‘All that I possess I leave to my niece, Louisa Ann Harding.’ ‘But I didn’t even know her.’ She spoke her thoughts aloud. ‘I only met her once and that was years ago, before I even started school. Are you sure she didn’t make a more up-to-date will?’ ‘Perfectly certain. I didn’t know your aunt personally – she usually dealt with Mr Hayward, our senior partner – but, unfortunately, he is indisposed. Of course, there will be things to attend to before her affairs are finalized and you are in possession. There is the house in Lexleigh—’ ‘House? You mean the landlord will hold me to giving notice? Surely her death must automatically terminate any agreement.’ Louisa took it for granted that her spinster aunt must have lived in rented property, for what sort of work could she have done to earn her the money for anything else? ‘There is no landlord. We hold the deeds of the property here and have done since she became the owner in nineteen thirty-one, twenty-six years ago.
