"Come in, come in! Martin said he ran into you down in the village and thought you might pop ‘round. I’ll just go put the kettle on...Well, so you’re wanting to hear about the new owners, are you? They’re a pair, I’ll tell you. Still, its better than the old place falling to total ruin, though to be honest it’s near enough to ruin now. Anyway, he thinks he should have been born here. Walks around pretending to know something about buildings, going on about Palladio and somebody Kent. His family though--real fairground stock. Louise Wilton knew the family when they lived in London and doesn’t have a good word to say. Parents divorced years ago and moved away. Don’t know how he managed to scrape together enough to go to the States, but he did, and that’s where he met her. She’s a bit more posh, but then, she’s American. Quiet, really, not at all what you would expect. They’re not married, you know. I suppose they will be before too long, but so far they haven’t felt the need. A bit naughty, don’t you think? Anyway, they bought the place--she’d never even seen it-- and moved in a week ago Thursday. I was down in Cornwall visiting my sister, so I missed all the commotion, but Martin was beside himself. They made a fearful mess of the garden. "Not to worry, Martin" Simon says, as if he were going to be out there the next day with a rake and a bag of grass seed. She didn’t say a word. Never mind. Anyway, I came back from Vera’s on the Monday, and set about trying to stay out of their way while they poked and pried around the place. Until they get those bloody big boxes unpacked and stop knocking holes in walls and things there isn’t much I can do is there, especially at my age with the arthritis creeping in? Still I expect things will settle down soon enough, won’t they?. Oh, there’s the kettle..."