The Little Cottage in the Country

by Lottie Phillips

  Anna turned back to Horatio. ‘You know, I’ve been really hard on you, cousin, especially since I now know you didn’t tell Simon where I live and the thing,’ she said more quietly, ‘about your wife.’

  Horatio shook his head. ‘Did you just say cousin?’

  Another knock at the door stopped Anna in her tracks. ‘Who have you rung now, Dee? Because I’m just about ready—’

  ‘No one,’ Diane interrupted her flow, appearing halfway down the stairs. She nodded at Horatio. ‘Hi. Thanks for coming.’

  Anna rolled her eyes and walked over to the door. She opened it wide and found Richard standing on the step.

  ‘Oh, well, isn’t this turning out to be a party?’ Anna looked up at Diane who shrugged.

  ‘Nothing to do with me, Sarg.’

  ‘Richard, I’ve got company, so unless you want to apologise for talking to me the way you did yesterday, can you just go? I’m packing to leave for London.’

  ‘What? Why?’ Richard said, trying to look past her. ‘We were just beginning to have fun.’

  ‘Were we?’ She raised a brow. ‘It only occurred to me last night that you actually can’t accept me for who I am. With the whole loo-roll incident, you appeared mortified, and when you said you would prefer it if my children didn’t come to the farm, that it was just me, I should have known then that you couldn’t get your head around my having children.’

  ‘It’s not like that.’ Richard pushed his fingers through his hair. ‘It’s just that you’re irresistibly sexy and I wanted you to myself.’ He gave her a knee-weakening smile. ‘You know, I only got a bit angry last night because I thought you were pregnant and I was jealous.’

  Anna tried to contain her smile and looked away. ‘But why do you get so moody around me sometimes? Like I’m annoying you?’

  ‘Oh, Anna,’ he took her hand, ‘if I do, it’s only because I’m desperate to have you all to myself. You’re divine and…’ He looked up sharply. ‘Oh, he’s your company.’

  Anna turned and Richard dropped her hand. ‘Yes, I was just explaining to Horatio why I’m heading back to London to look for a flat.’ She paused. ‘Anyway, what is it with you two?’

  ‘I told you, Anna, Richard is not to be trusted.’

  Richard pushed past her and into the front room, pulling himself up to Horatio. ‘Oh yeah? Why is that, Horatio?’

  Horatio looked momentarily perplexed. ‘Because from the moment you turned up, a couple of years ago, my mother has told me she has her reasons. I know she wouldn’t lie to me.’

  ‘What does your mother, Lady Spencerville, say to you, Horatio?’

  Horatio took a step backwards. ‘Well, nothing specifically, but I know she’s only got everyone’s best interests at heart. Whatever you did to her, I know it haunts her every day.’

  ‘Does it?’ Richard started pacing the room. ‘Does it?’

  Anna stood in the middle and looked from one to the other. ‘Am I missing something here? Listen, this is probably an argument you need to have elsewhere, not in my house, you hear me?’

  ‘Oh no, Anna. I think it’s about time we cleared the air.’

  ‘No,’ Anna said. ‘I have to pack.’

  ‘No,’ Richard said firmly. ‘Listen.’ Richard stared at Horatio, unblinking. ‘Did your mother ever tell you that we’re brothers?’

  Horatio inhaled deeply, his jaw twitching. ‘What?’

  ‘Anna’s aunt is my mother, your father is also my father.’

  ‘Wait,’ Anna said, putting her hand in the air, ‘so when Lady Spencerville was talking about her son, a son she paid off, she wasn’t talking about Horatio? She was talking about,’ she paused, looked at Richard, ‘you?’

  Richard rocked back on his heels. ‘Yeah, she paid me off, a couple of years ago, when I went in search of my birth certificate and I found out. She paid me to keep my mouth shut, but you know what? I’m sick of it. I’m sick of letting the truth go unheard.’ He nodded. ‘Yeah, sure, she gave me money. Lots of it.’ He pinched his fingers together and rubbed. ‘She also gave me Briars Farm when I refused to leave. It was our father’s farm, and that bench, Anna,’ he said, his eyes flashing, ‘that bench means nothing to me. It was where our father used to sit with Horatio. Where Horatio sat while I was with my adoptive parents. The whole thing makes me sick.’

  Anna rubbed her forehead, not wanting to believe what she was hearing.

  ‘So, when you mentioned your aunt had a secret she wanted to tell you, I knew already. I wanted to watch you squirm. Anna, Anna, Anna.’ Richard pressed his fingers on both hands together. ‘My mother gave you this cottage.’

  ‘So?’

  ‘It’s rightfully mine.’ He nodded. ‘I am her son. You are merely her niece.’

  ‘But you can’t have it,’ Anna said matter-of-factly, ‘because I live here. The probate is done and dusted. Is this what you were talking about?’ Anna turned to Horatio.

  He looked at her in earnest. ‘My mother just told me it belonged to the estate. I’ve confronted her over and over again, Anna. You have to trust me. I’ve told her you must keep it.’

  ‘I will contest it,’ Richard said.

  Anna, heart hammering, moved closer to him. ‘You wouldn’t dare. You would never win.’

  ‘What makes you think that?’

  ‘You’ve already got Briars Farm and more money than I’ve ever seen.’

  ‘Anna, I want it all. I want what’s rightfully mine.’

  Anna strode towards him, her face inches from Richard’s, and spoke slowly, her voice trembling, ‘You are a vile man, Richard. Vile.’ She looked back at Horatio, who was sitting, his head in his hands. ‘Lady Spencerville bought your silence because she was so afraid of her reputation being marred. So, if you want to be angry, be angry with her.’ She paused, trying to clarify the thoughts speeding around her head. ‘You told her I wasn’t to be trusted with it because you’re angry with her. She then thinks I’m going to show it to everyone in the village, but I wouldn’t do that. You know why?’

  Richard sucked in his cheeks. ‘Why?’

  ‘Because even though my aunt had an affair with your father, I know how much she loved him, and I know she was desperate for that diary to be kept secret, because her words were sacred and she didn’t want any more heartache to come from it.’

  Horatio stood. ‘Richard.’

  Richard looked at him, his eyes challenging.

  ‘How old are you?’

  Richard paused. ‘Thirty. Why?’

  ‘I’m thirty-eight,’ Horatio said, swallowing hard. ‘I have this vague memory. I’ve always had it, but I could never place it. Put it in context, you know?’

  His question was met with silence.

  ‘Go on,’ Anna said quietly.

  ‘I remember your aunt, Anna, appearing at our house one day and she was crying. I sat on the top stair and watched her begging my father. I never knew for what and then I saw you.’ He looked at Richard. ‘I saw you. You were just a baby and a woman came to the door. Your mother couldn’t bear it and she ran into the study. Our father handed what I realise now must have been you, Richard, to this woman on the doorstep. I sat there and felt so sad.’ He gave a small nod, his voice growing gruff. ‘It was like everything was changing and yet I didn’t know why. My mother came up behind me and, oddly, I remember her words.’

  ‘What did she say?’ Richard said, his face stony.

  ‘She said something about adults having to make hard decisions, but that it was for the best.’ He rubbed his forehead. ‘My point is that no one let you go easily. Now I realise what was happening that day.’

  Silence descended on the room.

  ‘But,’ Richard finally spoke, ‘you’re missing the point. The point is that they did let me go and it wasn’t for the best. My adoptive parents were good to me but there was always something missing in my life. I felt empty.’

  Horatio looked him in the eye. ‘But this is not Anna’s problem. This is between you and my mother.�
��

  ‘Wrong,’ Richard said, his voice steely. ‘Anna has what’s rightfully mine and I will fight for it. I am owed this cottage, at the very least.’

  ‘This isn’t just about my aunt, anyway. Didn’t you speak to your father when you came back?’ Anna asked.

  ‘Yeah,’ Richard nodded. ‘He told me over and over again how sorry he was. He would come to Briars Farm and we would walk and he would try and explain, but what are words after twenty-eight years? We were strangers to each other.’ He glanced at Horatio. ‘He used to talk about Horatio on those walks. I think he wanted to believe te had a normal father and son relationship, that those twenty-eight years could just disappear and we would start then and there. Only,’ he let out a hollow laugh, ‘how could that happen when I was still being kept away from Ridley Manor? When my brother, Horatio, was living up on the Ridley Manor estate and Lady Spencerville warned me day in and day out of the bad that would come from the truth coming out.’

  ‘Leave Anna the cottage,’ Horatio said firmly. ‘This is her property and we must allow her aunt, your mother, her final wishes.’

  Richard shook his head and strode over to the door. ‘No, that’s what I’ve done all along. I’ve obediently lurked in the shadows of your life, Horatio. No longer. This cottage will be mine.’ He opened the door, looked around the downstairs of the cottage a final time, and left.

  Diane tiptoed down the stairs. ‘Anna?’ she whispered. ‘So glad you never even kissed him. Horrid man.’ Diane smiled briefly and went back up the stairs.

  Anna turned back to Horatio, who was watching her.

  ‘What?’ she said.

  ‘You never kissed him?’ He smiled. ‘I’m so glad.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because,’ he said, clearing his throat, ‘I’m in love with you.’

  ‘What?’ Anna looked baffled. ‘You’re in love with me?’

  He nodded. ‘In the short time I’ve known you, I’ve fallen hard.’

  Anna stared at him, her mouth suddenly dry. ‘But I’m just ridiculous Anna Compton.’

  ‘No.’ He shook his head and came up to her, holding her arms. ‘You’re gorgeous. I love your dirty laugh, I love the way you just do everything and do it well. I love the way you love your children. I love you, it turns out, when you’re hurtling down a hill. I love the fact that you buy your cakes and don’t make them. I love the way you’ve made me excited about life again. You’re totally unpredictable and feisty and, God, that’s sexy. I hate to say it but you’re even bloody cute when you’re angry. I love seeing you at the school gates, whether you’re talking to me that day or not. I love you when you’re wearing an incredibly tight jumpsuit singing Abba.’ He grinned. ‘I love it when you get cross with me. I love how you call me Mr Horatio. I love how you speak your mind. I love everyone that comes with you. Your children, your mother.’

  ‘You do?’

  ‘Yes, she’s fun.’ He nodded. ‘I love Diane.’

  ‘Love you too!’ Diane shouted.

  He laughed. ‘You see?’

  Anna could barely breathe. Her heart was pounding in her ears, her hands clammy. ‘But you’re with Pru. I can’t be anything like her. She’s younger than me. Fitter than me. Definitely more bloody flexible than me.’

  He grinned. ‘Oh yes, I forgot, I love how you never listen to me.’

  ‘What do you mean? I always listen to you.’

  ‘No, you don’t.’ He touched her cheek gently with his forefinger. ‘I tried to tell you that Pru is my best friend’s daughter. She’s trying to find a house around here and is staying with me until she does.’

  Anna nodded, blushing. ‘Oh.’

  ‘She spoke very highly of your yoga, if that’s any help.’

  Anna giggled. ‘Fluke. It’s all fluke.’

  He put his lips on hers and murmured, ‘It’s because you’re you.’

  Anna responded, her whole body melting against his. She opened her eyes and her gaze met Horatio’s, who whispered, ‘You’re meant to keep your eyes shut.’

  She giggled again. ‘Yours were open. Besides, I’ve kept them closed for too long.’

  The front door opened and her mother, carrying a single shopping bag, bounced in, followed by the twins, lugging a total of ten. ‘Oh darling, do my eyes deceive me or are you actually getting some action?’

  Anna pulled away from Horatio and then, just as quickly, put her arm around his waist. ‘Yes, actually, I am.’

  Diane trotted down the stairs and hugged both of them.

  ‘Dee!’ Anna screeched. ‘Stop. Don’t ruin this for me.’

  Horatio laughed and drew them all into a hug. ‘What a mad, mad family.’

  Happy Never After

  The next morning, Anna padded down the stairs feeling happier than she had done in a long time. She walked with a new bounce in her step. Anna Compton was no longer suffering from Chronic Singledom. There was hope and it was shaped like a man called Horatio.

  Her mother was already sitting at the table, idly stirring a cup of coffee and staring, catatonically, at the fridge opposite.

  ‘Mum?’ Anna said, flicking the switch on the kettle. ‘You OK? You look a bit peaky.’

  ‘It’s Tony.’ She didn’t avert her eyes. ‘He’s asked me to marry him.’

  Anna sat. ‘Bloody hell.’ She forced cheer into her voice. ‘And how do you feel about that?’

  ‘Ecstatic.’ Her mother stopped moving the teaspoon around the cup. ‘Really ecstatic.’

  ‘Really?’ Anna peered more closely at her. ‘Only you look anything but ecstatic if you don’t mind me saying.’

  ‘I’m having a staring competition,’ her mother said, eventually blinking and looking at Anna. ‘There. I won.’

  Anna glanced at the fridge. ‘Uh, Mum? There’s no one here.’

  ‘No, but I’m practising. Tony and I are always playing that game and he’s always winning. Got to put some hours in, you see, to get as good as him.’

  ‘So, Mum,’ Anna said, truly baffled. ‘Back to the small matter of marriage?’

  ‘Oh yes. That.’ Her mother nodded.

  ‘So, what did he say? And, more importantly, what did you say?’

  ‘Last night I told him about you and Horatio and he brought out a ring.’

  ‘Did he say anything?’

  ‘Darling, don’t be stupid,’ her mother said casually. ‘Then I said yes.’

  ‘Wow.’ Anna was stunned. ‘Can I see the ring?’

  Her mother put her hand flat on the table and there was the ring: a small piece of copper wire bent into the shape of a circle.

  ‘It’s, um, beautiful?’

  ‘I know,’ her mother said, choking back a sob. ‘I said that to him. You see, he was wearing his boilersuit.’

  ‘Does he own anything else?’

  ‘Don’t be daft, darling. He’s got long johns too.’ She clenched her hand. ‘Anyway, the point is I was thrilled with the spontaneity of it all. So romantic. Your father, I hasten to add, wouldn’t have done such a thing. He was such a boring fart.’

  ‘You always told me how wonderful it was when he asked you.’

  ‘Did I? Oh well, I’m sure it must have been all right or I wouldn’t have said yes.’ She shook her head. ‘No, this is what love is about.’ She held her hand in the air. ‘It’s not about the money, it’s about this.’ She pointed at her finger.

  ‘A piece of copper wire?’ Anna looked at her, concerned. ‘Mum, are you sure he was asking you to marry him? I mean, how do you know? Because he doesn’t speak and he hasn’t actually given you a ring.’

  ‘Darling, do you always have to be so down on things? It’s all he had in his toolbox.’ She nodded. ‘Anyway, I know he’s going to take this off me and get a proper ring. He was just trying to get the size of my finger.’

  ‘Right.’ Anna had lost the will to reason with her mother. She got up and started making her coffee.

  Her mother picked up the local rag and flicked through the pages. After
a minute or so, she stopped. ‘Oh-oh.’

  ‘What?’ Anna said, getting cereal down from the top shelf. When her mother didn’t say anything, she turned and looked at her. ‘What is it?’

  Her mother pushed the newspaper her way. There was a photo of Horatio with a tall, slim blonde, not totally dissimilar to Pru, on his arm. Anna read the small print quickly. ‘What? This doesn’t make sense.’ She thought back to Horatio’s words and the way he’d looked at her. ‘It doesn’t make sense.’ She read aloud. ‘Horatio Spencerville set to marry Lady Arabella Ashford.’ Anna’s eyes pricked with tears. ‘Mum?’

  Her mother took the newspaper off her. ‘Go. Go and find him.’

  Anna, paralysed with confusion and hurt, couldn’t move. ‘I’ve done it again. I thought I’d finally found the one and, look, he lied to my face.’

  ‘Anna, you need to go and speak to him.’ Her mother shooed her out of the kitchen. ‘Go. I’ll get the children to school.’

  ‘OK,’ Anna said, dazed, and started up the stairs before turning around and re-entering the kitchen. ‘Actually, Mum, don’t take the kids to school.’

  ‘Why not?’ Her mother blinked at her, giving her a look that Mother Theresa would envy. ‘It’s the least I can do for my daughter at this time.’

  ‘Can you take them to the park or something instead?’ She frowned. ‘In fact, can you tell Diane to start packing my suitcase. This time I am going to London and no one will stop me.’

  ‘My ears are burning,’ said Diane as she walked past Anna into the kitchen. ‘All right, my little lovebird?’

  ‘No.’ Anna shook her head. ‘No, I’m not. Look.’ Her mother held the newspaper up.

  Diane read quickly. ‘What the…? How can…?’ She looked at Anna. ‘But he was all over you yesterday like a rash. I mean, it was pretty uncomfortable listening, if you know what I mean.’

  ‘No one asked you to,’ Anna pointed out.

  ‘But this,’ Diane jabbed a finger at the newspaper, ‘doesn’t make sense. Lady Arabella Ashford? What a mouthful.’

  ‘That’s why I said she needs to go and find him. Let him explain.’ Her mother got up. ‘I offered to take the kids to school but she doesn’t trust me.’