They looked out over the little harbour,one small coaster all that was present.
“The fishing boats will be out, I mustimagine, Mr Baker.”
“Don’t think there are many, Miss Primrose.From what the lawyer told me, they are distant from the best grounds. Mighthave a few local crabbers, not much else. The ship will carry grain, I wouldthink, though not much at this time of year. Fertiliser perhaps, though most ofthe potash is going to munitions these days. House coal in bags, perhaps.Timber for building. Always a call for cement, I suppose. I do not know much ofthe local trade, Miss Primrose.”
It was considerably more than she did.
Mr Baker suddenly stood square, pullinghimself up straight to perform an unpleasant duty. Primrose wondered what hehad done, what he was to confess.
“I do ‘ave to say, Miss Primrose, as whatI ‘as gone further than what I said.”
She noticed that his carefully learntEnglish crumbled under stress.
“What have you done that is so very awful,sir?”
She smiled her best, to his delight.
“Knew it wouldn’t be so bad, Miss Primrose.Thing is, the house comes with a farm, the two sold together and the seller notwilling to split them up – you takes the one, you gets the t’other, you might say.His lawyer says as how it’s because there ain’t no farmhouse for a freeholderto live in. Ends up, Miss Primrose, as how there’s the better part of fivehundred acres besides!”
“That is a lot of land, sir.”
“Well… It is and it ain’t, you might say.It ain’t big enough to make a man a good living and it’s too big to be a smallholding,and nowhere to sell eggs and vegetables and stuff anyhow. So, it ain’t neitherone thing nor another. That was why, I think, they had trouble selling theplace so that it came to me as a bit of a windfall which was why I boughtbigger than I was going to for costing much the same.”
She considered that last sentence at somelength, decided it made sense.
“So, we have five hundred acres of wheatfields, Mr Baker.”
“No, Miss Primrose, not as such, for mostof it not being land as will go down to wheat. Pasturelands, the bulk of it,down along the side of the sea and the creek. From what the lawyer said, nomore than fifty acres of grainland, and that mostly better for barley in theseparts, for going down to the brewery at Fakenham what buys it.”
Primrose summoned her slight knowledge ofagriculture.
“Cattle or sheep, sir?”
“Beef cattle, was what the man told me.”
She suspected that neither she nor Richardwould be in the way of herding cattle.
“I expect there will be a local man willpay a rent for use of the acres, Mr Baker. If not, well we can keep a horse or twoand perhaps a little dairy herd. Are there cottages to the rear?”
“Six of them, little places, MissPrimrose. The Belgians has got three of them just now. Staff quarters up in theattics as well. Plenty of space for a groom and a cowman, if you wanted such.”
Neither considered the cost of running theland for pleasure – it would be insignificant, they were sure.
They came away satisfied, assuring the Belgiansthat they would take up residence as soon as the war permitted a wedding.
“Colonel Baker will come home for a fewmonths at some time, I do not doubt, Bouchard. He will be needed to trainanother battalion, or something, no doubt. When he does, we shall be wed and Iwill come here to live.”
They hoped it might be so, and soon.
Chapter Seven
“Iwish to ask for your daughter’s hand, sir.”
Simon had sought an interview with theelder Parrett soon after arriving at the mansion. His request had been expectedand was most welcome.
“I had hoped you might, Captain Sturton. Ihave no doubt that Alice will delight in your proposal. So do I. You will be amost welcome member of the family. I have an idea of your financial standing,naturally, having some slight acquaintance with the City. Form demands that Imust ascertain that you can support my daughter.”
They laughed together.
Simon dropped into the little speech he hadprepared.
“I am heir to the Perceval viscountcy, asyou know, sir. I am also sole legatee. My uncle assures me that all of hismoney will come to me. As an exact sum? I do not know. I suspect we are talkingin excess of the million. There will be almost no land – a house in Kent with afew acres of park and perhaps a small farm, sufficient for ponies. We havebroken the entail and are in process of selling almost all of the farms. Theold house down in Dorset – which I have never seen – has already been taken upby the War Office.”
Parrett nodded gravely.
“Very sensible, Captain Sturton… Come now,I believe I can call you Simon, can I not?”
“With pleasure, sir. There are still thosewho believe in the Land, my uncle tells me. I am sure they are wrong. Farming inEngland will never pay for itself.”
“So my grandfather believed, Simon. Hebought this house and would not touch the acres that went with it. Sold themall. Clever of him! We have prospered ever since, because we did not have thedrag of farmland emptying our purses.”
They basked in the appreciation of theirown wisdom.
“My income, sir, is three thousand a yearplus my pay. A comfortable sum on which to keep a wife, I believe.”
“Ample, Simon. Will you hold your ownhouse or use the property in Kent?”
“I have yet to speak to my uncle on that,sir. Whichever, I do not doubt that I can cope.”
“Agreed. Alice is a younger child, of course,will come with her bottom drawer, as they say, and some thousands, but noincome of her own.”
Simon had assumed such.
“My Will leaves the bulk to my eldest son,naturally, but there will be legacies to each child, in the neighbourhood of fiftythousand. I trust they will survive to receive them. All three boys have nowgone off to war.”
“Your eldest as well, sir?”
“He took a commission last month. He couldnot remain here in effective idleness, he said.
