Clifton Manor - Episode One by Victoria Spencer

Author:Victoria Spencer [Spencer, Victoria]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-08-13T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

Lady Jane Winston (21st March 1912)

Jane spent a few hours that afternoon in the garden. She needed to clear her head and think about the wedding, but it was impossible to do that in the house. If it wasn’t her mother bothering her, it was her father or brother. The only people in the gardens were the staff, and they kept quiet around her unless she initiated conversation. She rarely did.

The sun shone brightly that day, but the crisp spring air required a shawl draped across her shoulders. As far as Jane was concerned, the gardeners were by far the most competent members of staff her family employed. The indoor servants caused more problems than they solved and always seemed to get in her way. Jane had personally seen to the dismissal of three of them and her mother had done the same.

But the gardeners truly worked wonders and were worth more than her family paid them. Jane had visited enough houses to know that Clifton Manor was blessed with the most beautiful garden in this part of the country.

The neatly trimmed bushes reached head-height and formed a meandering path which led visitors through a display of colour that looked as good as it smelled. The plants changed on a regular basis, but the current theme was a rainbow.

Jane walked down a path surrounded by red roses, then further in to a section graced by some orange flower she did not recognise. She rounded the corner and saw Joseph on his knees pruning some yellow tulips.

“Morning, Lady Jane,” Joseph said, standing up to greet her. “How are you today?”

“Fine, thank you, Joseph,” she replied. “Tell me, what are those orange plants you have back there?”

“They are orange daylilies, ma’am.”

“They are quite beautiful. I would like them to be part of the flower arrangement for my wedding.”

“I’m sorry, my lady, but I don’t think that will be possible. These ones will not survive very long, and new daylilies will not grow this time of the year.”

“Now, now, Joseph. You know how important my wedding is, and I absolutely must have those flowers on show.”

“But ma’am, I don’t think—”

“Don’t think,” Jane said. “Just do. You’re an excellent gardener. I’m sure you’ll manage.”

Jane stared at him with a hint of a smile on her lips. Joseph opened his mouth a few times, but in the end settled for a quiet, “yes, ma’am.”

Jane walked past Joseph and carried on admiring the flowers while he no doubt panicked about how to meet her demands. That’s his problem, she decided, not mine.

She sat on a bench and took in her surroundings. That was when she noticed the man following her.

She looked back in the direction she had come and saw a tall man poke his head around the bush before quickly ducking back upon seeing Jane on the bench.

“Hello?” she called out. “Joseph, is that you?”

But she knew it wasn’t Joseph. The colour of the man’s clothing was entirely different, and she had seen Joseph heading off in the other direction.

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