eighteen ninety-six the Earl transferred ownership of Upton Lodge to a Mr. Reginald Smith draper, of Braintree. He was Adelaide's father. Rose had married the previous year, Danbury was in the Army, and so the Earl obviously believed that it was time for Adelaide to have her own household. He must have been certain that Dashwood would not divorce Adelaide; again there may have been some inducement probably money, to have Dashwood stay his hand. I have to say that the Earl's and Adelaide's relationship had to be true love. He had done everything he could to keep her and looked after her at great cost to himself. Nor did the society journals mention any attachment to any other lady."

"But he did not marry her." I muttered.

Brian caught that. "He would have to divorce his wife. With his position at Court he would have needed Victoria's permission. Her view of marriage was that it was for life and so I doubt she would allow Grantisbury to divorce. Adelaide could not divorce, wives could not bring suit against their husbands at that time, and Dashwood would have made such demands to divorce Adelaide that would make it almost impossible."

Tina had a question. "Why didn't he make the Lodge over to Adelaide."

"Under the law of property at that time anything the wife brought to the marriage or any property she gained during the marriage automatically became her husband's property. I would imagine that Mr. Smith made a will leaving the property to Robert, thus keeping the Lodge out of Dashwood's hands."

Bella had been listening intently. "Poor Adelaide. Loving the one man she could not be with and married to a beast of a man. She must have been so sad for most of her life."

Brian agreed with her. "You are right, however after King Edward died in nineteen-ten, all of his friends were out of favour. George the Fifth was strong on marital fidelity and those courtiers who acquiesced and abetted Edward's adventures were side-lined, Earl Grantisbury being among them. From that time on there is little mention of him in the society pages. I suspect that he spent some time at his family seat, but probably more time at Upton Lodge with the one love of his life, Adelaide. He died in nineteen-nineteen and Adelaide in nineteen twenty-two. I hope that their last years together were everything they had wished for themselves."

I had been listening carefully to this exposition yet still thought it far-fetched. I voiced my misgivings. "Brian, I hear you and all you say to my mind is a little bit on the improbable side."

"I understand your doubt, Daniel. However I will point out that you, Sir Danbury and Earl Grantisbury have a likeness that cannot be explained away as co-incidence. There is only one explanation for your likeness and that is that in some way you are related. Everything else is based upon some evidence, not in itself conclusive, and the lifestyle of the upper classes of that time. I am a historian and I come across things that seem extraordinary. My factual mind rejects the evidence I see, yet many times it is true. Viewing history with a twenty-first century attitude can lead you astray. You have to get into the mindset of the nineteenth century and the attitudes of the Victorians."

Not totally convinced I smiled. "Yeah! I'll give you the benefit of the toss."

Brian gathered his paraphernalia together preparing to leave. Just as he was ready he asked again if he could write a book about this. "I have already made some notes and decided it cannot be a factual history, more of suggested history, which could have happened. I shall write it as a fiction based upon fact."

"I have no objection at all, nor do I have any problems of your using the real names."

"Thank you, Daniel. I will of course allow you to read the manuscript first. If there is anything that you wish to amend or edit it will not be a problem." 

Three weeks later I received a draft, with a note asking if I would review and comment.

To be continued...



The Mist of Time Ch. 20-21



CHAPTER 20

LADY ADELAIDE'S STORY 



Many people wish that they could live their lives again; correcting the bad decisions, the chances to make good and to make amends for the evil of their actions. I often dwell upon the decision I made and find that my life would be exactly as it was; I would take the same path. I can forgive my reprobate of a husband for all his hateful actions. I am proud of my children, Danbury, Rose and Robert and weep for my daughter Alice who died at six months from the Croup. My father I view with admiration and love; his forbearance of my choice, which cut him to the quick and his support of me in spite of his inhibitions. Then of course there was Rupert, my darling, my lover, the husband in everything apart from the ceremony that would have made us partners in the sight of the Lord. I know the words that others will attach to me, Mistress, Doxy, Whore, Paramour, Courtesan, Inamorata, Moll, these words do no hurt as I knew that with or without the Church I was the wife of his heart, as he was the husband of my heart.

Our little town of Braintree was becoming quite the place. The railway came in eighteen forty-eight, before I was born and had put vigour into our sleepy little town. My father's drapery business became quite busy and with that we led a comfortable life. From the age of fourteen I was always working with my father in the shop my dear mother having succumbed to consumption when I was ten. My first job was to polish the counter. This was a solid slab of oak, sanded and stained dark brown. It measured three feet wide and ten feet long. Imbedded at the serving side were brass yards so my father could measure off the yardage the customer wanted without having to use a yardstick. I polished that counter, making sure that no beeswax remained which could spoil the fabrics as it slipped along the counter. The brass rules were also polished with a paste which had to be well rubbed to remove all traces of the unguent. With that done I would address the shelves behind the counter. The shelves were partitioned into sections that would just take the half-blocked rolls of fabrics. These needed to be dusted and polished. From time to time it was necessary to remove all the stock from the shelves to clean then thoroughly; it is amazing how much dust these fabrics could shed. I would work in the shop until eleven o' clock when I would repair to our living accommodation upstairs. I would tidy the bedrooms and dust and sweep after which I would prepare our midday meal. 

I was of eighteen years in eighteen seventy-two and young gentlemen would come calling, as I was supposedly a handsome girl. My father would turn them away, telling me that none of them were fit to court me. "Farmers boys, clerks and counter staff are not fit for you, Adelaide." Indeed it seemed that in his judgement there was no young gentleman in Braintree that would suit. In my occasional bitter moments I could even believe that my father rejected suitors in order to keep me as his cook and housekeeper. I would scold myself later for such an unworthy thought. The event that upset our pleasant but unexciting world came when I was but one and twenty years.

Upton Lodge was a rather impressive house just a mile south of Braintree. We were all agog when news came that the Lodge, which had been uninhabited for a couple of years, had been sold. The rumours had the purchaser was a rich industrialist; another had the new owner as a merchant from London. The reality was even more exciting, the new inhabitant was an Earl, a Peer of the Realm. Braintree, our sleepy little town was now the seat of a Noble! However no one set eyes upon him for many weeks. This was not unsurprising, Peers do not mix with commoners, nor do they frequent traders' premises. My father was favoured though, when an imperious footman called one day. His purpose was to order my father to attend at Upton Lodge; the purpose to make and fit new drapes. The footman didn't wait to see if my father would accept the contract, he merely demanded that my father attended "immediately".

Father worried as he could not leave immediately. He told the footman that we would attend that afternoon. The sniff from the footman told us that he thought us ungrateful for the honour bestowed. My father was in a tizzy as he went about collecting swatches to take. The worry spoiled his midday meal to the extent that I took it back and covered the plate with another and placed it in the oven on a low gas, telling him that he could dine later when we had completed this work.

The walk calmed him and we arrived at Upton Lodge shortly after two o' clock. Being trade we made our way around the house and presented ourselves at the kitchen door. The same footman showed us the way and pointed out the rooms that needed new drapes. We were left in peace for a moment and I started to measure the windows. I had a yard stick for this purpose. My father said he would measure one of the other rooms. The room I was measuring appeared by the many books; more books than I had ever seen, to be the library. This window was quite tall and even on tip-toe and with my full stretch I could not reach up to the shelf that would support the swags. Looking around I noticed some library steps. I was thus able to take the measurement. To my fright as I descended the steps I trod on the hem of my skirt. Thus unbalanced I started to fall when two strong arms caught me and carried me away from the steps and then set me on my feet. My saviour smiled and asked if I was uninjured.

"No, Sir. Perhaps a little shocked but uninjured." The truth of the matter was that my heart was bumping along in my breast, not because of fright, but from the smile he gave me. He dressed very well, a dark gray drape coat over black trousers, a waistcoat of dark green and a cravat at the collar of his white shirt. To my mind the cravat was always more becoming than the tie that some men were now wearing.

"Good. Pray tell me who have I the pleasure of rescuing?"

I bobbed a curtsey. "Adelaide Smith, Sir."

He bowed his head. "Grantisbury. It is a pleasure to meet you."

The footman came in at that moment. He gave me a look of disdain. "I am sorry my Lord, I didn't realise that you were in here else I should not have allowed Mr. Smith and his helper to come in." I blanched. This was the Earl!

"Shelton, it is of no matter. I am sure that Mr. Smith and his daughter will take tea with me. Serve it in the drawing room." The footman retired giving me yet another black look as he did so. 

"Do forgive me, My Lord, for addressing you incorrectly." I was distraught for not realising who he was.

"Well, Miss Smith, as we were in such a close embrace for a while I do believe that we could dispose of silly titles and with your permission I would like to call you Adelaide, which is a lovely name and perhaps you would call me Rupert. What do you say?"

"Surely, My Lord that would be inappropriate."

"Only if we were not to meet again. I would count my life most empty if we do not meet again."

"My Lord...Rupert, you are forward."

"Ha-ha. You called me Rupert. How can it be forward when you call me by my given name?"

He had caught me in word-play and he had caught me also with my emotions. His features were so handsome, but his eyes! His eyes shone from deep pools. Therein all emotions, love, tenderness, honour, laughter and sadness were displayed in equal proportions. I wanted at that moment to wipe that sadness away. Here was something that I had not believed could be true. An aristocrat who treats someone like me with courtesy. He helped me with taking the measurements as being taller than I could easily reach up with the yardstick to the top of the window. I wrote down the measurements he called in my notebook. He escorted me to the drawing room where my father waited. Another footman stood ready to serve tea.

"Mr. Smith. I thank you for your prompt attendance, the morrow or the next day would have been quite sufficient."

My father bowed slightly. "My Lord, it is a pleasure to be of service."

"Please sit down." The Earl nodded to the footman who began to serve tea. I of course instead of sitting went over to help in pouring the tea. "Adelaide." The Earl called me. I turned. "You are a guest here and you should allow Banthorpe to do his job." He rebuked me gently.

Flustered I went to the settle and sat down. "I am sorry, My Lord."

"I thought we had settled on Rupert." My father looked aghast at this presumption. " Mr. Smith. There is no discourtesy here. Your daughter allowed me to help with the measurements. Being an apprentice to your trade, so to speak, I insisted that she call me Rupert." He could see that my father was not happy with that and went on quickly. "Ah! I see you have brought some samples. What would you suggest, Mr. Smith. As I have no talent with furnishings I must concede to your superior knowledge." He easily diverted my father's attention.

In the weeks following Rupert would send a carriage for me supposedly needing my advice and to measure other rooms for new drapes. We would discuss the spurious reason so that I had something to tell my father, and mollify him with yet another order. With that topic disposed of within a few minutes we would talk and with our conversation I would find myself becoming further attached to Rupert. I believe that he also became more attached to me. His courtesy was seemingly inbred, but his gentlemanly behaviour to a woman so decidedly of a different class betook of another emotion. This came to a climax when one day we had taken a turn around his garden. It was quite a large garden with many shrubs and trees. At one point we could not be observed from the house. He stopped walking and I had taken a few steps onward and away from him. I stopped and looked back. His expression was a soulful unhappiness. "Adelaide." His voice was broken. "Much as I would love to see our friendship flower, I cannot go on with our meetings." He took a deep breath. "I enjoy our converse so much that I now feel a deeper emotion for you. Indeed if the situation were different I would seek a much closer relationship with you than just friendship. As it is I cannot offer you anything and that pains me. You know that I am married." I nodded, he had told me early on in our friendship. A marriage urged upon him by family, uniting his Earldom to the daughter of a Duke. The son of the marriage would be a Duke and an Earl at the same time. "That being the case it would be improper of me to become more intimate with you. I would ruin your reputation and with that tarnished it could be difficult for you to make a good marriage."

I closed to him and looked up. "Rupert. How could I ever make a good marriage when any man I met I would compare with you, and find him wanting. I would live as a sorrowful wife and a poor mother as my children would not be yours. My heart would grieve that I am not with you all the time." I paused not knowing how to propose that I knew in my head to be right. "Rupert, my dearest. I understand why you say these things. Not just your marriage, but the difference in class as well. Not being with you or seeing you would cast a shadow over my life; if I cannot be your wife then I would offer myself to you as your mistress."

He was shocked. "My dearest Adelaide. I could not accept that. Surely you would know how your life will be? You could not be seen in society. You will live your life in the gloom."

"I know that, Rupert. But if that is the price I have to pay, I will pay it willingly, just to have you from time to time." I moved closer to him and put my arms around his waist. He automatically enfolded me in his arms and I looked up, beseeching him to kiss me. His lips descended to mine. My heart raced with my first kiss and when his tongue first probed and then parted my lips, my heart bounded within my breast. I did not know that a kiss could be like this, but the intimacy of his tongue tasting my mouth and my tongue dwelling in his was overwhelming. He drew back yet held me tightly still. "Rupert. My body is yours whenever you wish to take it."

"That is a gift beyond value, Adelaide. I promise that you will never rue your decision, I shall look after you and your father. You will never find me wanting. If I cannot be your husband then I shall have to find a husband for you. One who will give you a title yet will not demand of you that which you give me freely."

"Why do I need a title, Rupert?"

"That way you will be suitable for society and we can meet quite openly."

"And my husband?"

"He will be rewarded for his discretion."

Two weeks later Rupert visited on the Sunday, and with trepidation I made some tea as Rupert conversed with my father. When we were seated together, Rupert, bravely set before my father the arrangement we had come to. Fathers' face went white and then puce with anger. "Sir! With due deference to your status, your intentions are less than honourable. You call upon us and calmly propose you prostitute my daughter. How dare you, Sir. When I was young I would have been in my rights to call you out whatever the circumstance of our class."

"Mr. Smith, I do understand your anger. If I could marry Adelaide I would in an instant and damn the consequences. However that is impossible. My feelings for your daughter are intense, so much so that I find it impossible to put an end to our meetings."

Rupert, being the gentleman that he was took all the blame on his shoulders. I could not let him face the ire alone. "Father. Ever since I was sixteen you have turned away all the young men who called. None was good enough. For quite a few months no one has called such were the high standards you imposed on any suitor. Rupert, who would meet and exceed any standards you set tried to end our friendship. It was I who told him I couldn't accept that. It was I who proposed that I become his mistress. I love Rupert with all my heart and I will happily accept any place in his life as long as I do have a place, however small that place may be."

Rupert took my hand and gazed into my eyes. "There will always be a place for you in my life, lovely Adelaide. A very important place too, as you will hold my heart."

My father had to withdraw his concerns. A draper cannot argue too vehemently with an Earl. When he mentioned that he had arranged that I marry the Baronet Sir Dashwood Chandler, father caved in. To be connected to that family would be good for his business. We knew of the family but of course we had no social connection. That Sir Dashwood was a gentleman but did not act as a gentleman was unknown to my father and me. It turned out that Rupert also was misled to that gentleman's character.

With everything settled, I was eager to begin my life with Rupert. He invited my father and me to dinner at Upton Lodge, sending his carriage for us. It was not a happy evening as my father glowered all through the meal. I withdrew allowing them the time to smoke cigars and take a glass of brandy. When they joined me in the drawing room father appeared to be a little happier. It was many years later that I found out why. Ten thousand guineas do help to smooth a ruffled demeanour. The money was actually for me, so if anything happened to Rupert I would be cared for. Rupert couldn't make the gift to me personally as when I married the capital would have belonged to my husband. The carriage was called again and my father left, alone. The house maid showed me the way to my bedroom and helped me out of my dress, petticoats and stays. She left and I slipped out of my drawers and bodice and donned a nightgown. Then thinking about it I took it off and slipped naked into the bed. I waited with bated breath for the knock on the door which would herald Rupert's joining me.

The knock came and I drew my breath to answer. "Come in." I called and Rupert came in, wearing a robe, I wondered if under that robe would he be as naked as I? He came over to the bed and bending down kissed me with passion. As his lips left mine I sat up and the covers slipped down revealing my breasts. His eyes opened wide with admiration.

"Oh, my dearest and most loved Adelaide. You are so beautiful."

I pushed the covers down revealing the whole of my body. "I promised you my body, Rupert, and I offer it to you now. All yours as often as you wish, to do with as you wish. Just promise that you will love me."

He doffed the robe and for the first time I saw a man unclothed. It was difficult to know where to look first. His strong legs, his manly chest covered lightly with hair, his muscular arms or his member which sprang majestically from his loins. Even as I watched it seemed to quiver and grow. He slipped into bed with me and wrapped me in his arms. I declare I had never felt such wonder before, his body cleaved to mine, his lips sought mine, his chest impressed upon my breasts and the heat of his member lay upright against my belly. My legs entwined as if by nature with his pulling him even closer if that were possible. All doubts flew away in an instant. This was my place, I had found content.

I had eavesdropped on some of our customers, who when my father was not present would gossip and moan about their marital duty. From their whispers I had formed the opinion that women would suffer the indignities of marital relations purely to keep their spouse happy. At first that thought was in my mind yet the experience with Rupert changed my opinion completely. Not only did he kiss my lips but savoured my breasts giving much attention to my nipples. I have to confess that this gave me great pleasure, although when his lips moved further down my body, pleasure mixed with astonishment. None of those housewives had mentioned this! I understood that the first time would be painful, although the pain was trivial compared to the expectation. Even so Rupert, upon seeing my wince of discomfort, made to withdraw his face showing his concern. "No, my dearest. It will pass quickly enough." I encouraged him and I was right, for the pain subsided quite quickly and soon it was I who urged him to take me. The idea that nature had devised this manner of reproduction for men's delight alone was banished from my head as waves of pleasure started to assail me. They began as a small tingle and with the waves the tingle grew into a wondrous experience. At some point I lost consciousness as the pleasure overwhelmed me. Rupert was red in the face and perspiring when at last he spent into me. The warmth of his spend was yet another wonderful experience I had not anticipated. At that moment the possibility of my becoming with child was far and away the least of my concern, my mind was too busy with the thought that if this beautiful engagement were to be repeated I would join whole heartedly. Rupert had made me a woman, his woman and I held him in my arms as he recovered his breath, I contemplating the future with a smile.

I learned that Rupert enjoyed seeing me naked and I enjoyed indulging him, as the look in his eyes warmed me. I took to engineering little episodes when he could discover me unclothed. I would sit at my dressing table in complete dishabille and look shocked when he entered my bedroom. I would occasionally rouge my nipples with beetroot juice; that drove Rupert into a frenzy I am happy to say. One thing I tried that became regular was my shaving my private area. I had thought to trim, but was unhappy with the result. Therefore I borrowed Rupert's razor and actually I liked the result. Rupert loved it and paid such homage to me there that I was delirious with happiness. That this gave me so much delight I thought perhaps that Rupert would like my taking his member in my mouth. He did and I was surprised that I enjoyed this as well. Oh and yes together we would use words that only lovers should use. I blush when I think about it, not with shame though, but with recollection of the pleasure we gave each other.




The Mist of Time Ch. 20-21



CHAPTER 21



LADY ADELAIDE'S STORY CONTINUED

My marriage was a farce. I made vows to my husband, as he did to me, knowing that at the first opportunity I would break those vows. The man who would assist me in breaking those vows stood as my husband's best man. Sir Dashwood was some twenty-five years older than me, the same age as my father. For a brief moment I gave thought to his being unmarried at such an advanced age. My father gave me away with, I am sure, mixed feelings. The idea of his daughter becoming a mistress was tempered by the fact that I would become Lady Adelaide, wife to a Baronet. Rupert had assured me that Dashwood would not attempt intimacy with me. I was worldly-wise enough to believe differently. Imagine my surprise when Dashwood made no attempt to join me in bed. In time I discovered that he assuaged his lust with doxies at a house of ill-repute in Colchester. 

We were favoured with invitations for weekends at quite a few great houses. Dashwood would escort me to these houses, but would plead urgent business to excuse himself. No one urged him to stay. My initial exposure to these society events had me in a quivering ball of nerves. Rupert arranged for me to have a number of gowns suitable for the society I was to join. The dress-maker outfitted me completely with clothes for the morning, clothes for the afternoon and dresses for Dinner. I was shocked by some of the evening dresses. Surely no lady would go out in public wearing such a daring ensemble. However the dress-maker assured me that was the fashion. My dress exposed more of me than any I had ever worn; my shoulders were completely bare and the bodice hardly covered my bosom. The dress fell simply at the front yet the back was adorned with sumptuous frills and ruffles so much so that the only way to sit was to perch on the very front of the seat, a most uncomfortable way to spend an evening. I was relieved when I noticed the other ladies who were present, some of whose dresses revealed even more than mine. At dinner I sat quietly and studied the manners of my fellow guests. The etiquette of formal dining was to take small amounts on the fork and then whilst chewing that morsel put the knife and fork down and let your hands fall to your lap. No wonder these meals went on for ages! Of course Rupert would be there and in the manner of things his bedroom would be close to mine. 

At one weekend I was all a quiver when I was introduced to Rupert's wife. She greeted me kindly and after dinner in the drawing room she made a point to talk with me. "Lady Adelaide, or may I call you Adelaide." I nodded in agreement. "I am Clementine, but please call me Clemmy. I am so pleased to meet you. Rupert had been a much happier man for having you in his life. I can understand why, you are very beautiful."

"I do not know what to say, Countess Clementine. I would have thought that my friendship with the Earl would upset you."

"Not at all, Adelaide, and it is Clemmy. Rupert and I were promised to each other by our families when we were quite young. We were friends but there was never any passion between us. Nevertheless family pressure was applied and with misgivings we acquiesced. I have given him an heir and a daughter and then we agreed that we could live our own lives discreetly. I have the man I always loved but had to deny to marry Rupert. Rupert knows my lover and they get on well. Now I can know Rupert's lover and I hope that we shall get on well also. So you see, there is no jealousy, no hints of honour betrayed."

"You have put my mind at rest, Clemmy. Knowing that I was to meet you, disturbed my sleep for many a night."

"Oh, I am so sorry. However, perhaps you do not view me as an ogre now."

"Not at all, Clemmy."

"Good, we shall be friends...Oh look, the gentlemen are joining us. You see the man Rupert is talking to?" I nodded. "He is Alfred, Viscount Standing. My lover. See it is all quite civilized." 

Thus was my life, living at Chetford House with a husband who wasn't a husband, and another husband who wasn't a husband who nonetheless gave me more of love and tenderness than most husbands would offer their wives. I birthed four children, all of them by Rupert. Danbury the eldest was a model that shamed Dashwood. He worked hard at his studies, he was keen to understand how the estate worked and what crops should be sown. His decision to join the army was understandable, as Dashwood would sneer at his ambitions. "You will be Sir Danbury, Baronet. What more do you need?" was a frequent refrain from Dashwood. Then there was Rose who became very good pianist and had a sweet singing voice to accompany herself. Then my poor Alice, who died at six months from the croup. Last came Robert, and with Robert, Dashwood decided that he wouldn't acknowledge Robert as his son unless Rupert gave him a lot more money. After all these years I knew that Rupert was sustaining Dashwood with frequent gifts of money. Dashwood was a sponge that soaked up money and then let it flood away haphazardly. Rupert bought some land from Dashwood when we married, a ruse to give Dashwood some capital, and gave it back to him at this time. Dashwood immediately sold it to a neighbour, George Swinson. Swinson was a very successful grocer and Dashwood would not receive him in the house because he was trade, yet was quite happy to take his money.

Sir Dashwood Chandler according to Debretts was a gentleman. The Dashwood I knew was nothing of the sort. He was uncouth, foul-mouthed and lazy. His coterie of friends seemed to be cut from the same cloth. As lady of the house I had to entertain his friends and their 'wives'. It became quite clear to me that the 'wives' were nothing of the sort. The first time I entertained I was shocked by these heavily painted women, whose language seemed to come from the gutter. When one, emboldened by wine raised her skirts to reveal a male appendage it all came clear to me. It explained why Dashwood was unmarried at forty-five, it also explained why he had never tried to join me in my bedroom. It was a shock and a comfort at the same time. I would never be in danger from Dashwood, nor he from me, as I would never reveal his secrets, which gave me a little power over my husband as homosexual acts were illegal. Once the Dower House was finished these revels were conducted there, and my presence was not required. Such was my life until Dashwood took against Robert. I had been the object of derision from Dashwood for many years. He had a vicious tongue and the filth that would spill out of that mouth was at first very hurtful, however I had endured and in some way learned how to close my ears to his diatribes. When he turned his obscene tongue upon Robert I had to do something. Robert was but seven years and couldn't defend himself.

Rupert had given my father the deeds of Upton Lodge, therefore no one would consider anything odd of my going to visit my father, and if Rupert happened to be there as a friend of the family at the same time none could cast a slur. I was lying abed with Rupert, when he suggested that with the treatment of Robert by Dashwood, we should bring the whole charade to an end. Now that Rose was married and Danbury was in the army, it was the time for me to move into Upton Lodge bringing Robert with me. "Your father will make Upton a bequest to Robert. Thus you will have a home that Dashwood cannot touch. Your father has invested the money I settled on him for you wisely and at four percent it will allow you a good living. That settles my worries for you if anything were to happen to me."

"Don't say that my dearest. Without you I have no life."

"Without you there is no life, my wonderful Adelaide."

I reached down and found a member that seemed to be showing interest again. "Do you think?..."

"I do think indeed." Later he relaxed breathing deeply. "Not bad for an old man."

"Old man? Every time it's the same as the first time. I am taken to paradise.

I left Chetford House in eighteen ninety-six, just after Danbury had joined the army. My father, who still kept his Drapers business happily welcomed us. He was now accepting of my rather unusual life and he was close to Robert. Indeed he took Robert with him to work and inducted him into the mysteries of the trade. "He learns quickly, Adelaide. I like to think that he may take over the business when I am not able to work." Robert was not the scholar that Danbury was, yet in many ways he was my favourite, possibly because I saw much more of him than I did of Danbury. Danbury had much more of Rupert. As he had grown I was struck by the remarkable similarity to Rupert. It was uncanny that his looks and character should be so much the same. Should others see them together there would be no doubt of his paternity, but that never happened and Danbury would be kept out of the secret for all time. It was at that time that Rupert grew a beard; he fashioned it upon the style that Prince Edward wore. He told me that it could divert attention away from Danbury's likeness to him.

Dashwood never tried to bring me back to Chetford, something for which I was profoundly grateful. However his lifestyle had taken a toll of him and he rarely set foot outside the Dower House. Danbury would see him when he was on leave. Fleeting visits as Danbury would come to Upton Lodge after making his duty call. Those days were so good, my two sons, my father and I together. It would have been so much better if Rupert could have joined us, but sensibly he would stay away. Too many questions would be asked.

In nineteen hundred and one our beloved Queen Victoria died, and with her an era had passed. She had been on the throne since eighteen thirty-seven, some of her subjects had been born and died without knowing another monarch. Rupert found it difficult to find time for me. He had known Edward for years and was required to attend frequently with Edward when he was Prince of Wales. Edward had always been a demanding friend, now he was an even more demanding Monarch. Those years from nineteen-one till nineteen-ten were the worst years, as I would see Rupert possibly three times a year at best. The death of Dashwood in nineteen oh-eight could not relieve my melancholy. I should not welcome the death of any man, but the news of Edward's demise in nineteen-ten actually made me happy. I would have Rupert's arms again and more frequently. 

Rupert did visit more frequently and his visits became longer. My father now got on well with Rupert and they would converse long into the evening to my chagrin. I needed Rupert in my bed and holding me in his arms! Of course Robert met him and was told that Rupert was an old family friend. Robert was not as quick mentally as Danbury, but wasn't a fool by any means. He also knew he was illegitimate. He approached the subject one day just after Rupert had to return to his estate. "Mama. Is Rupert my father?" We never used Rupert's title when he was with us. So Robert had no knowledge of Rupert being an Earl.

I was flummoxed for a moment, in two minds whether to tell the truth or a falsehood. Eventually I decided. " Robert, you must swear to never tell anyone that which I will tell you now. Do you swear?"

"Yes, Mama."

"Good. The answer to your questions is yes. He is."

"And Danbury?"

"Yes."

"And Rose?"

"Yes."

Robert nodded knowingly. "I am not surprised Mama. Sir Dashwood didn't like women, He was happier in men's company." Out of the mouths of innocence. Robert wasn't quicksilver, yet he would see things and make his own interpretation of the facts he noticed.

"Remember, Robert. You must keep the knowledge to yourself. You must not even tell Danbury or Rose."

"I understand, Mama. They have never seen you in Rupert's company. The attachment is such that they would come to the same conclusion."

These were the golden years only marred by the death of Danbury. Knowing that I wouldn't take one step inside Chetford House he would visit frequently. I learned of his attachment to Arabella Swinson, of his efforts to get the estate back into viability. I was delighted when in nineteen-fourteen he announced his engagement to Bella. Then the fates decided that all this happiness was too much. In far away Sarajevo an Archduke and his wife were shot. The Austro-Hungarian Empire rattled its sword towards Serbia, and in response the Russian Empire and the German Empire took sides rattling their swords in their turn. The French had a treaty with Russia and the Germans felt threatened. The cards were stacked in a flimsy edifice and of course they all fell down. We in this country had little interest in happenings in Eastern Europe, but we had given our word to Belgium. The mad Kaiser took little notice of our contemptible little army and allowed the Schleiffen plan to unfold. Danbury had already been recalled to the colours and as Captain Chandler he embarked for France. How do our actions come back to haunt us? I had encouraged Danbury to learn French and was proud when he achieved a good command of that language. Because of that talent he was posted as a liaison officer with the French Army and thus he was with the French Army in nineteen-fifteen before Ypres when the Germans launched their first attack with Chlorine gas. Rupert used all his contacts to find out how Danbury died. He told me that Danbury had died quickly with little pain. He wept with me, after all Danbury was his son even if he couldn't acknowledge him. I was enlightened after the war when an article in The Times described how those who were gassed died. I wept for my son yet again. Rupert had known these details, yet had kept them from me to assuage my grief.

Robert had been conscripted and then rejected by the army. I was very happy yet confused by this, he had flat feet. Sometime later I was informed that the army took a serious view of flat feet. It seemed that standing for a long time in army boots would exacerbate the condition to the extent that some were crippled for life. Whether that were true or not at least one of my sons would survive.

The first reports of the Spanish Flu were ignored. We had lived with flu all our lives, what was a bit of flu? Soon though the reports were alarming as people were dying with this strain; usually the old and the very young. A telephone call boded a tragedy. Rupert had the telephone installed in nineteen-twelve, although it was used rarely. This call was from Clemmy. 

"Adelaide, Rupert has contracted the flu. I know he would like you beside him. Could you come? Please. I shall send the motor for you if you will."

"Of course, Clemmy. I can be ready very quickly."

"I was certain you would come, the motor car left here an hour ago, it should be with you in a couple of hours. Will that be alright?"

"I'll be ready."

I had never been to Grantisbury. My appearance there would have been shocking. But if Clemmy thought I should be there, that is where I shall be. The motor car arrived just as Clemmy suggested and I was ready. The chauffeur loaded my cases to the luggage rack at the back and then held the door for me to get in. He unfolded a blanket and placed it across my knees. Grantisbury was not one of those large opulent country houses. Actually it wasn't as large as Chetford House, yet it had a friendly atmosphere. I entered timidly, unknowing of what kind of reception I would experience. It was Clemmy who set me at ease. She walked quickly to enfold me in her arms. "Adelaide. I am so happy to see you. Come quickly, Rupert is dying to see you."

Dying was the right word to use. I could see that Rupert was in extremis. His breathing was so laboured that I found myself breathing in time with his, trying as if by osmosis that I could to get more air into his lungs. Nonetheless he welcomed me with a kiss, not caring that Clemmy was there in the room as well. 

"Adelaide, my darling. It is so good to see you."

"And I you my dearest. But what is this? You are lollygagging in bed. If Clemmy was not here I would get in with you and liven you up."

"Don't mind me." Clemmy laughed. Her attitude turned to tenderness. "Rupert, Adelaide was the best thing that could happen to you. So I am going to leave for an hour or two. I will leave instruction that you are not to be disturbed. And whatever you do is up to you. Now am I not a good wife?" She left and I struggled to get out of my travelling dress. I knew that Rupert was too feeble to join with me, but I wanted to have that intimacy that I loved for just a short while, although I recognized that it would be the last time.

Rupert succumbed to the flu that night. Clemmy and I were with him as his breathing became more tortured until he dragged a last gasp of air into his lungs. Then nothing.

Clemmy insisted that I stayed for the funeral. "You were the woman he loved most, it would not be right if you were not there, and if anything is said I will happily announce that you are there by my express invitation." I didn't notice anything as my eyes were full of tears. Clemmy also and we clung together, two widows of the same husband sharing the pain and giving each other comfort. Clemmy was the first to drop earth on the coffin and when the Vicar offered the trowel to Algernon, Rupert's son, he instead diverted the trowel to me, acknowledging the love that Rupert held for me.

My saga is done. I hold my head up, despite what people will say about me. I loved and had the love of a wonderful man. Yes, I suffered for that love yet despite that I would make the same decision again. I regret nothing.

To be continued... 



The Mist of Time Ch. 22-Epilogue



CHAPTER 22

I enjoyed Brian's writing although I thought it somewhat fanciful. Bella was in tears when she finished reading. "I feel so much for Adelaide." She declared. "Finding love with the man she couldn't have and yet devoting her life to him." She stopped and looked at me. "When we are married we must go up to the old house and tell them." I must have looked as if she had lost her senses. "If we kept Bees we would have to tell them, it's sort of the same thing." I shrugged my shoulders, to me it sounded ridiculous, but if that is what Bella wants, I shall humour her.

I had of course gone to see Andy asking him for permission to marry his daughter. He sighed resignedly. "I appreciate your asking, Daniel, but you have to understand that my permission or not is completely superfluous. Bella will do whatever she wants."

"Well yes, Andy, however I would like to know if you have any objection?"

He shook his head and one hand wafted. "Objection? Of course not. Bella gets happy and I at last get someone with whom I can have serious conversation." He changed the topic suddenly. "Your girl Tina came to see me. I was amazed! Are you sure she isn't one of those hackers we read about?"

I laughed. "No. She's a devil for getting information. She once worked for a solicitor, doing conveyancing and she knows her way around the Land Registry site and associated sites. If you want to know who owns what, Tina will find it for you." I paused for a brief moment. "Thinking about it, I wouldn't put it past her to hack."

"No wonder you are successful."

"Please, Andy. Do not ever mention that to Tina. I get enough flak from her already, I don't need more."

Andy laughed. "And you are getting Bella now. Your life is going to be a constant struggle with both of them around."

"Don't I know it."

Lily had given Tina the name of a surgeon recommended by her reconstructive surgeon and she had a consultation and for the last few days she had been in hospital. Before going she had demanded that Bella and I would not marry until she was back and could attend the wedding, "with my new tits!" We had decided to get married at the Registry Office in Braintree. Neither of us was particularly religious and with deference to Andy, it may have been embarrassing for him as he couldn't have walked Bella down the aisle. So it was when Tina returned from her operation our wedding was a double celebration. The reception was at 'Bon Vivant' where Tina gave me a particularly close hug, saying, "I can get closer to you now I haven't got all that mammary stuff in front of me."

I took Bella away to Paris for our honeymoon. We did all the sights, the Louvre, the Tuileries, the Eiffel Tower, a moonlight cruise along the Seine and at Bella's insistence took in the show at the Folies Begere. That night she bemoaned her lack of bosom compared with some of the bare-breasted dancers on stage. It took me some very delightful time to prove that what she had was as sensitive as any and that I loved what she had. It was all very exciting, although for me sitting at one of the many pavement restaurants, sipping coffee and just watching Paris go by was the best. I could certainly take to the boulevardier life.

We returned to quite a backlog of work, me to deal with property and Bella to exercising horses. Andy had a very good mare, from an excellent sire, and with his mare coming into season he was looking for a stallion to serve her. Thus Bella was quite busy seeking the right stallion. She was also making sure that her personal stallion performed if not every night but regularly. I needed another few hours of sleep some mornings, whereas Bella was seemingly energised by her nights of passion. It was therefore some weeks before Bella decided that we should walk up to the site of the old house. I was somewhat self-conscious at the idea, Bella however deemed that our telling the spirits of my family was important.

The weather had been for some days inclement, with dark clouds full of rain rolling in from the west and much of that rain fell upon us. Eventually the skies cleared as high pressure gradually banished the depression to our Nordic neighbours of Denmark and Norway. We set out early, although the dew had already been burned off by the sun. As we climbed the hill the warmth of the sun together with our exertions made me wish that we had brought some water. However we gained the top of the hill and rested gathering our breathing to a semblance of normality. The view, whilst nothing to compare with the West Country, Wales or the northern counties of England was good enough to make one stop and think. When before I had come up to the ruins of the old house I had sensed something; a feeling of being cut off from the surroundings. It was something like when you got water in your ears and your hearing appears to be coming through a muffle. At that moment Bella hugged me, her smile bringing my smile in return. "Ok, Mrs. Chandler. You have got me here now what do you intend to do?"

Suddenly she was crestfallen. "I don't know." She cried plaintively. "I had this idea of telling them that we are married and that I am almost sure I am already pregnant." That was news to me but before I could say anything she went on. "Now having got here, I don't know what to say or do."

"Well, let's deal with that in a moment. You think you are pregnant?"

She smiled. "I am pretty certain. Do you mind, Daniel?"

"Of course not. In fact I would be surprised if you were not pregnant, considering the frequency you attack me."

Bella pouted. "So you don't like it?"

"On the contrary, I am not complaining at all."

"Good. I like it too. Tina says that Aleksy is getting more amorous since she had the reduction. I thought men liked big boobs?"

"Every man is different. For me, you are perfect. Just think about it, when you are sixty or so your pretty boobs will still be pert. They will not be hanging around your waist and I will find as much pleasure with them as I do now."

"Hmm. Pretty boobs? What are you trying for now?"

"Well we are alone and no one will see us."

"Dirty man!" Yet she smiled as she unbuttoned her blouse.

Alfresco love-making is good, but be careful you do not roll over into the stinging nettles. We agreed to rub lotion on each other once we were back at the Dower House. Bella giggled as we walked down the hill. "I suppose the treatment could be as interesting as the cause."

"Well you did get stung in some interesting places." We left leaving the ruins.

"Well it seems that Chetford is in good hands."

"Yes, Danbury. Although I thought it was the girl who was in good hands, but yes, he has your looks and your sense of duty." Danbury turned and addressed the older man standing near with a woman on his arm. They were both dressed in Edwardian style. "I think he gets that from you, Father." He stopped and examined those words. "I still find it odd to address you thus."

The older man laughed. "No more than for me to hear you call me so, Danbury. But no, I disagree. I was a steward. I cared for an estate that came down to me in inheritance. I had little to do except pass it on to the next generation intact. This young man, Daniel has used what little he was willed and built an edifice. It would be impudent of me to offer advice to such a man, indeed I would be in awe of him."

The woman hanging on his arm looked up to him with love. "As I am of you my darling Rupert. Every time I look at you my heart flutters and I thank Heaven for sending you to me."

"Do you know, Adelaide. That is exactly how I feel when I look at you."

"Flatterer!"

"No so, my dear. I tell the truth."

The three were joined by another woman, whose features were still forming. Danbury held out his hand. "Bella, you have joined us."

"I find it strange to effect this transformation."

"Well you are not as used to it as we." Remarked Adelaide.

"I do find it strange, still. Do we never grow old?"

"How can we?" Rejoined Rupert. "We have the fortune of choosing what age we appear. And I have to say you have chosen very well. Rumour was that you were a beauty and the whispers were correct. Danbury is extremely lucky." 

"Not so lucky as Daniel and my great niece. Did you not see them? Rolling around and clothed as nature formed us. If I were alive I think I would have blushed."

"They did seem to enjoy themselves though." Adelaide offered. "My mind recalled such times myself."

"Mama!"

"Oh Danbury. How do you think you were born? You were created with love...And with a great deal of pleasure. If you had survived, you and Bella would have discovered the pleasure yourselves."

Rupert interrupted. " We should be less open now. I believe that Robert is joining us."

Robert did appear. He had always been a solemn boy and man and even now he reflected that disposition with a dour face. Danbury was the first to greet him. "Robert! Why the glum face? We were discussing the success of your great grandson."

"Oh I am happy for him, but to choose Chetford? This hateful place. He could have bought anywhere. Why Chetford?"

"Robert." Rupert chided him. "Daniel does not know the history, indeed he didn't even know that the estate he bought was Chandler land. However he is over-writing the bad things and creating a new story. He's married the Swinson girl and they are obviously very happy."

"And she is pregnant!" Added Adelaide.

"Pregnant?" Danbury said the word which was on all the other's lips.

"Did you not hear her? "Adelaide asked. "She said she was pregnant."

Robert cheered up. "Forgive my gloom. I was too much in the past. You are right, Papa. A child eh? He is writing a new chapter. Hopefully a much happier story than ours."

"I wish I could have done more for you, my sons. And it would make me most happy if he could know the truth of his parentage." Rupert sounded quite melancholy.

"We understand why, Father. You had constraints." Robert consoled his father. "You made certain that we were comfortable, what else could you do? Perhaps sometime he will know the truth."

EPILOGUE

Brian Prescott had continued his research and eventually was able to update me with details of Robert's later years. Reginald Smith had bequeathed him Upton Lodge and the drapery business, and Robert kept that until he retired when his son Douglas took over. This was after World War two. Douglas continued in the family business intending to have his son Dennis take over after him. Dennis, as I knew would not settle for a mundane small business in a country town and he sold the business. There was no detail of how he worked after that, though I am sure that my mother could have been enlightening on that subject. Brian could not find any record about Dennis apart from an article in the Colchester Gazette that mentioned that the Midland Bank had foreclosed on Upton Lodge. It would appear that my father was not paying his debts even then.

Our son was born in the April of next year. We argued just a little over a name for him, but we eventually settled our difference and agreed on a name. Bella was adamant that when the weather was right we should go up the hill and introduce our son to our ancestors. Remembering what happened the last time she sought to do that I was quite happy, but determined to avoid the stinging nettles this time.

Thus it was that one day in June we settled the baby in a carry-cot and between us we carried him up the hillock. It was one of those rare days that there was no clouds whatsoever in the sky and the temperature held at a comfortable ambience of some seventy degrees. I again felt that feeling of disassociation as if we were shuttered within a cocoon. Bella caught my mood as we neared the top. "What is it Daniel?"

"I don't know. Sometimes when I come up here, I get the feeling that I have been cut off from the rest of the locality."

"You sense it too?" Bella seemed relieved. "I thought it was just me. I put it down to hormones."

I laughed to change the mood. "Ah hormones! Well I don't think we can repeat our last escapade, not with the baby here."

We arrived at the top of the hillock and searched for somewhere we could put the carry-cot down. I picked up our son and cuddled him to my chest. He lay there looking at me, that incurious look that all babies have. "So what are you going to say?" Bella asked.

"Hang on! I thought it was you who was going to talk." How typical of women. Deciding on an action yet standing back and asking the man to make it work.

"It shouldn't be me. You are the descendant, you talk to your relatives." Bella's logic was as usual typically female.

"But this was your idea."

"Yes. But I always thought that you would do the talking."

"Thanks." I replied flatly. "I think another smacked bottom is in order."

Her eyes twinkled. "Oh goody. I like that. Tonight?" She came and embraced us both, the baby and me and then took the baby from me.

I put my arm around Bella's waist and prepared to speak. I felt like a complete idiot. I cleared my throat and spoke quite loudly. "I am Daniel Chandler, your descendant and this lovely lady at my side is Annabel, who was born Swinson. Here in my wife's arms is our child, a boy and we have brought him here to meet his ancestors. He is Rupert after his Great, great, great grandfather."

Suddenly the feeling of the cocoon strengthened. A slight mist hovered just above the ground. Slowly it reformed and out of the mist two shapes emerged. Gradually they became sentient and I realized that I was looking at Rupert St.John Grantley, by his side was a beautiful woman who clung to his arm. I assumed that she was Lady Adelaide. One part of my mind made that assessment coolly and logically. The other side of my mind was in turmoil. Bella also was in turmoil, I could feel her shaking. The cool side of my mind told me that I was shaking too. Whatever have we got into? "Daniel, what is happening?" She whispered in a fearful voice.

"I have no idea." Wondering at the same time what in Hell had we done to cause these apparitions.

Rupert took a half step forward. "You have called your son, Rupert?" A strong voice yet with a slight quaver of emotion.

"Y... ye... yes." I stuttered. 

"For any reason?" The apparition asked.

I took a deep breath and managed to speak normally, well as normally as one could under the circumstances. "If you are Rupert St.John Grantley, then yes there is a reason.

He nodded his head slightly. "I am Grantley."

"In that case we named our son after you."

"You know who I am?"

"Yes. You are my great, great grandfather."

He was shocked now. "You know?"

"About you, Lady Adelaide, Sir Dashwood, Danbury and Robert. Yes we know."

"How?"

"It is a long story, but it started when I was shown a photo of Sir Danbury."

A glimmer of understanding came to Rupert's face. "Yes, of course. There is no denying that somehow you two must be related."

"Yes, something more than having Lady Adelaide in common." I took a step towards Lady Adelaide. "You were described as a beauty and the descriptions were right, grand mama."

She smiled, clasping her hands together to her breast. "Oh! How it thrills me to hear you call me so. Rupert! Our great, great, grandson has inherited your flattering tongue."

"No my dear. He speaks the truth as I do. Judging from Daniel's choice of wife he is a connoisseur of beauty as well." 

She flashed a glance of love to Rupert then addressed Bella and I. "We have watched you for some time now and I am so happy that you are together. It seems that it was ordained that a Chandler and a Swinson would marry. May I see the baby?" 

"Would you like to hold him?" Bella suggested as she moved closer.

"I would love to do so, but sadly I am a spectre and not physical." Bella closed to her and turned so Adelaide could see the child. "Oh, he's so lovely. Look Rupert, our great, great, great grandson." 

I talked to Rupert as Bella and Adelaide cooed and fussed over the child. "I came up here to pander to Bella's idea that we should talk to our ancestors. I didn't believe for a moment that we actually could, so if I sounded a little tongue-tied at first, please forgive me.

He laughed. "In your shoes, Daniel, I would have been as well. There is much that you learn once you cross over, but I cannot tell you. You will find that for yourself. In many ways it was you and Bella coming up here that made it possible. We could see you and hear you, but couldn't find a way across the divide. It was your determination to speak to us that brought about our appearance. If the experience has not unsettled you too much come again, call for us and there a good chance that we can appear. I urge you to do that. Perhaps you will see your great grandfather Robert and Bella her great aunt Arabella."

"Bella would like that, I am sure."

We were interrupted by an exclamation from Adelaide. "You have my ring. Rupert! Bella is wearing my ring." 

Rupert took a step towards them. "How interesting. How did you come by that, Bella?"

"It is a family heirloom." Explained Bella. "My great aunt Arabella wore it all her life and when Daniel and I became engaged I thought it would be nice to wear as an engagement ring."

Adelaide smiled. "Of course. Rupert bought the ring for me, although I could only wear it when away from Chetford. It is valuable and if Dashwood had seen it he would have took it from me and no doubt sell it. When Danbury told me of his intentions to your aunt, I gave him the ring to give to Arabella. Now you have it, and to me it is entirely fitting that you do."

Rupert brought the conversation to a close. "Our time is limited. Already I can sense that the power that forms us is weakening. Adelaide!"

"Yes my dearest, we have to go."

"Remember, Daniel come up and call out to us, there is much more to say and hear."

Bella joined me as with a smile Adelaide took Rupert's arm. She started to say something. "Come aga..." They vanished. 

Bella and I walked back down the hill with our son. I could feel Bella's emotions tumbling around. Mine were the same. I could not decide whether we had seen these apparitions or something in our breakfast had affected us like a mind-bending drug. That such a substance would be unlikely to affect us similarly was too logical for my mind to grasp at this moment. Bella voiced for both of us. "I don't think I shall say anything to anyone. No one would believe us."

"I have little doubt about that."

Two days later, I pulled Brian's manuscript from the filing and slipped it into an envelope. I searched for his address and could not find it. When Tina came in I asked her for his address. She looked perplexed. "I don't think we have it. Boss. Our correspondence has always been by email."

"Damn. I just wanted to return his manuscript, you did copy it, didn't you?"

"Yes, oh Master. It's in the filing under 'Danbury'"

"I will phone the Chelmsford Library. They must have it somewhere."

I got through to the librarian responsible for the history section. "My name is Chandler. I wonder if you could help me. I have some correspondence to send to the historian Brian Prescott. Do you have his address by any chance?"

"We know of Brian Prescott. We have many of his publications here. He was of great value to the library as he obtained much of the microfilm of back issues of many newspapers. However I cannot give you his address."

"Why? It's a simple request. I just want to return to him a manuscript that he wrote."

"Well, Mr. Chandler it is a simple request, or rather it would be. Brian Prescott died in nineteen fifty-nine."

The End