She had been the first person to be told when the new Earl arrived and every detail about his guests who came down from London the next day was hurriedly carried to the Vicarage.
It was not surprising that the inhabitants of the village who were all living in houses owned by the Earl of Yardecombe were interested in their new Master.
Living on the estate of Yarde, which was one of the great ancestral houses in England, they had all, from the oldest pensioner to the youngest child, taken it for granted that the sixth Earl’s son, William, would inherit when his father died.
They had known William from the moment he was born and to the older people in the village and on the estate it was almost as if he was their own son.
They had watched him through every age and learnt when he had measl
