My Name is Eva(31)
‘Really?’ He sniffed in a somewhat disapproving way. ‘Lot of other stuff out on the trees too, I see.’
‘It’s a bit early for cherry blossom. Might it have been magnolias? They’re earlier in London. I always pray mine will wait till the frosts are over.’
‘You certainly seem to be well up on your horticulture.’ He peered at her over his half-moon spectacles as he studied the menu.
‘Just a little. I suppose I grew up with it, having gardens and grounds to care for.’
They ordered and then he said, ‘Tell me about your place, Kingsley Manor. It sounds awfully grand.’
She laughed. ‘Not at all! Well, not to me, anyway. It’s where I grew up, so for me it’s just always been home. And since my parents went, I’ve been able to run it how I like. I’m a widow, so there’s no one to tell me what I can and can’t do.’
‘Sounds splendid. And here am I, a stuffy old bachelor, with nothing to do but cricket matches in summer and concerts the rest of the year.’
‘Well, that would seem lovely too, for a lot of people. But I like the contrast. I’ve got livestock and gardens at home, but the pleasures of London are only ever a short train journey away. Of course, there’s a lot of work involved in managing an old house. Bit like the Forth Bridge, I sometimes think. Tiles slip in storms, trees fall, gutters block and so on and so on.’
‘How old is the house?’
‘Part mid-fourteenth century, modernised in the seventeenth century with twentieth-century additions.’ Evelyn laughed. ‘I know, I’ve got it off pat. But that’s the easiest way to describe it. Every family that’s ever lived there has made their mark with alterations of one kind or another. And as far as I know, most of them lived there quite happily all their lives.’
‘And how long has your family been there?’
‘Since around the beginning of the century. It was a wedding present for my parents from my mother’s family. It was rented out during their time in India and then when they came back, my parents added the library and converted some stables into a staff wing.’
She shook her head, then laughed. ‘No, it’s really not all that grand. There’s no staff now, just me and a cleaner and a gardener once a week.’
‘It still sounds very impressive, all the same. I get by very simply in my little apartment and it’s very convenient, I admit, but I do envy you the grounds and the space.’
‘Then you must definitely come and see it one day,’ she said. ‘Come soon and see me while the magnolias are in flower. They’re quite magnificent. I’ll ask the frost to stay away if I know you are coming.’
30
21 March 1985
My dearest darling,
I can’t tell you how his eyes lit up when he saw Mama’s brooch! I think he would have loved to snatch it off my suit and pawn it then and there. He paid his half of lunch, of course, as I’d already suggested it. But a true gentleman, like you, my darling, would have tried to settle the bill in full or at least gone through the motions. I can’t wait to have him here on home territory, but I know I shall have to move slowly and carefully if I am to get him where I can manage the situation best.
Oh, what fun, darling! All that training wasn’t wasted after all. My time has come at last.
All my love, Your Evie xxx Ps I love you
31
Evelyn, 15 April 1985
A Web is Spun
Evelyn had been watching the pale pink and white cups of blossom unfurl for nearly a week. She prayed that the weather would hold and the flowers would not burn with frost overnight. It was not the most important aspect of Stephen Robinson’s visit, but it justified the timing. Many gardens have a burst of magnolia flowers in spring, but few could offer blooms quite as magnificent as the Magnolia grandiflora at Kingsley Manor. Some years an early warm spring encouraged the neighbouring cherry to flower in unison, but this year the sculpted flowers were the sole star of this corner of the walled garden, where primroses and violas were scattered beneath the gnarled trees.
‘They’re perfect this year,’ she said, pointing as she led Stephen through the gardens. ‘My parents must have planted them the year they moved in here and I think now they are better than ever.’
He gave the trees, heavy with their large, cupped blooms, a quick glance, then looked across the lawns to the fields and woods. ‘Mmm, marvellous,’ he said, ‘and is all this yours as well?’
She’d expected this. Of course he would be more enthusiastic about the extent of her valuable property than her beloved flowers. She shaded her eyes as she joined him in looking into the distance. ‘Our land goes as far as the road and the lane on each side.’ She turned round and pointed in the opposite direction, ‘Then over this way, we go all the way down to the river.’ She saw the glint in his eye, assessing the value of the acreage. She was tempted to act swiftly, to swat this acquisitive parasite, but she calmed herself. She knew she should be patient: she had to wait for the shooting season.
He turned with her to look across the fields. ‘Good fishing there on the river?’
‘The occasional trout. I’m told it could be greatly improved with some clearing of the river, dead branches and so on, and the bank on this side is all ours, right along the boundary. It’s a good spot for swimming. I still take a dip there when it’s not too fast.’