The Tale of Holly How by Albert Susan Wittig

Author:Albert, Susan Wittig
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: PENGUIN group

19

Miss Potter Finds a Piece of Evidence

Beatrix met Sarah at the pony cart in front of Tidmarsh Manor.

“I see that you’ve left your basket,” Sarah said as she climbed in, “so you must have managed to leave the guinea pig as well. Mrs. Beever didn’t hold out much hope. She was of the opinion that Miss Martine wouldn’t allow the child to have a pet of any description.”

“She certainly tried,” Beatrix said grimly, tucking in her skirt and picking up Winston’s reins. “If it hadn’t been for the vicar, she might have succeeded. So you’ve delivered your baked goods?”

“Yes,” Sarah said. “And in the process, I learnt quite a bit from Mrs. Beever. I’ll tell you as we drive.”

“Let’s go,” Rascal barked authoritatively. “Winston and I were getting tired of waiting!”

“We’ll be off, then,” Beatrix said, looking up at the sky, which was beginning to cloud over. A light breeze was blowing from the west, carrying with it the smell of damp earth and the promise of rain. “It would be good to put the sheep in the fold and get back to the village before there’s a shower.”

Winston was just pulling the cart onto Stony Lane when they met Lady Longford’s phaeton, driven by Mr. Beever and conveying an aristocratic-looking man with gold-rimmed spectacles who held himself very straight. He was elegantly dressed in a ruffled white shirt, black frock coat, gray gloves, and tall hat, which he tipped to Beatrix and Sarah with a slight, supercilious nod, barely acknowledging them.

“Well, la-di-da!” Rascal growled. “Fine toffee-nose, that.” And he aimed a volley of sharp barks at the gentleman’s departing back.

“Dr. Gainwell, I presume,” Sarah said dryly, as Beatrix chuckled. “Quite the fine gentleman, isn’t he? Doesn’t quite fit my picture of a missionary, though. Or a teacher.”

“But that’s who he must be,” Beatrix said, urging Winston forward along the road to Holly How Farm. “Lady Longford said he was expected.” She made a rueful face. “He doesn’t look like the sort of person who will be very comfortable in Sawrey School. I wonder where Lady Longford met him, and why in the world she thinks a man like that would be a better person for the position than Miss Nash.”

“That’s just it, Bea,” Sarah said. “Her ladyship doesn’t know that man at all.” And as they drove, she told Beatrix what Mrs. Beever had told her about the unhappy circumstances at the Manor, and about Lady Longford suffering serious stomach problems, and about Miss Martine taking over the servants and being a parsimonious manager who seemed intent on saving money by cutting back on staff.

“It sounds a dismal state of affairs,” Beatrix said, shaking her head at Sarah’s story. “The servants will manage, of course. It’s Caroline we should feel sorry for, her grandmother ill and that companion taking over.”

“What’s she like?” Sarah asked curiously.

“Sturdy, self-reliant. I think she’ll do well in spite of everything, although it’ll be a pity if she’s sent away to school.”

Sarah looked surprised. “You

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