by Emma Davies
He handed her the tray and crossed the room to switch on a lamp. ‘Quite something, isn’t it?’
‘But is it true though? This is just one villager’s account of events and, heart-breaking as it is, I can see that it would have been tempting to overly romanticise the story.’
‘That’s a very cynical view, Miss Porter,’ replied Seth, but he was smiling. ‘I’ve found other evidence over time to back up the story.’ He took his plate from her and went to sit in an armchair opposite. ‘I know a lot of folk nowadays who don’t handle mental health issues particularly well, but if you suffered from bipolar back then and didn’t have a husband to support you, there was only one place you were going to…’
‘An asylum?’
Seth nodded. ‘And don’t forget there were no real treatments available as there are today – when Joy’s black dog came upon her she would have potentially been a very real danger to herself, and possibly others. In Edwin’s eyes the only way he could keep her safe was to build this place for her. She was free to roam the countryside as she pleased, safe from the prying eyes of others, and during the good times she was inspired to paint with utter brilliance.’
‘It really was a grand gesture, wasn’t it? I can’t imagine loving anyone that much.’
‘No?’ replied Seth, his eyes locking on hers for a moment. A flicker of an emotion she couldn’t define rippled through them, but then he looked away, and the only indication of his mood was a slight tightening of his jawline. ‘Of course, Edwin was a wealthy man, which helped. I doubt many men would have been able to carry out such a gesture even if they had wanted to.’
Maddie shook her head. ‘No, I suppose not. And so Joy was able to live out her days, safe and cared for, and create her beautiful works of art.’ She took a mouthful of food, thinking. ‘But was it really true that all those other people lived here too? Were they relatives of hers?’
Seth shook his head. ‘There’s nothing to suggest that they were, but the census records certainly support the information that this was their home. The Victorians were a righteous lot and I’m sure it would have been considered quite scandalous at the time. My own view is that, in her more lucid spells, Joy decided that she wanted to help other people like herself and so she researched some likely candidates and invited them to live here, with Edwin’s permission of course. We can really only guess at Edwin’s motives for going along with it, but I think perhaps by then he would have done anything for her…’
‘That’s quite an undertaking.’
‘An original philanthropist no less. I also like to ponder that perhaps these people were somehow drawn here… That can happen in certain places, where people who need help of one sort or another all gravitate together.’
She gave him a sideways glance. ‘Hmm, I’m not sure about that, but it’s still a lovely story. Perhaps when we start to look at how we market Joy’s Acre we could use it, it would draw people here in droves.’
As soon as she said it, she could see she’d overstepped the mark. Seth, who’d been busy forking up his food, went rigid; his hand, which was halfway to his mouth, froze in mid-air.
‘I’m sorry,’ she blurted out, ‘that was a stupid thing to say. I’ve still got my marketing head on and in many ways it could be the perfect angle to pin our publicity on… But I can see how it might cheapen Edwin and Joy’s memories…’
She wondered whether she’d blown it by being so thoughtless. Things had been so much better between her and Seth over the last day or so, and she didn’t want to change that. She could kick herself sometimes. However, Seth merely lowered his fork gently to his plate and gave her a sad smile.
‘It’s not that so much, just… I had a different idea in mind, but no matter for now. And you’re probably right; their story would create something of a talking point.’ He stared down at his plate for a few seconds, his lips pursed together. ‘You said you haven’t quite finished the book yet?’
‘No. I’m two or three chapters from the end I think.’
‘So, you won’t know that in the end even Edwin’s love couldn’t save Joy. She killed herself the day before her forty-eighth birthday.’
Maddie’s hand flew to her mouth. ‘No! Oh, that’s so sad.’
‘There are some things we can’t alter no matter how hard we try.’
The sentence dangled in the space between them, the words laying a trail to something beyond. But was it an invitation, or a warning? Maddie’s eyes began to prickle as the sorrow in Seth’s voice made it clear it was the latter.
‘What happened?’ she whispered.
‘She drowned herself in a well that sits just behind the cottages. She threw herself down, knowing she couldn’t swim.’
Maddie gulped as a tide of emotion swept over her, visions of Joy filling her head; struggling for breath, cold and alone and filled with despair. It was awful. She fished in her pocket for a tissue, wiping beneath her eyes. There was a clatter from across the room as Seth hastily put down his plate. In a moment he was beside her, filling the space on the settee so that his thighs were only inches from her own.
‘Maddie, I’m sorry, that was crass of me.’ He handed her a hanky. ‘Are you okay?’ He laid a hand on her arm, his eyes searching hers.
She sniffed, nodding. ‘Yes, I just… it was the surprise, that’s all. That poor woman.’ She took a deep breath, trying to regain control of her emotions.
‘I shouldn’t have just thrown it at you like that. I guess for many Victorians that might have been considered a ripe old age, but that doesn’t lessen its impact here. It gets to me every time too.’
And it had, Maddie could see that. Her own reaction wasn’t a surprise, her emotions were still a bit all over the place and she had always cried easily, but Seth had known this story for a long while, had researched it even, and yet it still visibly moved and affected him. His dark eyes glinted in the lamplight, his expression intense; a suggestion of emotion in them she couldn’t clarify. If she didn’t know better, she would have said he was close to tears as well. She felt herself begin to tremble. She couldn’t ask, she wasn’t sure she even wanted to know, but there would be a reason for his behaviour just as there was for hers…
She was anxious to move things along. ‘So what happened to Edwin?’
‘He stayed here.’ Seth flicked his eyes away and she felt the connection between them break. ‘Don’t forget, by then, there were four other people living here, all of whom were either sick or had mental health issues of their own. Edwin continued to do what he had promised Joy he would, and so time just moved on I guess.’
She gave her nose another wipe as something suddenly occurred to her. ‘They lived in the cottages, didn’t they, they must have?’
‘Yes.’ Seth smiled. ‘Edwin had the cottages built, not for estate workers as would usually have been the case, but for his “guests”. They’re not quite as old as the main house here.’
Maddie nodded towards his chair on the other side of the room, suddenly anxious to put some distance between them.
‘Sorry, I interrupted your eating. Please, go and finish your dinner.’
She received an appraising glance, but Seth got up just the same and returned to his seat.
‘So what happened to Joy’s paintings? I don’t know much about art but she doesn’t seem to have been well known, either in her own time or now. Maybe they stayed with the family.’
‘Edwin and Joy had no children, so there’s no real family to speak of. That wasn’t quite the issue though…’
There was something in Seth’s voice that made her look up. ‘Oh God, what now?’
‘As far as I’m aware there are only four paintings in existence. I have one, which sits in the hallway, and the other three I’ve been trying to track down for years. They’ll turn up eventually.’
She hardly dared to ask. ‘So what happened to all the others? Four paintings is not much to show for a lifetime’s work, even one that was cut short.’
Seth t
ook a deep breath. ‘Joy destroyed them all. Just before she killed herself. The scourge of the creative mind perhaps; to always doubt your own talent.’
‘And the four that were salvaged were elsewhere, I suppose?’
‘Here in the house, I’m presuming. That’s how they survived.’
She closed her eyes and nodded briefly, opening them again and resolutely spearing several chips at once.
‘We should finish these,’ she said. ‘Before everything gets really cold.’
The room fell silent as they both ate, lost in their own thoughts. Maddie could see why Seth was in love with this place. It was beautiful, she realised; the setting, the landscape, everything. She’d been so caught up in having to move away from London that she’d focused on the negatives of living in the country, never even considering what it had to offer. But put this together with such an emotive back story, and why wouldn’t you want to live here?
She felt as if she’d been walking around with blinkers on since she’d arrived, and it had taken Joy and her bittersweet story to remove them. No wonder Seth had taken such offence at her ideas; they were ridiculous. This afternoon had sown the seeds of how things ought to be here at Joy’s Acre and this conversation reinforced everything.
This time, however, she was not about to make the assumption that she knew best. This time, she would make sure that she fully understood Seth and his reasons for being here. As much as she could anyway; she was only too aware that there was a lot more to him than first appeared. She finished chewing and cleared her throat.
‘So in a way, Joy’s Acre was a sanctuary of sorts, wasn’t it? Holiday cottages aside, I’m just wondering how you see it now?’
‘Ah, the eternal dilemma…’ He gave a rueful smile. ‘Right now, I’m caught between a rock and a hard place. You’re spot on in your assessment of how I’d really like to see things take shape here, but I have to be a realist too. First and foremost we need to make money before we can think of our longer-term goals, it’s as simple as that. Initially I thought along the lines of making Joy’s Acre a retreat, which I think fits best with my vision of how things were in Joy’s day, but they’re usually partly charity funded and are either religious or have a particular theme as a space for artists, or meditation, that kind of thing. That’s too exclusive and I also don’t have the funds to subsidise that kind of environment. I need money coming in, not going out, and so for the time being I think the only way forward is to offer the cottages for holidays. That way we start to make money immediately, it keeps Agatha happy, and it will also allow us to develop plans for the future and guide Joy’s Acre to where we ultimately want it to be.’
‘I agree that Agatha’s more likely to support a holiday-let business. I love the idea of the cottages being here for people who need them but I can’t see Agatha going for that kind of set-up, can you? She doesn’t strike me as the charitable sort.’
‘She wants a return on her investment, which is fair enough. I don’t like the way Agatha conducts her business, but it’s her affair, and although she might be able to stipulate how things are done, she can’t change how I see the world. As long as I have that, there are always ways to… bend things to make them fit.’
Maddie thought about his words. They made perfect sense and she was glad he wasn’t looking for Joy’s Acre to become some sort of hippie ‘new age’ centre, she didn’t think she could cope with that. It wasn’t that she had anything against people who wanted to live that way, but in her experience they were often very keen to shove their enlightened way of life down your throat in a way that was anything but enlightened.
‘So, where do we go from here?’
Seth scratched his head. ‘I’ve tied myself in knots thinking how I can achieve what I want and get the best of both worlds. Now I reckon I’ve been overthinking it. Because if it’s going to, it will happen of its own accord anyway. I’m a firm believer in fate playing a key role. I mean, you’re here, aren’t you?’
She frowned at him. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’
He gave her a very direct look. ‘Me, Tom, Clara, and now you. We’re all up shit creek without a paddle. To a greater or lesser extent, granted, but—’
‘I am not!’ she protested.
‘No? You could have fooled me.’ He held her look for a moment. ‘Get to know us, Maddie, and you’ll find that we all have… things in our lives… and you’re no different.’ He smiled. ‘It’s not a criticism, far from it, it’s an opportunity as far as I’m concerned. That’s what I meant when I said I think things here will happen of their own accord, that people will be drawn to us because they have need of us. Sure, there are people who’ll come here on holiday, eat too much, drink too much, sightsee and then go home again without a care in the world, but I think, perhaps in between, there will also be people who will take something else home with them. ’
Maddie stared at him.
‘So, in answer to your question, I think what we do here is crack on. We need to get these cottages ready and open for business as soon as possible… and then we wait and see what happens. So if you’ve got some amazing ideas up your sleeve, now would be a good time to hear them.’
She thought back to her time in the garden, to the intense feelings that had swept over her as she finally realised what Joy’s Acre was all about. Her time with Seth had only served to reinforce that, and she felt a rush of energy.
‘Oh yeah,’ she said. ‘I’ve got some ideas all right. I’ll put the kettle on, shall I?’
Chapter 12
It had taken a week, but at the end of it Maddie had felt her plans really beginning to come together. She had been tentative at first – mindful of her previous bull-in-a-china-shop approach – but as he’d listened, Seth’s smile had become a grin, and that grin had only grown wider and wider. Today he was practically jumping about in excitement as he, Maddie and Clara waited for Tom to come down from the roof so that they could update him on the latest developments.
The weather was still stunning and looked set to continue for at least another week, which had given them the perfect opportunity to move on apace with the new thatching. It was nowhere near finished of course, but the weather, together with the first of the contractors coming on site, had given things a real lift and Tom had been hard at it since early morning.
Maddie waited until he had joined them and passed him a cool drink.
‘So, I had some ideas for the barn originally, which were total rubbish, and—’
‘Aw, they weren’t total rubbish, Maddie… just a bit—’
‘Yeah, they were, Clara, stop trying to be kind.’ Seth grinned at Maddie. ‘Sorry, I interrupted… You had some totally rubbish ideas for the barn… and?’
Maddie swung her foot at him which he evaded easily. ‘Yes, thank you, Seth. And… now I’ve had some better ideas.
‘When I first heard that Clara was going to move into the thatched cottage, I got my knickers in a bit of a twist. Purely out of concern for the financial viability of the site, you understand, and when I looked into it the numbers just didn’t stack up. So I started to look at where else we might create accommodation that would give us other benefits too. Purely by chance, I had a conversation with someone who gave me the solution to how that might work.’
‘Her name’s Trixie,’ said Seth. ‘Former barmaid of the Frog and Wicket, and soon to be Joy’s Acre’s resident cook.’
There was a surprised look from Tom.
‘Trixie was the one who put me on to the solution for our broadband problem,’ Maddie explained, ‘but, she also happens to be an amazing cook. With a stroke of incredible timing, I also discovered that she was moving out of the pub and about to start looking for another job. It took a while to make contact with her after that, but when we did, Seth explained what we had in mind here and she jumped at the chance. So now we’re going to convert the barn and make somewhere for both Clara and Trixie to live, and at the same time create a space to use as a dining area. Trixie w
ill be on hand to cook gourmet meals for our guests and we can make it a feature of the place; self-catering but with added wow. She’s also agreed to cook for us too.’
Tom belched. ‘Oh, I’m liking the sound of that. Although I’ve been thrown out of the Frog and Wicket before, I hope she won’t hold it against me. On second thoughts…’
Clara groaned. ‘Tom, is there anywhere you haven’t been thrown out of?’
He scratched his head in an exaggerated fashion. ‘Good point,’ he added. ‘But it sounds like a great idea. People always like something they don’t think they can get from anywhere else.’
‘Well, I hope so. Now, obviously this is work that wasn’t originally planned for, but what it will mean is that as soon as the thatched cottage is ready it can be offered for occupancy, rather than having Clara move in.’ She glanced at Seth for confirmation.
She had not made reference to any aspect of Clara’s relationship with Seth since their first disastrous conversation about the cottage, and just the thought of what she’d said made her cringe. It was still a ridiculous idea for Clara to live there but she knew better than to ask Seth why it was so important; she just had to accept that it was. It was obvious that there was something between them, but Maddie still couldn’t work out what, and neither could she work out how that made her feel. What was worse was that she couldn’t work out why she should feel anything at all; after all, it was none of her business. One day she would learn why Seth felt so strongly about Clara’s presence, but that would be when she had earned her place here and the trust of others. For now, it was enough to build it into her plans without further question.
Seth nodded at Tom. ‘So we’re looking at early June for completion on the roof.’
‘That’s only six bloody weeks away,’ grumbled Tom. ‘What if we hit a spell of bad weather? That doesn’t give me much leeway.’
‘No, but it might keep you out of the pub,’ remarked Clara.
Tom threw her a dark look. ‘Yeah, all right, all right.’