Beekeepers were evidently very scarce, though I did not know how scarce. And, further, my dread of business dealings leading, if made with amateurs, to social entanglements, meant that I couldn’t seek in the village itself asking all and sundry if any hive fanciers were known. I was determined to find a retailer who would not involve me in village life. And luck, as I thought, came my way at my first cast. But luck is a neutral word; it can be bad, just as well as good. This, after all, was bad. But perhaps I’d better leave luck alone. I don’t like the word much. It has a superstitious flavor and I’m just superstitious enough, and clever enough, to know what a lot we don’t know, and to leave superstitions severely alone. I’m not yet out of this wood or I wouldn’t be so carefully retracing my steps in this account. Heaven only knows where it may all end. So I’ll be cautious and say it was Destiny which took me along Waller’s Lane. It’s a pretty walk, anyhow, and one of the least frequented.
What do You think about The Notched Hairpin (2016)?
