where it was within a knives edge of being doomed. He owned two villages. Who does that in this day and age? But he had not invested any money into the upkeep of all those properties. It was not until his death that this became clear to Sophia. He had expected “the commoners” to live beneath him and therefore didn‘t think it a priority to upkeep their dwellings. Sophia was horrified to realize that some tenants were living with young families in houses that had not had hot water for months, or toilets that had been leaking for years, just to name a few of the endless list of maintenance issues that needed to be resolved. Sophia had had six years and in that time she had managed to make some vast improvements to both of the villages. She had rectified all the outstanding problems of all the tenants. And the garden restoration was, to an extent, a reward to herself for improving everyone else’s lives. The gardens had been a goal that she would not have undertaken if there had been anything to do for the tenants. She knew that the maintenance issues would never stop but at least it was no longer an avalanche of complaints or compliance issues to deal with. Eventually she went to bed and woke up in the morning remembering that Brandon’s’ touch was the last thing on her mind and the first thing she thought of when her eyes opened.
Chapter Four
Tuesday
Brandon was there at 8o’clock sharp. For some reason he hadn’t had a good night’s sleep which was odd as the physical work had worn him out. He had become very accustomed to working out in the gym of his various penthouses but “real” work was a very foreign activity these days. He really enjoyed the day yesterday and was looking forward to getting back into it again. The dogs gave him a good warning that all would be exiting from the back of the house. Lilly ran past him with a smile and a wave as she chased after the dogs. He turned to watch as Sophia came out. What color are her eyes? He had been able to see them as he lay wide awake last night, they were beautiful but for some reason the color eluded him. She was wearing a bright green shirt today and it left no doubt that her eyes were green, the shirt drew the color out and she looked gorgeous. His heart beat had increased considerably. So to cover his reaction he bowed and said “Good morning, My Lady”. Bill was the only worker from yesterday but someone must have pre-warned them of Brandon’s’ greeting because they all turned to Sophia and in unison took off their hats, bowed their heads and said “Good morning My Lady”. All done with very straight faces, they then took off down the broad stone stairs taking then two at a time as fast as lightning. Evidently aware that if she could have caught them Sophia would have hit them with something, preferably something very hard. Or found the keys to this dungeon or shot them, all not good options. She turned to Brandon who was standing looking as though he had not somehow encouraged this. “Good Morning to you, Brandon” was all she said and walked past him. He did however gain a light smack on his buttocks with her hat as she passed. This caused him to laugh so hard he nearly gained himself a second one for good measure.
It was midafternoon, when they were all thinking about taking a break for Afternoon tea. An older man dressed in a black suit came up to Sophia. Brandon looked at him as he walked up the stone pathway. The suited man gave a bow of his head as he passed. Brandon guessed he was in his late sixties. The man spoke to Sophia addressing her as Lady Sophia with a very formal bow and then spoke softly to her. Sophia’s face remained rather impassive then she stood up and indicated that he should lead the way. As they walked past Sophia stopped beside Brandon and called the man back “Harold, you have not had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Brandon De Lecour, have you?” Harold turned and bowed again. “A pleasure, to meet you, Sir” Brandon stood up and offered a greeting with a rather puzzled look on his face. Surely this was not her husband; they expressed