Lavender Lane (Larch Tree Lane #4)

Chapter Six

Nina glanced sideways at Sean as they walked down the gentle slope. Their steps matched nicely and his hand felt comfortable in hers. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so quickly attracted to a man.

She realised she was staring at him again, so forced her attention away and made herself concentrate on the cottages, which were set out in two trios. Elizabeth had been right: the gardens did need attention. And if those scruffy-looking shrubs were the lavender the group of houses was named after, they looked as if they needed someone not only to tend them but to love them.

They stopped for a good look at the front of each cottage but didn’t attempt to go inside any of them.

‘So this is Lavender Lane,’ she said quietly as they stood at the bottom of the small path between the trios of building. ‘Six cottages and one big house. It’s pretty here, isn’t it? Or it could be if everything were brought up to scratch and the gardens weeded and filled with flowers.’

‘Yes. Very pretty.’ But he was looking at her as much as the cottages.

When she realised that, she flushed slightly but still didn’t pull her hand away. They had come back to the top of the path again and were standing just outside the small garden in front of the big house.

‘This place could be stunning if it were properly cared for. Look at that pretty ornamental brickwork round the windows.’ But she still didn’t go into the garden and into the house, only made a sweeping gesture to include the whole of the lane and cottages. ‘I can’t think what this place would have been used for. Do you know, Sean?’

‘I do know the general background, but I thought the authorities had briefed you about that and described the broad picture at least.’

‘Well, they didn’t. They’ve hardly told me anything beyond the fact that I’ve inherited this place and that you’ll work as my partner on behalf of the government to set it all up again, whatever “it” is.’

‘That’s what comes of dividing jobs between organisations,’ he said. ‘The bureaucrats must have thought the lawyers had explained the situation to you and vice versa. But in fairness to them, this was all done in a rush. I think you inheriting it has come as a surprise to them.’

She frowned. ‘Why? Surely someone had to inherit.’

‘I gather they’d expected it to revert to the government as a gift after Murray died because he told them he was going to do that at one stage. And then they found he’d left it to his distant cousin so they waited for her to do something with it. Only Laura fell ill and died within less than a year, leaving it to you. I get the impression they aren’t quite sure what to do about that. It’s been an unusual set-up for the last few decades anyway, started in the Cold War after World War Two by an extremely patriotic member of the Chadwick family to provide somewhere private and out of the way for security personnel who are in urgent need of rest and recovery.’

He paused for a moment, waiting till she took that in and nodded to him to continue.

‘One major recommendation was apparently to make a compulsory purchase from you and put things on what they called a more organised footing. The people at the top of this area, however, felt that the present arrangements had worked well in the past because things had been done fairly casually, so decided not to change that, since there was still a need for the services it could provide.’

‘The arrangements are still very vague.’

‘Yes, but also very cost effective, another reason Lavender Lane has been allowed to continue to function.’

‘All I knew was that I’d inherited a group of properties from a friend.’ She stared at him as something else occurred to her. ‘Were these disagreements the reason why it took several days for you to join me?’

He shrugged. ‘No. I was summoned back to the UK from a climbing holiday to be briefed and take over.’ He smiled. ‘And I was rather miffed at first, I must admit, because it was my first proper holiday in ages. But I’m quite happy about it now because the possibilities are starting to look both interesting and worthwhile. There’s a generous financial bonus attached to the task as well, which will swell my retirement funds nicely.’

She gave him another puzzled look. ‘They didn’t even hint at what to expect so please go on and tell me more details, Sean. What exactly is this place used for? You said something about convalescence, but not of whom and how the people who come here are selected, let alone cared for.’

‘Well, there’s one big difference between this and other convalescence homes: it’s a place where people who’ve been working under cover for the government in all sorts of weird places can come and rest, safe from the public gaze.’

‘Doesn’t anyone in the nearby town wonder why they’re here?’

‘The local folk have been told that it’s a convalescent home for government officials and in a sense that’s true. But as you now know, it’s more – to put it crudely, it’s a safe recovery place for ex-spies and their like. So while it is generally known as a convalescent home, its precise function is a closely guarded secret.’

Nina looked at him in surprise. ‘So that’s why it isn’t run like a normal government department?’

‘Yes, in fact it really is owned privately and has been for decades by a series of patriotic people, of whom you are the latest. Which may put you at risk as well.’

She gaped at him. ‘I’m in danger here?’

‘You may be. You may not. I shall do my best to keep you safe, I promise.’

‘This whole scenario is starting to sound like something from Monty Python’s Flying Circus .’

‘That could be why it’s worked so well. However, you won’t lose out financially, whatever happens in the future. If the government wants to take it over completely, they’ll have to buy it from you – and a place like this is quite a valuable chunk of land.’

‘No wonder I couldn’t find much about it on the internet. And no wonder the lawyers were worried when a stranger had tried to find out where this place was and gain access to it. It could only have been Susan Jones. Have you heard what happened to her, by the way?’

‘She was apparently recognised by an off-duty policeman in Reading and taken into custody. So she will be dealt with by the authorities in the usual way and I doubt that she will bother us again. I’m afraid you’ve been thrown in at the deep end, Nina, and I hadn’t realised how little you’d been told. You can always offer to sell it to the government immediately if it feels like too much to take on.’

‘I’ll have to think about that!’ she said. ‘It seems as if I’ve gone straight from a life that was too quiet to one that may be too active in some senses. I do care about my country, though. And I have you to help me.’

‘My pleasure.’

They smiled at one another. Her pleasure too, she thought.

‘I may as well finish the tale. It’s more pleasant standing out here in the open air as we go over things. Because of the complexities of ownership, the place had been shut down so the SWD haven’t been able to send anyone to recover their health here for a couple of years.’

‘Why didn’t they just close it down permanently?’

‘The SWD have found it too useful in the past. They’d prefer to get it up and running but with someone they can trust in charge.’

‘What does SWD stand for?’

‘Oh, sorry. One gets so used to abbreviations and jargon: Special Welfare Department.’

‘Which could mean anything.’

‘Exactly why the name was chosen.’

‘So we now need to get things running again.’

‘Yes. But with myself as your partner, if I suit.’ He gave her another of his quirky little flourishes of the hand to indicate both the place and himself.

‘Thank goodness I’m not on my own. Um, what exactly does the SWD do , Sean?’

‘As little as necessary. Actually, they’ve done some good work here over the years and saved quite a few lives. They’ve done that in a quiet way that wouldn’t have been possible for a bureaucracy.’

‘How were they found?’

‘They’ve all been related to one another, though Laura Chadwick was only a distant cousin of Murray Ashworth and her branch of the family had settled in Australia a while ago.’

‘Like my family,’ she said thoughtfully.

‘I gather that she and Murray had worked together in the secret service at one stage.’

‘Good heavens! Laura had? Really?’

‘Yes. How exactly are you related to her? I had to get ready to join you in a hurry and didn’t have time to find the connection.’

It was her turn to frown as she suddenly wondered whether there might actually be some sort of connection. Oh, it was so infuriating to have been kept from that knowledge. It’d be a very distant connection, if so. Her parents had been very ordinary if secretive folk, not even going overseas on holidays or socialising much, just living quietly and happily together.

Or had they been escaping from a burden they didn’t want to take on? She certainly couldn’t imagine them getting involved in anything like the sort of covert activities Sean had been describing.

‘We’ve had difficulty finding how your family fits,’ he said quietly. ‘As far as my contacts could work out in their first rapid search, your parents suddenly turned up in Australia out of the blue. They didn’t maintain any links with the UK, or at least we don’t think they did.’

‘I thought I was just a casual friend as far as Laura was concerned.’

He frowned at her. ‘Are you utterly certain about that?’

‘Um – not per cent, no. I don’t actually know anything about my ancestry because my parents always refused to tell me anything about their family background.’

‘They certainly hid it well.’

‘They must have destroyed all their British documents when they first came to Australia because I never found signs of any. When I was in my teens I confronted them and insisted I had a right to know about my family background, but they refused to tell me anything whatsoever, said it was for my own good. I had never seen them that angry before and they threatened to cut off my pocket money for six months if I ever pestered them about it again.’

‘How strange.’

‘They never threatened what they weren’t prepared to do, so I didn’t ask again, but I continued to wonder about it and feel resentful till I got married. Then I pushed it to the back of my mind. I was very happy with Charles and loved knowing his family and having our own sons to raise.’

‘Did Laura ever hint at anything?’

‘Never. I had the privilege of being her friend during her final illness but I thought that had come about by chance, because I stepped in to help a stranger. However, now I’m wondering if the fact that my parents’ flat was close to Laura’s house was a coincidence – or did they actually know and even work with each other?’

‘It’s a possibility. There are wheels within wheels in this game. But if you’re not related it’ll be the first time in the history of Lavender Lane that it hasn’t been passed to a family member, however distant, so that suggests that you were. In any case, the people I answer to will continue looking, I’m sure. Should you mind if they found something out?’

She shrugged. ‘Not at all. In fact, I’d love them to find something.’

He was still frowning and giving her sideways glances. ‘To tell the truth, I’ve seen photos of Laura and I reckon you could be related to her. When she was younger, she had dark curly hair and a high forehead like yours. And there’s something about your eyes, too.’

‘It’d be nice to belong somewhere and be related to someone apart from my sons.’

‘Neither of them is married?’

She rolled her eyes. ‘No sign of it. Their generation doesn’t seem to be in a hurry to settle down as much as mine was.’

He snapped his fingers. ‘I’ve just remembered something I was told. There’s apparently a whole shelf of personal diaries in the big house.’

‘Oh, I shall enjoy reading them. How far do they go back?’

‘A couple of hundred years, with gaps. Not everyone keeps a diary. I gather they’re amazing. And maybe when you read them you’ll be proud of what quietly patriotic people have done to help their government over the decades. It’s not all about fighting wars, and thank goodness for that. Um, I’d like to read them too, if you’ll allow it.’

‘Of course I will.’

He glanced up at the sky. ‘Now, pleasant as it is to stand chatting in the sunshine getting to know one another, we’d better get on with it.’ Even as he spoke, some clouds drifted across the sky and covered the sun as if to underline what he was saying.

‘Is it going to rain?’ she wondered aloud.

‘I don’t think so.’ When she didn’t move, he took her hand again and gave it a little tug. ‘Come on. It’s more than time we looked round inside the big house. Are you ready to face it now?’

‘I suppose so.’ But she paused on the threshold and turned to look down the short slope, saying softly, ‘It feels lovely here, don’t you think?’

‘Yes. It’s surprised me how peaceful it is. You can’t hear any traffic noises at all. This seems to be a very quiet street.’ He pushed the door open and stepped to one side. ‘You should lead the way in, but please be cautious about where you tread. We don’t know how dilapidated it might be. Some of this house must be over two hundred years old. It’s probably the oldest property on the site, one of the oldest in this part of the valley.’

‘And you know that how? Have you seen some records that I haven’t?’

‘No. I’ve had a fascination for architectural history ever since I was a lad, so I can often tell simply by looking at a building roughly when it was built. But if the floor doesn’t feel safe, back away again slowly, treading gently and making no sudden movements.’

‘Are you serious?’

‘Yes, I am, actually.’

‘I’ll do that if necessary then, but I hope it won’t be.’ Actually, she was almost certain it wouldn’t – she didn’t know why.