Earl - Prologue. Earl Prologue

“I just don’t know what to do uncle, with Mum and Dad, passed away, all I have now is you,” she sobbed as she sat in the plush leather chair in her uncle Charles’s snug lounge, which is his favourite place in the house. “Now, now dear, clear away those tears, I happen to have a perfect solution that will assist you with this dilemma,” the uncle said calmly, with a small smile.

Perfect indeed, he thought to himself, as he started to work out the details in his head. “I want you to go upstairs to the bedroom you use when you stay with me and have a good sleep, and I will call you when it is time for dinner,” Charles said to her niece, and wiping her tears away, she nodded before standing and made her way to the first floor family wing, where she has a bedroom two doors down from her uncles.

The six-bedroom manor house and the 30 acres of land have been in the family for five generations is located just 1.5 miles from the village of Hougham, Lincolnshire, 8.6 miles from Grantham, where there are trains to London, and 40 miles from the East Midlands Airport.

Apart from the shed and equestrian facilities with its separate access road, which is leased out to a local couple, the only other people that are regularly on the property, are the part-time gardener – Michael Jenkins, the housekeeper Mrs Doreen Philips, who cooks and cleans for Charles 5 ½ days a week, and her niece – Patricia, who helps her out 3 days a week, and with it being Saturday afternoon, there are no staff at the house this afternoon.

When Amanda woke from her sleep, she washed up and headed downstairs, where he heard low talking by two or more people. “Yes Charles, we will be very happy to look after Amanda for as long as needed, but what are we going to do about her line of work, won’t they get suspicious if she suddenly disappears for twelve months?” Amanda heard a women’s voice say.

“That is why you have a cousin who is a high court judge with the right connections,” Amanda heard her uncle say, as she walked through the reception hall and the open door into the drawing-room. “Ah, here she is. Amanda, this is Matthew and Katherine Hunter from Australia,” Charles said making the introductions, before continuing.

Matthew is the nephew of my second cousin – Sebastian Hunter, you may remember that I mentioned him, he immigrated to Australia after completing his university studies,” Charles explained. “It is nice to meet you both. Uncle, I heard the tail end of that discussion, about going to stay with Matthew and Katherine for twelve months, I don’t think my boss will approve of that?” Amanda said before sitting down.

“Not to worry about that dear, remember the family motto, ‘Aperto vivere voto’ To live in open faith. At least we have a place for you to stay until your child is born, and we will be nutting out the details over dinner if Katherine wouldn’t mind heating up the delicious chicken and vegetable pie, that Mrs Philips made for me,” Charles said.

During dinner, Amanda learnt that Matthew and his wife are pastoralists, living and working on what they call stations in Australia, with Tallering Station having a staggering 409 thousand acres of land, located 140 kilometres East North East of the coastal city of Geraldton, and the nearest village of Pindar and main road is 14 kilometres to the South West of the homestead, and they breed beef cattle for export which are trucked out of the station twice a year.

After a few telephone calls before dinner, Charles was able to arrange for Amanda to travel as ‘extra luggage’ on a private jet, the two days’ time from East Midlands to Amsterdam, and after changing flights, onwards to Zurich. From there the trio will board an international flight two days later to Perth, Australia, via Singapore, with Charles arranging for an emergency passport for Amanda, using her cousin’s surname of Hunter, so as not to trigger any warning alarms by the organisation that she works for, that being MI6.

In the morning, with some assistance from Katherine, Amanda’s hair was shortened and recoloured from blond to dark brown, before heading to Grantham to do some major shopping for clothes, plus get some new travel luggage. Meanwhile, Charles sent a photo of Amanda and her new look, along with her new name, of Louis Hunter, with Louis being her middle name, to get an emergency passport, that will be available in just over 24 hours.

Amanda telephoned her boss at work, to say that she was sick, and would be bedridden for at least two days, giving her the time to be able to slip out of the country, via the business terminal on the other side from the main terminal at Birmingham. Matthew was able to cancel their planned return flights to Perth, with a now different route home.

When they get to Perth, on the same day they planned to arrive back, they would catch a flight to Geraldton, where Matthew and Katherine have their vehicle parked, so they can make the 2-hour drive home to the cattle station.

On the day of their departure, Amanda was up early, so as to avoid bumping into Mrs Philips, who is due in at 9 am, Charles drove her to the train station at Grantham, wearing a blond wig, so as to look like she usually does, and carrying the overnight luggage that she arrived with the previous day, where she booked and paid for a ticket to London, and twelve minutes later she was on that train, heading south, but only as far as the next station at Peterborough, 34 miles away.

Stepping off the train, she was now not wearing the wig, and an empty larger bag stashed away in her overnight luggage, which was hidden inside the larger bag, along with the large coat that she had worn on boarding the train. Looking completely different, she walked out of the station to where Charles was waiting to collect her, with Matthew and Katherine sitting in the back, of his smaller and much older car, which he usually uses just for short trips into town.

From there they travelled back Northwards, north to the business terminal at East Midlands airport, where Amanda had a tearful farewell to her uncle, who she would not see for at least a year. Approximately 1 ½ hours later, they arrived at Amsterdam, and an hour later they boarded their next chartered flight to Zurich, which would take two hours.

By mid-afternoon, they had arrived at the hotel, and they spend the rest of the afternoon relaxing, after the stresses of the journey out of the UK. With over two days before they fly out of Switzerland, the trio spent that time doing some tourist shopping and a cruise on the lake.

At the airport on the day of their departure, the trio were relieved when Amanda’s temporary passport and a court document signed by Charles, stating that Louis Hunter is her true and correct name, was sufficient to be accepted by passport control at the Zurich airport.

Charles would apply for on Amanda’s behalf a replacement passport using her new identity, which would be sent to her, so she could return to the UK after the baby is born.