CHAPTER
25
ENGLAND
FINAL
DAYS
Naturally the atmosphere became somewhat
awkward between us and Sir Duncan after our dismissal. He obviously didn’t want us on the estate
anymore but due to the labour laws he was forced into giving us notice and
paying us for work done. His way of
dealing with this situation was to issue lists of duties via email and then
send his wife out to ensure that we completed them as quickly as possible.
Working in the cold mist
Lady Felicity took her new role very
seriously and hounded us throughout the day holding her lists in her hand as
she marched around the estate in her wellington boots and tweeds. She must have
given up all her normal country lady activities in order to perform this job
for her husband. There was no avoiding
her now. If she couldn’t find us she
would call relentlessly on the two-way radio and then the questions would
start: “I have walked all around the estate and couldn’t find you anywhere!” She
would state in her high pitched voice.
We had become very rebellious by now and I
would confuse her by telling her where I was (or should have been) saying
something like “the radio doesn’t seem to be working”, or “I was in the orchard
weeding and didn’t hear you call”.
More likely, I was in my kitchen having a cup
of coffee as I had absolutely no incentive to work on the estate any longer,
nor could I stomach any more of her questions and commands.
So the lists grew longer and our labours
less, while Sir Duncan became more frustrated with us and took it out on his
wife who immediately donned her wellington boots and set out to find us. We took great comfort in
this game of hide and seek and became naughty little children, pulling faces
behind her back and making insulting remarks in Afrikaans.
Frozen spider web
When we did manage to complete the lists they
would spend a lot of energy detailing new jobs that were “exceedingly
important” and needed to be done with great urgency.
I have never come across people who created a
business out of gardening like this; where all the beauty and enjoyment has
been sucked out and replaced with lists, labels, demands and rebukes. To be so privileged as to own such a
magnificent property and to then spend one’s days looking for faults and
completely ignoring the wonder and joy of acres of garden filled with flowers,
trees and birds is just beyond me.
Instead of enjoying seeing a squirrel on the lawn, Sir Duncan could only
see how much damage that animal might do on his property, therefore it should be
killed immediately. To see wild flowers
and ivy growing as nature intended and to destroy it all with poisons because
it’s not the way he has dictated that his particular piece of nature should
look is to me a sin. Surely an English
country estate should represent what the English countryside looks like. Not clipped to within an inch of its life and
labelled with metal tags. As with his
wine cellar his garden was to him just another filing cabinet where everything
should be orderly and cross referenced.
Beautiful autumn leaves
On our final day of work we were summoned to
the conservatory for a farewell tea.
This tea had been arranged by Lady Felicity who obviously did appreciate
our hard work and assistance even though she was unable to share this with her
husband. I felt she was torn between her loyalties to her husband and her sense
of fairness. I believe she felt having a tea party for us was
the “right” thing to do. Simon, the previous part time consultant and gardener,
who was now back full time and in the bosses good books for now, had been asked
to be present and I believe this was to ensure no tempers flared over the
teapot.
The best china had been laid out with plates
of chocolate biscuits which we were informed were very “special” as they didn’t
normally have such things for tea. (No doubt, chocolate biscuits were
considered rather common for tea in the big house, where Rich Tea biscuits
normally graced the tea tray). We then
felt we were expected to eat these special biscuits as a courtesy to Lady
Duncan, so we all dipped in dutifully. Conversation
was stilted and after about fifteen minutes Sir Duncan stood up, shook hands
with us, and said in a very clipped tone “Well goodbye then” and walked out of
the room. The tea was over
apparently. I felt a need to say something
and turned to Lady Felicity, “Thank you for all you’ve done for us and the
kindness you’ve shown us during our time here”.
I thought that was rubbing it in a little but didn’t expect what
happened next. She in turn burst into tears and stood up to
hug us both! What a surprise to see some
emotion shown and I realised how very much she was controlled by her
husband. I felt absolutely no envy for
her life on her country estate with servants at her beck and call and his
millions in the bank. She had probably
never been allowed to show her own personality during her life, first being
controlled by her father as a child, only to be handed over in marriage to a
bully who stifled any sensitivity or emotions she may have wished to show.
During that last month we spent many hours
searching for work and accommodation.
There were very few replies but John managed to get a positive response
from a herb grower and we pinned our hopes on that. We realised that with winter approaching
there would be very little work available in his field. Finding some temporary accommodation was
extremely difficult as we now had our dog Paddy with us. Holiday homes don’t normally accept dogs and
in addition they usually charge by the week which works out to a high monthly
rent. We tried for monthly rentals but
everyone expected a minimum of six months and since we had no idea where we
were going to get work it didn’t seem wise to take on a six month lease. We now also had a house full of furniture to
move but after getting quotes from three furniture removal companies we
realised our wages wouldn’t cover their fees.
This was how we learnt about the “Man with a Van” service in this
country. They are everywhere and will pretty much move anything for you for a
reasonable fee.
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