Free Country Plot by Cynthia Harrod-Eagles Page B

moment, and they looked at each other and smiled.
    â€˜I’ll get your breakfasts,’ Mrs Phillips said, turning away. ‘Have to see if we can’t feed you up.’
    Jenna sat, gazed at the view, and said to Kitty, ‘It’s hard to remember that I’ve come here to work, you’ve made me so comfortable. But we ought to talk about my duties. I mean, you’ve not invited me here to take a holiday, tempting as it seems.’
    â€˜Oh, no need to start today,’ Kitty said, leaning back and half closing her eyes against the sun, like a large cat. ‘You’ll want to get your bearings and settle in.’
    Jenna laughed. ‘You mustn’t encourage me to be lazier than I already am. At least tell me, what am I here to do? Michael said something about correspondence and – was it? – cataloguing?’
    â€˜I have some correspondence to clear up,’ Kitty said, ‘because I really can’t get on with that wretched computer. Xander made me swap my dear old typewriter for it, and I wish I’d never listened to him. He said it would be easier because everything is stored inside it instead of on sheets of paper that can get lost, but I knew where I was with a typewriter and a filing cabinet.’
    â€˜Xander?’ Jenna queried.
    â€˜Oh, sorry – my godson, Alexander Latham. He lives a few miles on the other side of Holtby. You’ll meet him soon. He’s the nearest thing I have to a son. I’m very fond of him. But I expect you’ll be happy with the computer – I dare say it’s all you ever use yourself?’
    Jenna nodded.
    â€˜It will be useful for the other work as well. You see, the house is crammed with things, as I expect you’ve noticed – pictures, furniture, china, objets d’art – and there’s a whole library of books. They all have to be listed and catalogued in detail. There’ll be some research work to be done on the backgrounds in some cases, which I imagine you’ll do on the Internet. I’m sure you’re an expert on that.’
    â€˜I’ve done that sort of thing in my other jobs,’ Jenna said. ‘I’m sure it won’t be a problem.’
    â€˜Good. And then I’ll need a brief history of the house to be compiled – just a couple of pages. More Internet work for you, though I have papers and photographs and other documents you can call on. We can do that together – and I’d like some of the photographs incorporated in it, if that’s possible. I have a scanner – it came as part of the package when I bought the computer.’
    â€˜That’s fine. I’m sure I can do what you want,’ Jenna said, and went on, hesitantly: ‘May I ask what all this is for? Are you writing a book or something?’
    â€˜I wish that’s all it was,’ Kitty said. ‘No, I’m afraid it’s all going to have to be sold.’

Six
    â€˜Sold?’ Jenna exclaimed. ‘What a shame!’
    â€˜Yes, it is,’ Kitty said. ‘It’s a collection that goes back through the generations, and every piece has its story. In a way, it’s the story of the family itself. But you see, this house takes a great deal to maintain, and my income doesn’t rise along with the costs. In simple terms, I can’t afford to live here. I’m hoping by selling some of the contents to buy myself some time, so I won’t have to sell the house. I’d like to be able to stay on here a few more years – ideally until I die, because it would break my heart to leave Holtby House. I love it so.’ Her face was bleak, and Jenna was struck to the heart. Her own problems suddenly faded to triviality.
    â€˜I’m so sorry,’ she said. ‘How awful for you.’
    â€˜I want to do the right thing by the house,’ Kitty said. ‘There are repairs I’ve been putting off, and that’s not fair on the fabric.