Meeting the mistress

Blake knew that he was here to spy on the prestigious father-in-law of Jared’s sister, Jeanette. It was a sneaky thing to do, but he could not help it. He had to prove himself worthy of his task. Blake felt that Jared would be stupid to take this personally. It concerned the mistress of an in-law. Not a direct family member.

Blake had fleetingly been introduced to Meryl earlier on, in the evening. Alvin had done this for him, but he was sure that she had already forgotten his face by now. He planned to befriend her on his next trip and cause a disturbance in the affair.

She would not easily forget him after this second meeting, Blake thought. Mainly because―as he had expected―she was curious enough to discover the identity of the man who took such a personal interest in her jewelry.

Meryl cocked her head out of the car window after the guard had given her the message. She tried hard to focus so that she could take a good look at Blake; clearly not suspecting him to be of any danger.

“Oh, good evening again,” she said with a polite smile.

Blake carefully walked over to the BMW with the earring in his hand. He handed it over to her personally, so that she could have a better look at him.

The security guard kept close to Blake’s side.

“You dropped it by accident, out in the garden and I immediately recognized it, since I take a great personal interest in jewelry,” Blake explained.

“However, I somehow just did not find an opportunity to return it to you earlier. So I waited and followed your vehicle instead, when I saw you leave,” he lied. “Sorry if I alarmed you. It is an honor to present it to you personally.” Blake smiled broadly as he rendered his speech and handed over the earring.

“Oh, no! Thank you so much,” Meryl answered cheerfully. She revealed a set of deep dimples, when she smiled. Blake observed that she had consumed just enough alcohol to cause her to be off her guard. Her teeth glittered as she smiled brightly up at him.

The fact that she did not return the courtesy by inviting him in was enough proof to Blake, that her meeting with Jacky at this hour could not be professionally intended. This was Jacky’s second house in the city.

She had not drunken too much after all, Blake thought to himself, as she leaned back into the car, whilst bidding him a good night.

Blake’s first mission had therefore turned out to be much less ominous than he had feared. He felt triumphant as he returned to the boarding house.

***

The farm was exactly as Jared had last experienced it. He was bored to death and he knew that the last thing he dared do now was to count the days until his return to the city.

On the Thursday following his arrival here on Sunday evening, he had found something which could interest him though. It had nothing to do with farming, however.

Around sunset, when he returned from the orchards, he actually came upon something which he felt his uncle was surely keeping a secret.

The farmhouse was big and built according to a modern design. There was a swimming pool and a tennis court, a few yards away from a huge back veranda.

The house had five bedrooms and three bathrooms.

There were two big colour television sets. One in the entertainment lounge and one in the TV room. The two rooms were on opposite ends of the house.

His uncle subscribed to M-Net, while he also had another satellite television subscription.

Social activity on the farm around this time of the year was at a depressing low, however. So, from six o’ clock in the morning Jared was up with his uncle, the farm workers and the farm manager, John Isaacs.

On this particular Thursday, Jared discovered that, of the three guest house cottages (although all remained shut), one was actually kept locked.

The maid Esther, would clean it, but then lock it up again. Jared then decided that something interesting had to be in that room and his boredom was causing him endless curiosity.

On previous visits to the farm he had not really found a need to pry into his uncle’s private affairs. He had not ever imagined that Uncle Peter could have any serious secrets.

He only hoped that, regardless of whatever happened, nothing would change his fond feelings towards his uncle. His curiosity could not be contained, however.

So, on this Thursday he simply sauntered into the cottage, while Esther was breezing through it with her duster.

“Hi there Esther,” he greeted casually.

“Hello Jared,” she responded.

“Can I help you? Do you need something?” Esther asked with concern.

“No I’m just curious to see how that cottage looks on the inside,” Jared responded cheerfully.

“Very well. Look around,” Esther responded as she quickly resumed her dusting.

Jared looked around at the armchairs and the table in the room. It all looked sweet and charming, with floral prints on the fabric of the chairs and a floral tablecloth on the round table in the center of the lounge. He then noticed a wooden chest against a wall, with envelopes laying carelessly on top of it. They were somewhat dusty, so he assumed that they must have must have been there for quite a while.

Esther left the key in the keyhole and went out the door.

Jared could not resist the temptation of lifting the wooden lid off the chest, in order to see what it held.

He was surprised when he noticed that it was not locked. There seemed to be hundreds of other letters inside the chest. There seemed to be nothing other than letters inside of it, actually.

When he heard Esther’s footsteps approaching from outside he quickly took two letters from the top of the pile. He stuck them into the front of his shirt and deftly closed the lid of the chest.