to and it felt important to keep the place exactly as Eloise had loved it, right up until the moment it became someone else’s. I had no idea what I would do after it was sold, but that could be a worry for another day. Eloise had taught me that it often didn’t pay to look too far ahead.
‘So, that’s that then,’ Jackson said, pushing back the chair and standing up.
‘Yes,’ I said, ‘that’s that.’
‘Oh, no,’ he casually added, ‘there is just one more thing.’
‘What’s that?’
‘I want you to move out of the cottage.’
‘What?’
‘I’ve checked the paperwork,’ he carried on, looking down at me, ‘and the place isn’t officially part of your contract, is it?’
‘Well, no, but…’
I was pleased I was still sitting down because I wasn’t sure my legs would have held me. They had turned to jelly and Jackson would have loved the spectacle of seeing me stumble.
‘Not that you’ve actually got a contract,’ he pushed on, ‘not a legally binding one anyway.’
I couldn’t argue with that. My arrangement with Eloise had been above board when it came to paying taxes and so on, but beyond that our business association was pretty casual.
‘And given how long the sale is likely to take,’ Jackson pushed on, ‘I’ve decided to let the cottage out. God knows I need to try and generate some sort of income from the estate. I’ve already got tenants lined up who are willing to pay the market rent.’
‘But where will I go?’ I stammered. ‘And why didn’t you ask me about paying the market rent?’
‘I don’t quite think the pittance you’re paid would make that a feasible option, Freya.’
‘Eloise and I agreed that figure on the basis of me being provided with a roof over my head,’ I said firmly. ‘I do have certain rights, you know.’
‘And so do I,’ he retaliated. ‘And which particular roof is over your head has never been specified, has it? There are plenty of empty servants’ rooms in the house. You can move into those. Think how convenient it will be for us to be living closer together.’
I opened my mouth, but no words came out, which was probably just as well, given the profanities I could have resorted to. When Eloise first broached the idea of me living and working at Broad-Meadows, she had offered me the choice of either living in the cottage or taking rooms in the house. She was pleased I’d gone for the little cottage.
‘It will give you some space and privacy,’ she had said kindly.
And it had. It was going to be a blow to leave it.
‘And just to prove I’m every bit as generous as my aunt,’ Jackson added, with a nauseating smile, ‘how about I give you today off so you can move your things. After all, there’s no time like the present when it comes to getting stuff done, is there?’
* * *
Given the little I had, it had taken me no time at all to move my things from the cottage into the house. Most of the furniture belonged to the estate and everything else I could squeeze into the back of my van. I picked a couple of rooms furthest away from the wing Jackson was lording it up in and both Nell and I did our best to avoid him, but it wasn’t easy.
Whenever our paths crossed, I would paste on a smile, resolute that I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing how much I was missing my cosy little bolthole and the privacy it had afforded me, but suddenly the days seemed to drag and autumn felt like it was taking forever to land. That said, I had found one way to keep my spirits up, and thanks to Nell, mine and Jackson’s contact to a minimum.
When I first moved into the house, Jackson had insisted on me coming to the kitchen at the end of every day to talk through what I had been doing, but one night Nell’s strange behaviour ensured I would no longer have to endure his daily interrogation.
‘I’d rather you didn’t bring that damn dog with you in here,’ Jackson had grumbled, when he noticed her circling and whining in front of what had been her old spot next to the range. ‘It’s not hygienic, and what’s the matter with her anyway?’
I knew Nell wanted the loo, but I wasn’t going to tell him that.
‘It’s Eloise,’ I said, looking about me and into the distance over Jackson’s shoulder.