Chapter Eleven

She gave him an acid-sweet smile. ‘The Rectory may have been yours, Roth, but as part of the estate it is now owned by the Trust and—’

‘Not so.’ Roth stopped her even faster than she had him. ‘I have retained ownership of the Rectory and the land. I intend to farm it and to develop the fishing and shooting rights.’

Elena was momentarily caught off guard. It was most unusual for Michael to allow something like that. He normally insisted on buying whatever land went with a property, if only to ensure that as much of its natural background and with a property, if only to ensure that as much of its natural background and surroundings as possible were retained

If you’d like to follow me we can drive over to the Rectory now,’ Roth offered coolly.

Immediately Elena shook her head. ‘No... I want to see over the house first,’ she told him crisply.

Roth stared at her and then looked at his watch before telling her softly, ‘That will take at least two hours, possibly longer; it’s now five o’