Saturday 3 June 2023

Cousin Kate again

Kate feels uneasy in her new home, in spite of liking Lady Broome and Sir Timothy, her aged husband. He is very old and frail and he and Lady Broome seem to lead rather distant separate lives. Torquil is an odd boy who seems very arrogant and cold, but he clearly admires his cousin. Dr Delabole is the family doctor who lives in the house and takes care of Sir Timothy and Torquil whose health is not good either. Over several weeks, she adjusts to life with the family but she soon finds life there quite boring. Lady Broome is busy with her household, Sir Timothy leads a quiet life, and Torquil is odd and difficult. She wishes she could be of more help to her aunt but LAdy Broome wont give her any real duties. She writes to Sarah but does not receive a reply. Then Philip Sir Timothy's nephew comes to stay, he is a handsome young man several years older than his cousin, and all the servants like him and wish he lived there permanently as he cheers his uncle up. She is inclined to like Philip but feels that he is cool towards her. He clearly does not like Lady Broome and she doesnt like him. Kate becomes friendlier with Philip, and tells her about her father and her home in Portugal. Philip lives in a small manor house and runs his own estate, which is much smaller than Staplewood. He visits Gurney Templecombe, one of the Broomes' neighbours who was his childhood friend, and they talk about Torquil. Philip tells Gurney that he has been uneasy about his cousin for some time, and thinks that he is going mad, and that he's worse than he was a few months earlier. Gurney says there have been stories of Torquil running away from the house, to go to the local pub, but he does not know what to make of them.

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