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Back A Season for Hope Save as PDF
Chapters (57)
  1. Cover
  2. Dedication
  3. Chapter One
  4. Chapter Two
  5. Chapter Three
  6. Chapter Four
  7. Chapter Five
  8. Chapter Six
  9. Chapter Seven
  10. Chapter Eight
  11. Chapter Nine
  12. Chapter Ten
  13. Chapter Eleven
  14. Chapter Twelve
  15. Chapter Thirteen
  16. Chapter Fourteen
  17. Chapter Fifteen
  18. Chapter Sixteen
  19. Chapter Seventeen
  20. Chapter Eighteen
  21. Chapter Nineteen
  22. Chapter Twenty
  23. Chapter Twenty-One
  24. Chapter Twenty-Two
  25. Chapter Twenty-Three
  26. Chapter Twenty-Four
  27. Chapter Twenty-Five
  28. Chapter Twenty-Six
  29. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  30. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  31. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  32. Chapter Thirty
  33. Chapter Thirty-One
  34. Chapter Thirty-Two
  35. Chapter Thirty-Three
  36. Chapter Thirty-Four
  37. Chapter Thirty-Five
  38. Chapter Thirty-Six
  39. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  40. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  41. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  42. Chapter Forty
  43. Chapter Forty-One
  44. Chapter Forty-Two
  45. Chapter Forty-Three
  46. Chapter Forty-Four
  47. Acknowledgements
  48. About the Authors
  49. Also by Rosie Goodwin
  50. Welcome to the world of Rosie Goodwin!
  51. Letter from Author
  52. Meat and Potato Pie
  53. The Precious Stones series
  54. The Days of the Week Collection
  55. Mothering Sunday
  56. Victorian Tales from Memory Lane
  57. Memory Lane Club

Downstairs, the solicitor was arriving and after showing him into the master’s study Nancy went to fetch Barnaby.

‘Good morning, Mr Dickenson,’ Barnaby greeted him when he entered the room. ‘May I get you anything? Tea, coffee?’

‘No, no thank you.’ The portly gentleman with the handlebar moustache removed his hat and ran his finger around the inside of his shirt collar as if it was suddenly too tight for him. He wasn’t looking forward to what he had to do one little bit and the sooner it was done and he could get away the better it would be as far as he was concerned.

Slowly he withdrew Louisa’s will and said tentatively, ‘Before we begin may I offer my condolences for your loss.’ He shook his head. ‘It’s so sad to see one so very young pass away. And also, may I add that I believe there will be things in here you will not be happy about. Louisa and her father made considerable changes to her will on the day she summoned me here and unfortunately, as she was my client, I had no choice but to do as she instructed.’

‘What are you talking about, man? Just get on with it,’ Barnaby said irritably, and so the solicitor did as he was asked.

When he had finished, he glanced up to see Barnaby staring at him, his face chalk white, as if he couldn’t believe what he had heard.

‘B-but there must be some mistake? My father-in-law invested in my business in exchange for a majority share. As for the house, he gave that to his daughter – my wife – so surely it now belongs to me?’

‘That isn’t quite correct,’ Mr Dickenson answered. ‘He actually gifted his daughter the money for a majority share in the business as a dowry, so technically most of the business has always belonged to her. But what he failed to tell you was that he encouraged her to add a clause to her will which stated that should both you and your father-in-law outlive your wife, both the house and her dowry share in the business would revert to him.’

Barnaby bounced out of his chair and began to pace up and down the room like a caged animal. ‘So tell me in layman’s terms what this means exactly and what I can do about it!’