- Episode 2: Mr Talbot
Episode 2: Mr Talbot
by Steve Wells
As told to Steve Wells over a glass of fine vintage Claret made from elderberries picked from an ancient tree which overhangs the small croquet lawn.
-o-O-o-
The Story so far.
Lionel Morland, a devotee of gothic horror stories, has been invited to visit Lacock Abbey to advise the owner, Mr. Talbot, on the future development of the Abbey garden. Lionel's daughter Julia, who has a reputation for painting flower pictures, will accompany her father to Lacock.
-o-O-o-
As the coach bounced its slow way towards Lacock Abbey, Lionel imagined in his mind the dark, forbidding trees which would prevent the sun from ever penetrating to the tall windows gashed in the ancient stone walls. He looked in vein. The Abbey turned out to be a rather comfortable, modern building. All that remained of the Abbey was a cloister over which the modern building had been constructed. He hid his disappointment as he made a first examination of what he could see of the garden from the window of the coach.
Julia was as enchanted as Lionel was disappointed. For her, the winter sunlight was just enough to set the golden coloured stone to advantage against the still frosty ground. She imagined paintings of frosted flowers breaking into the sunlight. When she thought of sunlight she thought of the brave figure of Sir James Effingham who would by now be in India. The pictures which he had bought from her last year would, by now, be gracing his new home. For many miles of the journey to Lacock she was unable to get his noble figure out of her mind.
She sighed. It was a good sigh. She had practised it well. It was, she had read, one of the greatest accomplishments of a young lady convincingly to be able to sigh at will. She sighed again and thought of Sir James.
Mr Talbot was there to meet them when they arrived. A small man with bright eyes, it soon became apparent why he had gained, among his small circle of close friends, the nick name of "Fox" Talbot. He moved quickly, almost furtively, as if he was trying to avoid the gaze of onlookers, Lionel understood at once that here was mystery; something hidden. His preconceptions about the Abbey had, after all, not been wrong: something was amiss and adventure was in the air. Mrs Higgins, the housekeeper, showed Julia to a large sunlit room on the first floor which was, said Mrs Higgins, as far away as possible from those smells which Mr Talbot kept producing. The wood panelling gave the room a warm friendly feeling.
Lionel's room was smaller and close to the garden door. There was a strange smell in the air: vinegar and not completely wholesome. Lionel pondered on its the possible meaning. Was it possible that Mr Talbot was an alchemist? Was he using dark forces in his attempts to convert base metals into gold? Lionel would have to investigate, but first he needed more information. He was just about to start a preliminary exploration when Mr Talbot appeared and urged Lionel to view the Abbey garden without delay.
It turned out that what was really on Mr Talbot's mind was not the garden at all, but the lack of birds. Lionel soon decided that what was needed was a supply of small nesting boxes. Indeed, it was clear that Mr Talbot had come to the same conclusion for at various places round the garden Lionel noticed small, beautifully made, nesting boxes. Each had a round hole at the front which could he blocked with a kind of glass stopper. Lionel resolved to reuse as many of the nesting boxes as possible.
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